[Semi-OT] Best system for a conspiracy modern game?

[Henry]

I'll throw Call of Cthulhu d20 into the ring. Characters do not often survive a hail of bullets in that game, and the skill point system is flexibly enough to give players what they want for skills. There are really no classes in that game - you just choose which two scores you want to be "good" (from Base attack bonus, fort save, reflex save, and will save) and the other two are "poor." Hit points are good enough to survive plenty of nicks, cuts, and scratches, unlike the original Call of Cthulhu rules, but the Damage threshold being so low means that most people will not survive a large threat.

Its other advantage are that it is d20, and therefore already familiar to your players, and already has a series of feats for those players who want their characters to have a limited psychic potential.

I would SERIOUSLY recommend your checking out Call of Cthulhu d20, as it seems to fit the style you want.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Call of Cuthulhu is more for the horror game. For a straight-up paranormal adventure, I'll take d20 Modern. I've been working on a Ghostbusters campaign....

 

[Desdichado]

What you've heard of d20 Modern doesn't mesh with the d20 Modern book that I've actually read. Sure, it's action movie stuff, but it's not nearly as over-the-top as D&D. Spycraft is the real over-the-top James Bondish action flick genre. d20 Modern isn't, IMO, what you seem to have heard.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

GURPS! Not only does it handle modern games with ease but you can add any element from just about any other source to it with no problems.

 

[Wil]

Depending on how paranormal you want to get, the Silhouette system used in Tribe 8, Jovian Chronicles, et al is excellent for modern day games. In a couple of months Dream Pod 9 is going to be releasing Core Command - the first book will be just a Silhouette rulebook with no setting from what I understand. Even then, the magic system in Tribe 8 is really good for simulating all kinds of paranormal occurrences; plus, once I get my Jovian Chronicles site back up I have rules for Psionics in Silhouette, and Core Command will cover these things as well.

 

[Paradoxish]

What you've heard of d20 Modern doesn't mesh with the d20 Modern book that I've actually read. Sure, it's action movie stuff, but it's not nearly as over-the-top as D&D. Spycraft is the real over-the-top James Bondish action flick genre. d20 Modern isn't, IMO, what you seem to have heard.

I didn't mean to imply that d20 Modern was a bad system, sorry if I came off sounding that way. I intend to buy it this week irrespective of whether I'll be using it for this particular game, but I was just looking for other alternatives.

My biggest concern is with plausibility and "grittiness". I'll be creating my own X-files style world using the Dark*Matter setting (God, I love that book!) as a basis. The big issue is that my players need to feel vulnerable. I want to emphasize action and intrigue over straight combat. That is, I'd rather have my players get into a gun-play filled car chase than simply turn and run through a hail of bullets. For a game where I intend to mix elements of horror, the paranormal, and conspiracy it just doesn't work if the PCs are armed-to-the-teeth action heroes who can survive hundreds of bullet wounds.

Now, I could accomplish what I want to do with an over-the-top rules system, but I'd rather not be fighting the rules constantly to do so. If d20 modern happens to fit in with what I'm looking for, than I'll have to give it a closer look. That said, any other suggestions that might've been overlooked? For some reason I'm suddenly having my doubts about using Alternity...