Modern Military Systems?

[Actana]

In my recent idle musing, I've been thinking about a potential game about the horrors of war. Specifically, modern warfare. A sort of Apocalypse Now/Spec Ops: the Line type of game, where the players witness terrible things and are gradually unhinged by it. But I can't think of a system that does this.

My first instinct was to use some generic system for this, but I'd prefer to use a game that has a focus on the premise, instead of trying to sift through the rules of, say, GURPS, to make the game do what it does.

The game would preferably be one where combat is short and brutal, but allowing the PCs to survive at least a few bad decisions. Point buy preferably, as I don't see levels really fitting the premise. Rules for survival and/or mental health would be appreciated, though not required.

For systems I've considered hacking Cyberpunk 2020 (or v.3 for the slightly more refined mechanics) or Only War into more modern settings. Anyone know of other systems that could a sort of "modern military horror" game well? Or modern conflicts in general?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Savage Worlds? They have a "Weird Wars" setting... and some settings (Deadlands) have horror rules.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Unknown Armies would be my first choice, I think. It has the best sanity system I've ever seen and combat is really brutal. You can ignore all of the supernatural stuff really easily, as it's all separated from the mundane, nitty-gritty stuff.

[Grinner]

Unknown Armies would be my first choice, I think. It has the best sanity system I've ever seen and combat is really brutal. You can ignore all of the supernatural stuff really easily, as it's all separated from the mundane, nitty-gritty stuff.

Wow...That is...a really good suggestion. Seconding this.

[Actana]

From a quick look, Unknown Armies does look highly interesting. I do have a few questions though: how in depth are the combat mechanics in it? The potential game would involve mostly trying to survive on three levels: against the enemy, the environment and the character's psyche. Unknown Armies looks like it has the last one handled, and I'm not too concerned about the second, but the first is an issue, as combat is usually the drawing factor to a lot of players. How about the weapon customization? I personally enjoy having a lot of different weapons available with pros and cons, and this being a military campaign a fair amount of varied weapons would be ideal.

While the setting would be firmly grounded in realism, I could find a few good uses for the more magical aspects in the system. There may be ghosts and demons that the players can see, but who's saying they are actually real?

[jaybird]

Highly suggest Only War. Just cut out the Warp and future-tech bits.

[Grinner]

From a quick look, Unknown Armies does look highly interesting. I do have a few questions though: how in depth are the combat mechanics in it? The potential game would involve mostly trying to survive on three levels: against the enemy, the environment and the character's psyche. Unknown Armies looks like it has the last one handled, and I'm not too concerned about the second, but the first is an issue, as combat is usually the drawing factor to a lot of players. How about the weapon customization? I personally enjoy having a lot of different weapons available with pros and cons, and this being a military campaign a fair amount of varied weapons would be ideal.

They differentiate fully automatic and semi-automatic weapons, the wounding rules account for permanent injuries, and I don't remember what weapons are included. I do remember there being a big chart somewhere in the combat chapter.

I don't think there's much in the way of weapon customization beyond special ammunition.

There's a preview available here.

[Actana]

Due to my preferred playing platform being online with MapTool, I'm leaning towards Only War, as there is a MapTool framework to automate much of the rolls. I'll definitely be looking at the sanity systems of Unknown Armies though, they sound really interesting and fantastic for the concept.

How much modifying would Only War require to work in modern settings? Would just changing a Lasgun into some sort of regular rifle work, or are there other things that should be taken into account?

I wonder if I could add the sanity of Unknown Armies to Only War. I believe they both use a d100 system, so it just might work. Research, research...

[RandomLunatic]

Something that has yet to be mentioned is the Reflex system, which is used in the Twilight 20** games. I have heard it called the most accurate gunfight simulator outside of straight-up wargames like Advanced Squad Leader. It is already a modern setting, with heavy survival elements and even a sanity system that the writers themselves say can be readily adapted to make a full-blown horror survival game.

[Greylond]

Yea, Twilight 2000. Either the first or 2nd version. :)

Personally, I preferred the 1st Ed.