WWII Roleplaying Game?

[Natural20]

Hi guys, I'm looking for an appropriate system or campaign setting for a game idea that I have. I'd like to make a game centered on the European theater set after the Battle of Normandy, and have the players be on the side of the Allies. I'd like to be able to capture the hectic side of war, with wires, bullets, artillery fire and so forth, but also add a little bit of occult intrigue into it as well. That last part is not so important, but if anyone has any recommendations it would be greatly appreciated!

[B0nd07]

The first thing that comes to my mind is d20 Modern and it's supplement d20 Past. Modern has all the core rules for running a game, while Past has stats for several WWII era weapons and armor (I think Modern has some as well). As for tanks and artillery, Modern has stats for the M1A1 Abrams. With some light research and tweaking you should be able to stat a Sherman or Panzer fairly easily. I don't think there are any artillery pieces specifically, but you might be able to tweak a cannon (Past) or perhaps boost the damage on a fragmentation grenade.

You might also want to look into Heroes of Battle. It has just about everything you'd need for running a large scale battle, albeit in a D&D setting, but you should be able to make things work for a Modern campaign.

Modern also has some things you could use for occult feel. Namely spells (FX Abilities) and some monsters. It also has some campaign models that, iirc, have an occult feel to them.

[golentan]

Probably just D20 modern. I think they do everything you want, esp. if you pick up the "Past" book or whatever it's called. Other systems could include World of Darkness (just use the core book, limit the supernatural, and you'll be golden), maybe even a modified Traveller or Shadowrun.

What systems have you played before? If we know what you're familiar with we can make suggestions along those lines.

Edit: Ninja'd... Sort of.

[lisiecki]

GURPS WWII
GURPS OCCULT

That is if you want a "you could die at any moment" type of war

[tsatthoggua]

Weird War II.

Nazi red mages and werewolf shock troops!

[B0nd07]

:smallbiggrin: Never had a ninja post before. But then again, I don't post much (and have been on a multi-year hiatus :smalltongue:).

But anyway; It would be somewhat useful to know what you're used to. I can say that if you're at all familiar with D&D, d20 Modern shouldn't be all that hard to pick up. Heck, they're pretty much the same rules.

[Attilargh]

So you want a game with a fairly modern setting and a dash of the occult? My vote goes for the new World of Darkness.

It's fairly deadly (I think Band of Brothers is a good comparison), simple and has good support for the supernatural. The sourcebook Armory is one of my favourite books, being a broad look into various sorts of equipment and how they work in a game, instead of just porn for gun-enthusiasts. However, it is rather modern-day, so you might have to tweak the stats of tanks and such a bit. For some low-key occult, I'd recommend the book Second Sight which has rules for various sorts of magic, psychic phenomena and eldritch horrors from beyond the void.


Of course, some old-timers who really love the old WoD might disagree with me most furiously, but don't listen to them, for my way is the Truth. :smalltongue:

[Swordguy]

I can't believe I'm recommending this, but GURPS really is a good bet - d20 modern is still a bit too "heroic" for the proper feeling. That said, if you're absolutely set on a d20 product, you can get a copy of AEG's Stargate SG-1 d20 RPG (out of print, admittedly, but fairly cheap and easy to find) it does have excellent rules for firearm combat, and the stats for several WWII-era weapons (even more if you pick up the Spycraft Arms & Equipment Guide).

Pinnacle's Weird Wars is great, but you may not like the amount of supernatural "extras" in it (think the beginning of "Hellboy", or the end of "Raider of the Lost Ark"). Good system, though, if you're using the Savage Worlds ruleset - I don't like their d20 version.

Finally, I think, you could try Grey Ranks, which basically casts you as child soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Don't know much about this one, though - you might see if RPG.net has an article on it.

Oddly, there's not much in the way of tabletop WWII gaming outside of miniatures wargames. This is about it, I think, unless you want to adopt a game to fit the setting. RPG companies just seem to avoid this one.

[Ascension]

It's not quite what you're looking for, but I've heard good things about Godlike (http://www.arcdream.com/godlike/), the WWII era superhero game.

[Project_Mayhem]

Of course, some old-timers who really love the old WoD might disagree with me most furiously, but don't listen to them, for my way is the Truth.

*froth froth rage kill*

not that I'm an old timer or anything

[Dyllan]

I'd suggest D20 modern as well. Either with D20 past, or just some homebrew adaptations to add the proper level of technology.

And the mechanics really are the same as D&D 3.5. In fact, the D&D game I'm playing in right now just took an interesting turn. Due to the actions of one PC (mine), our material plane has been anchored to another... which seems to be WWII Earth. We've got our fairly standard D&D party (wizard, cleric, barbarian, rogue/sorcerer) in New Jersey right now. We were already convinced that "The President" must be some powerful evil archmage and were all ready to go assassinate him for the good of this plane, when a crime boss (who we think is a good guy at this point) convinced us not to.

But the mechanics have blended very well. Admittedly, we're not involved in the war, but it is taking place in that time period. And we're at level 12. At lower levels, I imagine it'd work even better (D20 usually does work better at lower levels).

[Egiam]

I don't know about OWOD, but I think that NWOD WWII would be great. Not in the "OMG I just blew up a tank!" kind of way, but the "OK, the shell missed Blain, but hit Jared for 11 lethal killing him. Blain, roll for morality" I think that the virture/vice system would come out to present a humanity crushing experience for the P.C.s, while letting them occasionally be the heroes (Ala willpower). There are no rules for tanks, but the armored car rules could easily be homebrewed. The book Hunter: the Vigil has an extended weapons list, including sniper rifles and M1 Garands.

[Attilargh]

Why would Blain roll Morality? :smallconfused:

Also, as I said, there are rules for modern armoured vehicles in Armory, along with period guns, artillery, MREs and whatnot.

[Tsotha-lanti]

Twilight 2013 would be pretty easy to mod for this. It's a post-apocalypse survival game, but includes everything necessary for a full military game, and has the best squad-level small arms combat system there is (detailed, smooth, and even cinematic if you want it), combined with an easy artillery system and good vehicle system. (Also, psychological damage. I love that one.)

You'd need to mod it some - there's a bunch of WW2 era weapons already, but you'd need to stat out vehicles and more weapons, and possibly modify careers a bit.

93 Games Studio (http://www.93gamesstudio.com/site/) might put out a WW2 supplement at some point, too, though; and I imagine the gunfondlers, wargamers, military historians, and active-duty soldiers who fill the forums would be glad to provide some help with the modding in any case.

[Fax Celestis]

There's a WW-I supplement for Wraith entitled The Great War. It's pretty solid. You could probably finagle it into WW-II rather easily.

[Meat Shield]

I am going to also recommend the Savage World ruleset - I thought the flavor was well suited to WWII