Darker Than Black RPG

[Milo v3]

I was wondering if it would be possible to run a game set in the world of Darker than Black (Which is actually amazingly realistic while still being Sci-fi and Fantasy).

How would I actually run the mechanics?
How would powers be run? Would there usefulness increase by level or will you just have all its power at the start?

Would levels even work? And if it did would it just increase your Normal abilities?

So do you think we can figure out how to run a "Darker Than Black RPG".

It worked for Pokemon TTA why not this?

[Yuki Akuma]

GURPS. Use GURPS. It comes built in with realistic physics, and has plenty of ways to model the Contractor powers. There are even restrictions that model the remunerations as well.

I'd suggest coming up with some sort of Contractor template - muted emotional responses, disallow Reluctant Killer, and so on.

[Alcopop]

I don't think DnD would be particularly mechanically capable of running a DtB campaign (at least not without a lot of effort). Try GURPS maybe? even Champions could work. I'm fairly sure both systems can have drawbacks attached to specific powers which could quite easily be made to function as Remunerations.


Edit: Ack! ninja'd by a pony while I was spellchecking :(

[Milo v3]

I've never played GURPS or read any of its rules so I'm not very familiar with it. Is there a SRD type thing for it so I can check some of the stuff?

Also good idea for the Template. I'll make one for Contractors, Dolls, and Moratiums (I think that how you spell it).

[Yuki Akuma]

You can get GURPS Lite here: http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/

The basic system reies on 3d6 rolls, trying to get a roll equal to or lower than whatever skill or attrbute you're rolling. So if you have Brawl-14, you want to roll a 14 or under to punch someone.

It has several advantages and restrictions characters can take, including several that model psychological problems like kleptomania or phobias. And it includes several ways of giving people super powers - from simply taking advantages, to building Powers* out of them, or giving them access to magic spells.

*Powers are special packages of advantages that each run from the same 'power source'. Powers include a 'Power Talent', which gives a bonus to all advantages within that Power.

[Milo v3]

That sounds very interesting and like it would fit.

One problem (Not with the system though), my computer blocks every page it wen't to about GURPS other than Wikipedia. Damn this laptop and its blocks. :smallfurious:

[DontEatRawHagis]

You can basically use any system you want. d20 modern, Spycraft 2.0, or GURPS. All you have to do is apply a single ability to players and balance it yourself. That way the players can come to you if they want to understand how they could use their power in different ways.

Example:

Electricity - Does 'Average' electrical damage, switch from stun to lethal if run through a conductor. Payment: Drink urine.

A play might ask could they send a bolt of electricity through a car, like in the anime, you might say yes but its a higher DC.

[Milo v3]

What statistic would you base the DC on?

[Sir Homeslice]

Wild Talents (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Talents_(role-playing_game)) is a personal favorite system of mine, and I have run a DtB game using it. Worked well until the game died.

[libermortis]

Heroes of horror could be a possibility, but i dont think its good never tried it though.
if you are trying to make a horror campaing its key to make the players confused about whats real and whats not, with the wrong gm a horror campain will always end bad.

[Milo v3]

Darker than Black isn't horror. Also I can't find any rules for Wild Talents.

[Feriority]

For a DtB game, I'm not sure I'm a big fan of straight-up leveling. Yes, your skills other than just using your power can improve over time, but your abilities and your remunerations shouldn't be changing; there might be a brief period when you first Contract during which you gain precision and control, but the implication of the series seemed to be that once you got a basic handle on your power, that was it. Sure, powers can be applied in all sorts of creative ways, but that should be a function of player creativity; you shouldn't have to have some sort of feat analogue to be able to use your power cleverly, especially since those feats would have to be custom tailored to a given character.

There also wouldn't really be much of an HP progression; as noted, the series is fairly realistic outside of the powers themselves, so unless you've got a bulletproof coat or powers that explicitly work to dodge/defend against attacks, you're not any better at surviving hits than you would be otherwise. You might have something akin to save progression, though; you DO get better at dodging stuff or resisting raw trauma, just not at surviving when you've actually been shot in the face.

So basically... your defenses sort-of improve, and your general skills improve, but you don't gain health or damage dealing as you level; the mechanics should have high-lethality for hits but lots of room for cool dodging and blocking. The rules need to be abstract enough to accommodate powers being weird and not neatly fitting into nice categories, too; each power should feel unique, not like a differently-fluffed template ability.

[Xiander]

Funny you should ask.

I am currently watching the series, and it has inspired me to try my hands at making a system made to represent the kind of powers you get in Darker than Black and other animes.

I am using World of darkness as my base and simply building a new sort of supernatural for that system. This is probably not how everyone would do it, but i happen to like the system, and the dark atmosphere it encourages suits Darker than black perfectly.

It should be noted that I am not committed to completely copy how things work in the series, but I am taking a lot of inspiration from the series. (I love the series for its dark mood and inherent philosophic questions).

One thing I am rather committed to is to not write specific powers for the players to choose between. Instead, i prefer to encourage players to come up with unique powers and then having a system for making stats for those powers.

If you want details, feel free to shoot me a private message.

[DontEatRawHagis]

What statistic would you base the DC on?
Depending on the system used, whatever a standard attack bonus is for range or melee attacks. Then +/- 2 depending on what he is trying to do.

If your doing Gurps, never played it so take this with a grain of salt, you might want to pencil in a new skill called Contractor Power. Since in GURPS you roll under what your skill is that would be the DC.

[Yuki Akuma]

Power Talents already handle the dice rolls to activate powers.

[Milo v3]

I don't think Standard attack bonus would be the same as the modifer for sending electricity through a car.

[Yuki Akuma]

I don't think Standard attack bonus would be the same as the modifer for sending electricity through a car.

This is why in GURPS they would be separate Advantages linked to the same Power.

Shooting bolts of lightning would be one Innate Attack, while conducting electricity through a metallic object would be another one. Each would have its own specific restrictions and probably deal different amounts of damage or special effects like stunning or what have you. Both would use different skills, as well - the lightning bolt would be Innate Attack (beam) or Innate Attack (missile), while channeling electricity through something would be... I have no idea, but it would be a different skill.

Meanwhile, using electricity to power an electronic device would be Healing, with special restrictions that makes it only target certain things and only restore fatigue points.

Powers don't get stronger as you increase their point value. They become broader as you work out new tricks, and your control becomes better as you take levels in your Power Talent, but your lightning bolt is still going to be dealing 3d6 burn damage plus stun (or whatever) whether your power is worth 10 points or 100 points.

This is why GURPS is perfect for Darker than Black. :smalltongue:

[DontEatRawHagis]

This is why GURPS is perfect for Darker than Black. :smalltongue:

After all that, I agree with Yuki.

If I was doing this I would use Spycraft 2.0, just because I'm familiar with it, and make it so that using the electrical power can either be unarmed, melee or ranged. So conducting electricity through a weapon = melee, touching = unarmed, other = range(so using a conductor).

Though spycraft has a range of different effects when using different damage types; ie heat is armor piercing, electricity is only subdual unless it goes past a certain threshold, flash damage can not do physical damage at all. it makes it a bit complicated, but for dealing with different damage types it is a blast.

[theguineapigguy]

I also think that GURPS would work very well for the sort of feeling your trying to get. It's very realistic, and easily modable because everything in the game works the way it should in reality. The GM of such a game would probably want to help design the powers with custom abilitys though, since the charicter design rules aren't perfect for designing weird powers.

As an example of how that would work, the Black Reapers' power would be somthing like an innate attack that does up to 3d6 burning damage + an HT roll at -4 or be paralized for 1 second, can be channeled into the brain of the target regardless of the point of contact to the target, half damage at 10 yards, max 20 yards, and can be channeled through highly conductive materials. The attack can also be used to break, turn on, or turn off electronics up to the maximum range of 20 yards by effecting their circuitry.

As long as everyones powers are described through the games' mechanics they should work.