System recommendations for modern weirdness?
- Thread starter jdrakeh
- Start date
HeapThaumaturgist
First Post
I played SW some, but found it about par for the course. It was a pretty awesome system, and did the game I was running good justice (zombie survival horror!), but in the end it seemed like six of one and half dozen of the other as to it and D20Modern.
I.E. some things about SW were faster ... some slower. My old group decided it was largely "more of the same" with a bit more pulp punchiness written into combat and damage and skill granularity.
Getting my current group to change systems would be, I think, like pulling teeth. We've got one guy that's got a handle on the system now, and if I handed him whole different book he'd probably tell me to go fly. Which is probably one reason I work with d20 so much.
Every time I start talking about another system, people's eyes start to glaze over and suddenly something on the internet is terribly interesting.
Sliding in some house rules on an index card, though? They like that.
--fje
I.E. some things about SW were faster ... some slower. My old group decided it was largely "more of the same" with a bit more pulp punchiness written into combat and damage and skill granularity.
Getting my current group to change systems would be, I think, like pulling teeth. We've got one guy that's got a handle on the system now, and if I handed him whole different book he'd probably tell me to go fly. Which is probably one reason I work with d20 so much.
Every time I start talking about another system, people's eyes start to glaze over and suddenly something on the internet is terribly interesting.Sliding in some house rules on an index card, though? They like that.
--fje
Gothmog
First Post
If you're doing a more invesitgative kind of game, I've been really impressed with Esoterrorists and Fear Itself. They both use the GUMSHOE system, and its a very fast, rules light system that is brutal and deadly.
If you want somewhat more durable heroes and anticipate more combat, you can't go wrong with Savage Worlds. I've used it for sci-fi, Fading Suns, modern conspiracy, modern horror, victorian horror, zombie horror, Deadlands, pirates, and fantasy. Its got some pulpy elements to it, but thats easy to overlook if you get rid of the "mook rules" and have all creatures take 3 wounds to kill, just like heroes (which is more appropriate for horror). Also, all the SW settings have some horror elements worked into them, and they have a good table for fear effects and sanity included in the system (I think 12 to Midnight makes an expanded mental health rulebook too). We've found SW to be MUCH faster to run, play, and prepare with a minimum of work, and its every bit as flexible as games like D20 Modern. Plus, there is a Horror GM's Toolkit and Horror Bestiary out for it as PDFs, both of which are awesome. In addition, as Prest0 pointed out, 12 to Midnight makes some incredible horror supplements as well.
If you want somewhat more durable heroes and anticipate more combat, you can't go wrong with Savage Worlds. I've used it for sci-fi, Fading Suns, modern conspiracy, modern horror, victorian horror, zombie horror, Deadlands, pirates, and fantasy. Its got some pulpy elements to it, but thats easy to overlook if you get rid of the "mook rules" and have all creatures take 3 wounds to kill, just like heroes (which is more appropriate for horror). Also, all the SW settings have some horror elements worked into them, and they have a good table for fear effects and sanity included in the system (I think 12 to Midnight makes an expanded mental health rulebook too). We've found SW to be MUCH faster to run, play, and prepare with a minimum of work, and its every bit as flexible as games like D20 Modern. Plus, there is a Horror GM's Toolkit and Horror Bestiary out for it as PDFs, both of which are awesome. In addition, as Prest0 pointed out, 12 to Midnight makes some incredible horror supplements as well.
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I'd use Grim Tales (which is really almost d20 Modern, anyway, but with a bit more flexibility). As others have noted, you can toss in sanity rules, and you can quite easily make your own monsters so that your players don't give you any lip about "griffons not being able to do that". For simplicity's sake, use d20 Modern equipment -- just go with Grim Tales for any three-skull rules you want.
(My favorite for noir and horror games: when you're flat-footed, you lose class defense and dodge bonuses, and your Massive Damage threshold drops by 10 (as a consequence of losing your dodge bonus). Uncanny Dodge lets you keep your class defense, but not any dodge bonuses (and your MDT is still -10). This makes invisible creatures or monsters that attack by surprise a lot more scary.)
Good luck. Sounds like a good game concept, and I can't wait to hear how it goes.
(My favorite for noir and horror games: when you're flat-footed, you lose class defense and dodge bonuses, and your Massive Damage threshold drops by 10 (as a consequence of losing your dodge bonus). Uncanny Dodge lets you keep your class defense, but not any dodge bonuses (and your MDT is still -10). This makes invisible creatures or monsters that attack by surprise a lot more scary.)
Good luck. Sounds like a good game concept, and I can't wait to hear how it goes.
Hackmaster
Explorer
takyris said:
Never thought of this - that's a great idea. Makes things like snipers deadly.
jdrakeh said:
Assuming your players are fairly mature, I don't think you could go wrong with Unknown Armies. It's pretty rules-light, so it should be easy to pick up and not get in the way of spooking your players out. If your players prefer something crunchier, I second (third? fourth?) Savage Worlds, although it's similar to True20 in the amount of prep work you'll need to do.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
Thanks for all of the help, folks. I ended up going with The Esoterrorists, Fear Itself, and Call of Cthulhu (three VG copies of 3rd Edition for less than $40 was a pretty good deal). If I can't get the local guys on board, I'll probably run this as a play by post (which means that there will also be a Story Hour).
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