Modern game idea. [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Dragonfire

2011-04-29, 11:40 PM

I've been kicking around a game based heavily off the TV show Supernatural.

I was wondering what system would be the best to use.
Cuerrently i'm looking at the New world of darkness and d6 adventures.
Any suggestions/ideas?
Thanks,
Dragonfire

Bang!

2011-04-29, 11:53 PM

The obvious answer is Supernatural (http://www.margaretweis.com/mwp-online-store/supernatural/26-supernatural-the-role-playing-game). :smalltongue:
Other [probably better at the job] contenders include the GUMSHOE games Esoterrorists (http://www.pelgranepress.com/gumshoe/esoterrorists/index.html) (for an X-files style game) or Fear Itself (http://www.pelgranepress.com/gumshoe/fearitself/index.html) (to throw a horror spin on it) or InSpectres (http://www.memento-mori.com/inspectres/) (for a Ghostbusters/Men in Black sort of tone)

ETA:
Really Quick rundown on InSpectres:
It's a really basic system. Player rolls don't determine success in an action as much as they define who narrates the consequences of an action. There's also a very fun mechanic where players can deliver Real World-style confessionals to influence the storyline.

Really Quick rundown on GUMSHOE:
The system's not as light as InSpectres, but it's still quick to start and run. It's a system built for the investigative genre. It extensively structures investigations, which makes detective and horror games very quick and easy to run. Fear Itself has some of the most compelling horror character creation guidelines I've read.

Really Quick rundown on Supernatural:
I haven't read it, but I'm pretty sure it's just a repackaging of the Cortex rules, which are a kind of mix between Savage Worlds and Unisystem. Cortex is really quick to run, has a very fresh and intuitive core mechanic and it incorporates some mechanics for players to introduce plot elements, which is a lot of fun. You might want to watch out because it's not a friendly system to a combat heavy game, and can get pretty lethal.

disclaimer: my familiarity with Supernatural extends about as far as my housemate watched it a couple years ago. and that was only the glimpses I caught while cooking in the other room. I could be calling its tone/premise way wrong.

Hawriel

2011-04-30, 01:06 AM

My friends and I played Serenity. It uses the cortex rules as well. To be honest the system did not sit well with us. We hammered at it for 6-8 weeks and it could be a bitch.

The system makes sence, and is very easy to work with as a DM or player. However actualy using it we came into problems. The die rolls eather screwed you or made you god. Target numbers where eather obserdly high or low. There was no real middle ground. I understand that when a fight is in your favor it should go well, or when its not your just screwed.

The system works with stats, skills and edge. You roll your stat wich is rated in size of die, d2 through d12. Skills are the same but can go up to 2d12. Edge points aded a die "step". One point is a d2, 2 points a d4. The average die roll for are combinations of stats and skills did not increase with the target numbers we needed. Even of you rolled high on one die say a 7 on a D8 the other might roll 2 on a d12.

I still think we did somthing wrong. But we went over it several times through about two months of playing. The system had a big problem dice rolls screwing you. Wile investment of skill level didnt help.

Get the supernatural campaigne book though. Cortex games have good writers for setting and story ideas. the campaigne books are very rules light. hardly any at all. So you can use it for what ever game system you want.

Bang!

2011-04-30, 02:00 AM

Target numbers where eather obserdly high or low. There was no real middle ground.I'm pretty sure the Cortex designers expected players to cheat on their dice rolls. :smallyuk:

Out of combat, that's annoying, but characters can cooperate to compensate pretty easily (the assistance bonuses are huge), and it's actually kind of fun to work with. In combat, things get really swingy, and players pretty much have to hide, run or hemorrhage fate points to maintain control. That's definitely a problem.

It's a really cool system for many things (the core mechanic, skill specializations and Fate points are very slick), but it's a game that takes some coddling to run.

And I've only read the System rulebook and skimmed Serenity, but the Serenity book was really poorly formatted as a rulebook (but it did have a lot of setting information). The Supernatural rulebook might be worth looking at for campaign or setting information, but I wouldn't put any money down for it without being sure it has a decent table of contents or index first.

Mutazoia

2011-05-03, 08:07 PM