Van Helsing stole my idea

[Aeson]

I know the movie has been around for awhile but I've been thinking about a game idea I had and fleshing out the setting some more.

Before the movie. (I don't know if the movie is based on book or comic.) I had an idea for a game. I brought it up to my group at the time. They did not seem real interested. I'm looking to revisit the idea with my new group.

The setting is the modern world. There is an organization of all or at least most religions of the world. This group formed to fight demons. The PCs (and this is where the players were turned off) are a group of Holy Persons. I had originally had them as Catholic Priests and Nuns but the group hated that idea.


I will admitt the movie End of Days inspired my idea. I saw the group of assassins and started working from that point and it changed and grew into what have now.

I don't wish to get into a religious debate. It just seemed to me that most of not all religions have a form of demon in there mythology. I thought it might be cool to delve into a world were they band together to protect us from them.

I would like opinions as long as they are constructive. Like what would be a good rule set for this. Should the PCs have special powers or be normal humans.

 

[sniffles]

The 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' RPG comes to mind immediately as a rules set for this type of setting, since that's what Buffy is all about - protecting the world from evil. But you could do something similar using d20 Modern, IMHO.

 

[jdrakeh]

Creations End might work. Although the layout isn't very good, the system itself isn't half bad. Ditto Dread (I have the old playtest file if you'd like to see it). Also, Philip Reed's vs Monsters would work better than just about anything else that comes to mind.

 

[Aeson]

I didn't think about Buffy. I haven't heard of Dread, Vs Monster or Creation End.

My thoughts were to use D20 Modern or Palladium. The problem with Modern is it doesn't have Demons. Are they in Urban Arcana?

I love Buffy and Angel but never tried the games. I would rather the game to be dark like the X-files and less like Buffy. Just the vision I had. Could the rules be used without Buffyverse intrusion?

 

[jdrakeh]

I haven't heard of Dread, Vs Monster or Creation End.

The original version of vs Monsters can be found here:

http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/vs_Monsters.php

The Deluxe Edition of vs Monsters can be found here:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2899

Dread is, I believe out of print now. Here's a review:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/reviews/27/

And here is the author's Dread page:

http://www.draconianproductions.com/dread2.html

And, last but not least, here is a link to the aforementioend playtest file:

http://savefile.com/projects.php?pid=387168

Creations End is an extremely small-press 'apocalyptic fantasy' number from Winterwolf publishing. I won a copy in a contest on these forums, actually. The layout is, honestly, horrible - but the system itself is very playable and is actually built around the premise of 'good' demons vs 'bad' demons.

I would rather the game to be dark like the X-files and less like Buffy. Just the vision I had. Could the rules be used without Buffyverse intrusion?

The Angel game is fairly dark. And, yes, the Buffyverse is really just amusing fluff in both the Buffy and Angel RPGs. It can easily be ignored without effecting the rules themselves.

 

[The_Universe]

In fact, almost every religion has some sort of spiritual tempter or antagonist for man. It's demons and devils in the judeo-christian world, ifrit for the islamic world, rakhshas for hindus, etc.

I'd recommend D20 Modern - I use it to play a similar style game, and I love it. Wonderfully adaptable, and not as explicitly narratavist as Buffy and its ilk.

 

[Aeson]

I'll look at the these other rules jdrakeh.

Angel was a bit darker and that is one of the reasons I liked it more than Buffy. I love humor but I don't have Joss' way with words and that is where most of the humor of his shows came from.

Have any of you seen Brimstone? I just remembered the show. It looks like it had some of what I wanted to do in this game. Think that should be the way my Demons should be. They look normal. What do you think? 11 foot tall red, winged creatures or everyday Joe Shmo?

 

[jdrakeh]

Have any of you seen Brimstone?

Yep. I really liked it, too.

Think that should be the way my Demons should be. They look normal. What do you think? 11 foot tall red, winged creatures or everyday Joe Shmo?

If you want demons that look mostly human, Creations End might well be the game for you. Demonic PCs in said game are largely human in appearance (well, most of them).

 

[Starman]

While Dark Ages: Inquisitor from White Wolf is set in 1220, it is a perfect game for portraying faithful mortals against creatures of the night. I would highly recommend trying to get a copy to use for ideas and background flavor and if nothing else.

 

[Aeson]

White Wolf products might be a good idea.