Looking for a good modern war rpg

[Gminsfun]

Hey all,

Am currently looking for a good tabletop roleplay game for modern conflict, am hoping to do an iraq/afghanistan war themed game, not massively sold on d20 modern on paper so would like some suggestion. Obviously if people really think d20 modern is a decent option i might give that a try.

Chris

[Hazzardevil]

On DANDWIKI there is a call of duty d20, take a look at that.

[RandomLunatic]

Depends on how much realism you are looking for.

D20 Modern really only works for "Action Movie" realism, where the hero takes ungodly abuse, grits his teeth, and keeps going. It is not even really great at that, either.

I understand GURPS can be made quite realistic if you add in the right books. Not being a player, I have no idea what books those are.

If you strip out the post-apocalytic setting, the underlying mechanics of the Twilight series are a fairly detailed, realistic, and deadly gunfight simulator.

[Tyndmyr]

Busy building a D10 ruleset that does exactly this...I'll send you the rules when it's ready for testing(looking at June for first test) if you're interested.

D20M is another option...it has some pros and some cons...you'll likely want to strip out the wealth system for a military game, for instance.

I have no experience with Twilight, but Gurps has a pretty fair amount of sources, and a *lot* of it is going to just not work for such a setting. You'll want to go over it with a fine toothed comb before determining what can be allowed.

[beyond reality]

GURPS would be good if you and your players are detail/gear buffs. With the right books you'll find an incredible amount of information and detail and with a realistic, modern setting you won't have to worry about the sometimes obscene time spent creating characters. It has a lot of different dials that allow it to be set anywhere from "brutal reality" to "cinematic bullet-fest". That said, it's not going to work for everyone and it's a fairly complex game.

Savage Worlds is really good for an "action movie" game, where the players are big damn heroes and no one is too concerned with realism and granularity. It's designed to play very fast and easy to learn. It handles lots of players and NPCs at once so it makes it good for larger scale battles (it also includes conflict rules for dealing with major battles that can't be handled with normal combat rules).

[Grail]

Steer clear of d20 Modern.
Seriously.... that game system is just terrible.

If you want a d20 system that handles guns well, and makes them a real threat (regardless of the level of the character), look to True20.

GURPS is good as well. You don't need to implement all the rules (indeed, that will detract from what a modern day firefight should be - fast, confusing and deadly).

For both of these, the core book is really all you need to play the game. If you do go down the True20 route though, and want to expand on the core book, get a hold of the Warriors Handbook and the Expert's Handbook.

Other game systems that might work -

GDW (a now defunct games company from the 80s and 90s) came up with a pretty decent standardised game system that they used in games such as Dark Conspiracy and Traveller: The New Era.

If you can get a hold of a Dark Conspiracy 2nd edition it could be tweaked a little bit (giving characters a few less HP) to make it a very decent system for what you're after.

[jaybird]

World of Darkness or Black Crusade without the supernatural/futuristic story elements. Fantasy Flight Games' Warhammer 40k RP system in general is quite good with realistic combat simulation while still maintaining a reasonably fast pace.

[Democratus]

I'd suggest the Twilight 2000 game system. The current incarnation is called "Twilight 2013".

[Driderman]

I'd suggest Savage Worlds, if you're inclined towards brutal realism. Combats are pretty quick and pretty lethal when competent combatants are involved.
Unisystem, from All Flesh Must Be Eaten, is also pretty good for stuff like this. Both systems are pretty simple.

I'd very much advise against using the Storyteller system, whether the new or the old World of Darkness system. Storyteller does a lot of things very well but combat is not one them!

[Gminsfun]

Thanks for the tips guys, gonna have a look at a few of them

[Gminsfun]

Oh, and btw, it was gritty realism i was after as opposed to hero stuff as pathfinder does that great for me.

[jaybird]

Oh, and btw, it was gritty realism i was after as opposed to hero stuff as pathfinder does that great for me.

Then you definitely want Warhammer 40k Roleplay, no question. You are out of luck if you want vehicles for now, but there should be support for vehicle combat in the fifth book coming out, Only War.

[Crow]

Shadowrun 3rd edition. Strip away magic and any technology you don't want to include.