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Post by Zulgyan on Mar 7, 2014 14:36:36 GMT -6
I'm looking for a modern genre (contemporary, low to no fantasy) game with traditional mechanics alike OD&D o AD&D.
One that is as generic as possible. So, not one specialized in spies, or mafia, or mutants, or supers, etc.
¿Any recommendations?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 19:17:59 GMT -6
I was looking for something similar about 6 months ago but didn't find anything.
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Torreny
Level 4 Theurgist
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Post by Torreny on Mar 7, 2014 23:50:13 GMT -6
3LBBs + Sturmgeschütz & Sorcery + Mugger!, and remove the spellcasters?
That‘s my two cents.
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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 8, 2014 8:54:22 GMT -6
3LBBs + Sturmgeschütz & Sorcery + Mugger!, and remove the spellcasters? I was going to make a similar suggestion. OD&D is a pretty freeform game system, all things considered, and when "Sturmgeschütz & Sorcery" hit my doorstep back in the 70's I just had to use it to play a modern game. Those rules contain basic firearms and the like, and the damage for weapons fits an OD&D game very well. (I've also used the basic OD&D concept to run a Star Wars game. Not hard to tweak OD&D into various genres if you create a weapons list and a basic monster or baddies list.) I'd totally forgotten about Mugger! and will have to dig it out to peek at it. (Anyone recall the issue number?) What I did from there was simply to limit advancement to level 4. (I guess I kind of created E6 before it was created, only mine was E4.) That keeps hit points to a decent range. I also used the hit location from Boot Hill to add a layer of realism, although I think it's very similar to the one in Supplement II Blackmoor if you want to keep to OD&D. For skills I basically had each player pick a general background and "faked it" along the way, deciding on the fly if the character would have that skill or not and using stat checks modified by their skill. I didn't bother with an actual skill list, but I like my games loose. I suspect that Top Secret would have some good background info, but it's been a while since I looked at the rules and just don't recall for sure. I do know that TS was percentile based instead of d20, but that could be an easy fix. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Mar 8, 2014 9:49:20 GMT -6
The first ed. AD&D DMG has rules for firearm damage in the "Sixguns and Sorcery" section. All you really need to do is add firearms, remove magic users and clerics, and you're good to go.
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Koren n'Rhys
Level 6 Magician
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Post by Koren n'Rhys on Mar 8, 2014 9:55:38 GMT -6
Well, you've piqued my interest since I've never heard of Mugger! Google pointed to a review on theRPGSite which tells me it's Dragon Issue 26, June 1979. Apparently there is some Boot Hill material in there too. I have S&S someplace, printed off from Best of Dragon #1, I believe. Now off to find it... |
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Post by talysman on Mar 8, 2014 17:41:49 GMT -6
OD&D is a pretty freeform game system, all things considered, and when "Sturmgeschütz & Sorcery" hit my doorstep back in the 70's I just had to use it to play a modern game. Those rules contain basic firearms and the like, and the damage for weapons fits an OD&D game very well. (I've also used the basic OD&D concept to run a Star Wars game. Not hard to tweak OD&D into various genres if you create a weapons list and a basic monster or baddies list.) I'd totally forgotten about Mugger! and will have to dig it out to peek at it. (Anyone recall the issue number?) What I did from there was simply to limit advancement to level 4. (I guess I kind of created E6 before it was created, only mine was E4.) That keeps hit points to a decent range. I also used the hit location from Boot Hill to add a layer of realism, although I think it's very similar to the one in Supplement II Blackmoor if you want to keep to OD&D. For skills I basically had each player pick a general background and "faked it" along the way, deciding on the fly if the character would have that skill or not and using stat checks modified by their skill. I didn't bother with an actual skill list, but I like my games loose. I've been working on a modern system -- well, '50s atomic-age horror -- in the back of my brain for a while, and one of the changes I made was making it levels 1 to 4, too. Clearly, there's something we call a "hero" even in modern-day adventure, so it's reasonable to have at least that much of a character advancement system. Also have backgrounds that are mostly professions or cultures, and have little mechanical effect other than making some actions possible and giving a +1 bonus if you have more experience than your opponent. Other than that, classes are fighters and thieves, and maybe modified thieves for a couple other abilities. The spell list is used to establish levels of difficulty for weird science projects, but can also be used for psionic powers or mutations, if those come up. D&D doesn't really need to be changed much, or at least the mechanics don't. It's the experience system that needs to be changed. You can't have a straight XP for treasure system unless it's a pulp explorer adventure. You can, however, rate the financial value of projects and award points for completion, or rate a town's value and award points for saving it from destruction. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2014 18:57:19 GMT -6
Rather than limit it to 4th level, you could stretch out the levels a bit, giving "fighters" one hit die every other level. So skills will increase faster than combat power / hit points.
One thing I've been considering was to give out hit points equal to Con at first level but only increase hit points when the rolled value surpasses it. That will give initial characters a boost without increasing hit points for higher level characters. This in the case where the game deals with professionals at the start.
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Post by talysman on Mar 8, 2014 20:16:38 GMT -6
Don't know about Finarvyn, but I don't tie skills to level. Thief abilities, yes, but not backgrounds. So slowing the fighter hit dice progression wouldn't really help.
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Post by sepulchre on Mar 8, 2014 21:27:21 GMT -6
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Torreny
Level 4 Theurgist
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Post by Torreny on Mar 9, 2014 4:00:16 GMT -6
Yes, haha! Fun game and it takes up no more than a sheet of paper. You could even adapt the troop qualities scale to represent "levels". There's plenty of setting variants for FUBAR too, like Aliens vs Predator, Star Wars, and etc, if you're looking for additional gear, critters and mechanics. FUBAR's what I mostly use these days for non-fantasy wargames. |
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Koren n'Rhys
Level 6 Magician
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Posts: 355
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Post by Koren n'Rhys on Mar 10, 2014 5:20:47 GMT -6
Ah, the crazy 70's. Tbat read-through of Mugger! was just bizarre. Interesting though, even ifmI'm not entirely sure what to make of it.
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Post by sepulchre on Mar 11, 2014 17:16:12 GMT -6
Torreny wrote:
Thanks Torreny, Aliens vs. Predator and Star Wars whoa! Fan of their version of LOTR, will have to look into these! BTW Fubar Afghanistan has a nice twist on some of the core rules.
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Torreny
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Post by Torreny on Mar 12, 2014 3:04:23 GMT -6
Thanks Torreny, Aliens vs. Predator and Star Wars whoa! Fan of their version of LOTR, will have to look into these! BTW Fubar Afghanistan has a nice twist on some of the core rules. Seems we both set each others eyes about! There's a Lord of the Rings version? Off to the internet! |
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Post by Zulgyan on Mar 13, 2014 10:47:06 GMT -6
Ok, so it's basically "I have to make it up on my own from a set of different pieces" and there really is no "ready made and complete" game of this kind. Sight...
Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll start making up my game based on them.
Keep the suggestions coming though!
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Post by sepulchre on Mar 13, 2014 20:56:07 GMT -6
Zulgyan wrote:
Not with OD&D/AD&D mechanics, contemporary-style rpgs by design are applied mechanics, they reflect the player character not the setting (i.e. dungeon key in FRPG), that's why the percentile dice gets so much milage. The Fubar engines of which Torreny and I spoke of are awesome, but they are static mechanically and thus more like a wargame.
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premmy
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
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Post by premmy on Mar 14, 2014 17:47:11 GMT -6
Ok, so it's basically "I have to make it up on my own from a set of different pieces" and there really is no "ready made and complete" game of this kind. Sight... Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll start making up my game based on them. Keep the suggestions coming though! One thing you could try is take Stars Without Number, which is sci-fi, and "downgrade" it to contemporary. Would take some work, but it would be largely just cutting some stuff and relabeling the rest. You'd end up with something that's distinctly old-school DandD in its basic mechanics with a quick, elegant skill system, combat that accounts for the prevalence of firearms, and some simple vehicular combat rules. If you want large scale abstract "domain management" for government, corporations or the like, it's there, requiring a bit of contemporary work. And if you want to take the game in an espionage direction, then a large part of the Darkness Visible expansion could be easily applied with little tweaks. |
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Post by simonw on Mar 15, 2014 1:34:31 GMT -6
Ancient Mysteries & Lost Treasures might be of some use although it is somewhat specialized and for S&W rather than OD&D
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JMiskimen
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Post by JMiskimen on Mar 15, 2014 7:34:45 GMT -6
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bat
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Post by bat on Mar 15, 2014 11:13:18 GMT -6
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Post by Zulgyan on Mar 16, 2014 10:36:11 GMT -6
Ancient Mysteries & Lost Treasures might be of some use although it is somewhat specialized and for S&W rather than OD&D Yes, thanks! I would like to clarify it need not to be necessarily based on OD&D, just OD&D-like, and S&W obviously qualifies as such. |
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Torreny
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Post by Torreny on Mar 21, 2014 0:12:14 GMT -6
Might I further suggest Call of Cthulhu? Some of it is mechanically similar to d&d, but otherwise very much its own game. It even comes with the whole 20th century‘s worth of firearms and gear, and meant for modern characters. Just don‘t use the eldritch abominations.
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