PDA

View Full Version : DM Help I'm looking for a witchcrafty rule system.



Roxxy
2014-04-04, 06:23 AM
I have a setting concept and an idea of how I want the game to play, and I need a rule system for it. I know nothing will be a perfect fit, but I'm willing to houserule things to make them fit. I just don't want to be houseruling massive chunks of the system. I was trying to modify Pathfinder, but it focuses too much on scaling math and role specialization to work for what I'm trying to build.

My setting is a fantasy world, not Earth, that has a technology level in the second half of the 20th century (I'm taking whatever's cool from whatever decades I want rather than forcing myself to model my setting off of one year or decade). Magic is heavily based off of witchcraft, being a dark, mysterious, and hazardous entity. It's existance is common knowledge to the world at large, as is the existance of creatures such as dragons and the fae. This has been the case for so long as there have been people. The nations of this setting have organizations meant to deal with rogue witches and magical creatures when they become a threat to innocent life, and the prevailing logic is that the best way to fight a witch is to get your own. These organizations are a major force in the campaign setting, and a primary focus of the stories I want to tell.

Here's what I need in a system:

It needs to be able to facilitate all PCs having some degree of magic - Not all PCs are witches, but those who aren't are probably vampires or something else like that. Witches and monsters are far more apt at dealing with their ilk than nonmagical humans, so the government hires them to do the job.

It needs to work well with firearms and melee weapons, and shouldn't encourage players to focus heavily on one role

It shouldn't have as much scaling math as Pathfinder

I need to be able to build my own monsters with reasonable ease

It needs to either be free or be accessible by purchasing just one rulebook, not a ton (That's why Storyteller won't work)

It needs to be able to how a very "witchy" vibe with spellcasting

It needs to be able to handle dark fantasy easily

Does anyone know of anything?

Dhavaer
2014-04-04, 06:51 AM
Witchcraft (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/692/CJ-Carrellas-WitchCraft?it=1), maybe?

Roxxy
2014-04-04, 07:01 AM
That was my first thought, too. If anybody has any input on the system, I'd be glad to hear it. So far it looks good, but I just downloaded it.

Beleriphon
2014-04-04, 09:07 AM
Fate? You use magic through stunts and aspects that are appropriate and kind of make up what you want as you go. This is easy enough to do, I know that the Dresden Files RPG (using Fate) has a magic system that is basically make it up as you go with rules for how powerful the effects are and what happens if you don't pull of what you want. That might be worth checking out. It also deals with guns and stuff since really its all the same basic system. The system is very narrative, so your powers would tend to work on movie logic rather than any internal rules system logic. The game assumes the characters are competent and don't fail except against equally competent opponents.

M&M3 with the Supernatural supplement might work for you. I mean mechanically M&M doesn't care if you have a gun or a magic zap they both work on the same basic rules. You can also require skill checks, feedback or other consequences of using magic, but again magic isn't different from a mechanical perspective than anything else that creates the same end result (example: magical teleports are the same as Star Trek teleports are the same as Nightcrawler BAMFing). Still for sheer versatility and the ability to know what any given effect does compared to something else its hard to beat. It also has an effect called Afflication which basically at the most powerful does a Transform on the target into something like say a frog. The system is cinematic in that the heroes are fairly hard to kill and tends to be geared more towards high octane adventure even at low power levels. You're James Bond is kind of how I'd look at the game.

The Prince of Cats
2014-04-04, 09:29 AM
Shadowrun is future-tech, but you could scale down (or just re-skin) the weapons and armour for late 20th-century tech. They also have visible magic users which are alternately dealt with by either hiring your own (they're not that uncommon) or employing the 'geek the mage first' strategy which does exactly what it says on the tin.

The rules also come in a single book, for what it's worth.

Soarel
2014-04-10, 01:23 PM
D20 modern would be a good choice but I recommend Shadowrun.

Knaight
2014-04-11, 03:19 AM
Nemesis could work. It's a modern horror game which is perfectly comfortable with vehicles, firearms, etc. It has fairly minimal magic support (though it's there), however it is largely compatible with REIGN. REIGN has a number of free expansions which add lots of magic, from individual magic paths to a more generic fantasy style.

The best part? Nemesis is free, clocks in at about 60 pages (though it is not a rules light system), and as you don't actually need REIGN and the splats are free, the total comes to a whopping $0.00.

HammeredWharf
2014-04-11, 04:36 AM
Masque of the Red Death is probably worth mentioning as your best bet D&D wise.

neonchameleon
2014-04-11, 08:30 AM
Witchcraft (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/692/CJ-Carrellas-WitchCraft?it=1), maybe?


Fate?

These would be my first two choices - I'd also give a shout out to Apocalypse World. I've no idea if AW is very close to what you want or incredibly far from what you want - but it's definitely worth looking at.

sakuuya
2014-04-11, 09:51 AM
These would be my first two choices - I'd also give a shout out to Apocalypse World. I've no idea if AW is very close to what you want or incredibly far from what you want - but it's definitely worth looking at.

If you end up liking AW as a system, also check out its child game Monster of the Week, which sounds a bit closer to what you're trying to do, thematically.

Roxxy
2014-04-13, 03:57 PM
I found the system I like most. Surprisingly enough, it's the Pathfinder version of E6. Its math is far more manageable than core Pathfinder, switch hitting and mobility is easily emphasized by turning a few feats into standard combat rules, and the Witch, Druid, and Alchemist can be emphasized as the main spellcasting classes. It's free, too.