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Kadzar
2015-09-08, 07:13 PM
This is mostly just an idle fancy, but does anyone know of any good RPGs about conspiracy theory stuff? I'm talking Illuminate, lizard people, aliens, Templar, psychics, cloning, etc. Basically a good mish-mash of as much possible rather than a small cohesive whole is preferable (as such a thing better matches the source material).

I'd also prefer that PCs are people "in the know" rather than investigators trying to learn about the supernatural. So less like X-Files and more like MiB. So instead of trying to find out about this stuff, you have to deal with living in this crazy world and stopping things like a secret ancient Atlantean plot to assassinate the real, secret pope, or attacks by Rigelians against the NSA's moonbases.

So does anybody have any recommendations?

BootStrapTommy
2015-09-08, 07:15 PM
Paranoia maybe?

Ravens_cry
2015-09-08, 07:18 PM
World of Darkness? I mean, it's pretty much written into the fluff as it is. Hunter would be especially good, I'd think.

Grinner
2015-09-08, 07:20 PM
Haven't played it, but Conspiracy X hits pretty much everything you've mentioned. It's a Unisystem game, same as All Flesh Must Be Eaten and CJ Carella's Witchcraft, if you've heard of them. It might take itself a little too seriously for your purposes though, if I'm reading your post correctly.

You might also want to look into Over The Edge, which doesn't take itself seriously *at all*, but the setting isn't exactly what you're thinking of...

TheCountAlucard
2015-09-08, 08:55 PM
Seconding the suggestion of Hunter for nWoD. Also suggesting you grab a half-dozen sourcebooks at random, such as The God-Machine Chronicles, Slashers, and Second Sight. Picking diverse books might help to establish that slightly-incoherent feel you seem to want.

Though I'd like to point out that the conspiracy theories are gonna be less fun if the PCs start out knowing everything about them. Mystery is half the fun - heck, the only reason the Men In Black movies worked (well, the first one, anyway :smallsigh:) is because Jay didn't know what was going on, and had to puzzle through all this stuff.

Give the PCs incomplete dossiers, set up double-blinds and circles within circles.

Kadzar
2015-09-08, 09:27 PM
Haven't played it, but Conspiracy X hits pretty much everything you've mentioned. It's a Unisystem game, same as All Flesh Must Be Eaten and CJ Carella's Witchcraft, if you've heard of them. It might take itself a little too seriously for your purposes though, if I'm reading your post correctly.

You might also want to look into Over The Edge, which doesn't take itself seriously *at all*, but the setting isn't exactly what you're thinking of...Eh, I don't mind something that takes itself seriously. I'd just prefer a setting with a lot stuff going on or able to happen rather than one that's tightly defined.

holywhippet
2015-09-09, 01:25 AM
Not perfect fits, but perhaps Call of Cthulu and the Dresden Files RPG. They are a bit more focused on their own respective worlds but the systems are fairly flexible.

ArcanaFire
2015-09-09, 03:57 AM
Throwing my support behind Hunter: the Vigil with those that have already stated so. Most of the time I see it played it's very Supernatural Kick in the Door, but you could easily DM it to be what you're describing.

It's also easy enough just to take the hunter book and the core book and ignore the rest of the expansions if you want the freedom to make the world you're playing in what you want.

tgva8889
2015-09-09, 04:13 AM
There's a lot of these elements in The Strange which is a more recent system. It might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it has a wide variety of elements and is pretty reasonable to customize if you decide you want to do that. There's too much in it to explain the premise, so I suggest checking it out for yourself.

comicshorse
2015-09-09, 11:13 AM
Delta Green is Cthulhu but firmly rooted in the 'X-Files'. Aliens, government conspiracies, age old cults, occult Nazi societies intelligence agencies, etc

josienoms
2015-09-09, 11:29 AM
I'll also throw my support behind World of Darkness in general, and Hunter: the Vigil specifically. One organization within it, Taskforce: VALKYRIE, essentially are the Men in Black. It's even their nickname!

GorinichSerpant
2015-09-09, 11:52 AM
Other then what was previously mentioned there's Unseen Armies. Which is really strong on the weird conspiracy department but focused on it's magick system.

Milodiah
2015-09-09, 12:54 PM
Delta Green is Cthulhu but firmly rooted in the 'X-Files'. Aliens, government conspiracies, age old cults, occult Nazi societies intelligence agencies, etc

Delta Green, Delta Green, Delta Green. It's what you want, I assure you.

Grinner
2015-09-09, 07:15 PM
Eh, I don't mind something that takes itself seriously. I'd just prefer a setting with a lot stuff going on or able to happen rather than one that's tightly defined.

Well, the setting isn't cinched to the mechanics, if that's what you mean.

The setting is built around these two competing conspiracies, though, and each of these conspiracies have infiltrated various government agencies. Also, there's a bunch of different aliens too, each with their own designs.

You could insert some nonsensical conspiracy theory stuff, but that might just confuse everything.


Other then what was previously mentioned there's Unseen Armies. Which is really strong on the weird conspiracy department but focused on it's magick system.

Unknown Armies (I assume that's what you meant) is definitely an interesting game, but I don't feel it fits the criteria. Fundamentally, the crazy in that game makes sense once you get waist-deep in it, but the criteria seem to specify something bearing more resemblance to paranoid-schizophrenic ramblings.

BWR
2015-09-10, 01:39 AM
The Laundry Files RPG.
Based on Charlie Stross' novels, it's similar to CoC Delta Green, invented independently and in ignorance of DG. Think MiB meets CoC. Spy drama, conspiracies, end-of-the-world monsters and the soul-sucking horror of British bureaucracy.

DigoDragon
2015-09-10, 07:18 AM
If you just need conspiracy ideas, you might find GURPS Warehouse 23 a useful book. It's full of various entries on aliens, monsters, strange drugs, and things that bump from other dimensions. Some of it is a bit comical, but other stuff is pretty good for grittier campaigns. Most of the things in there have enough fluff so that you can run with the ideas in any system you end up choosing. I've tapped that book a couple times for a conspiracy or two in my D&D campaigns.

DCraw
2015-09-10, 07:31 AM
Nights Black Agents would fit what you're describing quite well.

Their recent Dracula Dossier kickstarter may also be worth a look (once it's released). The premise of that game is that Dracula is actually a redacted copy of a failed secret government plot to enlist the Count. The players stumble onto (or are provided with) an unredacted version and have to unravel that conspiracy while being hounded by both the forces of the supernatural and the Government. This could easily be played as a game where the players (a team of modern MI6 agents) need to track down Dracula to make yet another attempt, while finding out that they weren't fully briefed about the previous encounters and that there are other players involved.

nyjastul69
2015-09-10, 12:22 PM
Pandemonium ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemonium_(role-playing_game)) might suit your needs.

Bohandas
2016-10-30, 04:43 PM
The Illuminati are a big part of Paranoia

EDIT:
It also has psychics, mutants, and a good deal of cloning

Arbane
2016-10-31, 03:46 PM
The Illuminati are a big part of Paranoia

EDIT:
It also has psychics, mutants, and a good deal of cloning

Paranoia's fun, but it's set in THE FUTURE!, while most conspiracy theories are here-and-now.