Greetings all,

Just trying to get a feeling for what users think about RPGs where players are paranormal investigators. I'm biased because I'm a big fan of Chill 1e/Cryptworld, but I would like to look into giving other systems a try, especially if they might attract more interest in playing online.

Any suggestions?

Quote from: Yeti Spaghetti on July 25, 2021, 05:59:43 PM
Greetings all,

Just trying to get a feeling for what users think about RPGs where players are paranormal investigators. I'm biased because I'm a big fan of Chill 1e/Cryptworld, but I would like to look into giving other systems a try, especially if they might attract more interest in playing online.

Any suggestions?

Don't know how popular it is now, but Beyond the Supernatural was a blast.  It's a Palladium game, so you know what you are getting, but it's definitely worth a look.

Call of Cthulhu and Delta Green can be fun too. Some people still do D20 modern for that sort of thing. GURPS might be a good fit for that.

Bloodshadows is a lot of fun

was originally developed for the Matserbook system by WEG, but Precis now owns the property and has adapted it to a new system (I think)

I was always very impressed by Conspiracy X, which was originally published as its own rather wonky system and was then picked up as a Unisystem adaptation by Eden Studios; the thing that was most intriguing, I thought, and could be really useful for any kind of urban occult dark fantasy/horror setting, is the Influence system whereby PCs determine exactly what resources and actions they can access through their official organizational status. The fact that no one group gives access to everything is one of the great incentives for a party of mixed-organization background.

GURPS Black Ops is also fun for something completely gonzo over-the-top, to come at the genre from a different angle, though if I were to seriously try to run it I would make sure I had access to the WildCard / "Bang!" skill rules from 4E.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Does anyone recommend GURPS Horror? I seem to hear more about the GURPS system than the Pacesetter system of Chill 1e/Cryptworld. Does it generally have more support among gamers?

I'm not abandoning Cryptworld just yet, but I'm just curious as to the level of support for GURPS.

Call of Cthulhu d20 is very good. I was sort of biased against is, since I couldn't possibly see what the d20 system had to do with Cthulhu, but after reading some very good reviews I picked it up and it is actually good for any sort of occult/paranormal setting.

Beyond the Supernatural was great! I played it only for a Summer, back in the '90s and I always wondered why I didn't return to it again (possibly because with my players supernatural = CoC).

The Pundit is currently pimping his own Invisible College. I don't have it (yet) but you could consider it.

GURPS... My experience is with 3E, and horror worked wonderfully in a cyberpunk milieu - however, be advised that "the paranormal" must be intended both in a subtile and vast way in any GURPS modern setting. A M16 can ruin a whole spellcaster day, exp. if he goes against 5d6 gamage x bullet/3 rounds bursts with his five-turns-to-cast-Darkbolt, 1d6+2.

GURPS is mainly just very modular so you can add stuff from GURPS Detective or GURPS Sci-Fi and say do something like someone hunting for ghosts on a haunted mining colony on Jupiter's Moon of IO. It works as a sort of toolkit.

In its Heyday GURPS had supplements that were based on specific properties so it might have genre books like Cyberpunk or 50s Drive-In Atomic Horror or specific settings like Alan Dean Foster's Humanx setting (his Pip & Flinx stuff) or Larry Niven's Crashlander Future History stuff or George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards super hero anthologies.

Since then SJG have scaled it back a bit to genres and types again for 4th edition.

You can look over GURPS lite for free to get a feel for it.

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG31-0004

Quote from: Reckall on July 25, 2021, 08:54:38 PM
GURPS... My experience is with 3E, and horror worked wonderfully in a cyberpunk milieu - however, be advised that "the paranormal" must be intended both in a subtile and vast way in any GURPS modern setting. A M16 can ruin a whole spellcaster day, exp. if he goes against 5d6 gamage x bullet/3 rounds bursts with his five-turns-to-cast-Darkbolt, 1d6+2.

Yep automatic rifle bursts are pretty brutal in Cryptworld too. But then again, they're not always useful depending on the creature. And I try to manage what situations characters can carry them in. If the goal is to go walking around downtown looking for Mothman, it doesn't make sense for someone to be strapped with an AR-15 in the middle of traffic, unless they want to alert the police to their presence.

Just curious, but does anyone have experience with Chill 1e, Cryptworld and GURPS? I'm wondering how the games compare. And sorry I know CoC is the big baddie in horror/paranormal RPGs, but I've never really liked the game and the mythos and probably won't be running it or playing it anytime soon.

With Unisystem you can also use Witchcraft which is free. Combine that with Conspiracy X and you can do a lot.

Some other household names are of course Cthulhu/Delta Green, Kult and Unknown Armies. Depends of what kind of setting you want and what type of system you like.

Genrediversion could be used with Ghostories. The nWoD blue books can be used for mortals and combined with Hunter the Vigil you got a lot of options.

As for the question of what has support...I honestly no longer have a reliable sense of who is playing what anymore. I know SJG has a pretty active forum though.

Personal favourite is the original Beyond the Supernatural by Palladium. Pretty good system that is easy to pick up and learn. And runs well with normal humans.

Very closely followed by the original Masque of the Red Death that is an alternate setting from TSR's Ravenloft. I really enjoyed what they did with the system. Magic is VERY subdued and dangerous for PCs as well.

Call of Cthulhu is next on the list. A really solid system. Gahan Wilson's review of it is what hooked me on it. Stick to older editions though. Good skill and class system and it really captures the feel of the setting.

Those are the big 3 for me.

Heard alot about the original Chill, but never had a chance to have a look at it.

Quote from: Omega on July 25, 2021, 09:13:36 PM
Heard alot about the original Chill, but never had a chance to have a look at it.

You seem to hear a lot about it (mostly fond memories of older gamers playing it back in the day), and the Cryptworld OSR clone has gotten generally positive reviews, but that doesn't seem to translate into folks willing to invest in it to play. At least not from what I've seen so far on Roll 20.

But if GURPS and the SJG forum is active, I might have to look closer at it. I wish the Goblinoid Games forum was still alive.

Quote from: Yeti Spaghetti on July 25, 2021, 09:35:02 PM

Quote from: Omega on July 25, 2021, 09:13:36 PM
Heard alot about the original Chill, but never had a chance to have a look at it.

You seem to hear a lot about it (mostly fond memories of older gamers playing it back in the day), and the Cryptworld OSR clone has gotten generally positive reviews, but that doesn't seem to translate into folks willing to invest in it to play. At least not from what I've seen so far on Roll 20.

But if GURPS and the SJG forum is active, I might have to look closer at it. I wish the Goblinoid Games forum was still alive.

I own Chill 1e, but never played it. I like some parts - but feel the system is kind of clunky, and the background is kind of dull -- like how the PCs work for an agency called S.A.V.E. I did like some of the 2e supplements - especially their Vampires supplement. But I still just used them as material to mine for other games rather than running Chill itself.

GURPS is a classic that has a lot of fans - you might consider using GURPS Lite instead of the full system, especially if the PCs are mostly ordinary humans.

As something in a rather different vein, there is an excellent RPG using the Powered-by-the-Apocalypse system called "Monster of the Week". It's got a different style than the older RPGs, but still has a traditional GM/player division. It's modeled after television series like Supernatural, Grimm, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. It's my favorite of the PbtA games, and I think it works really well for what it's trying to do - episodic investigations of different creatures and phenomena.

https://www.evilhat.com/home/monster-of-the-week/

Quote from: jhkim on July 26, 2021, 01:45:07 AM

I own Chill 1e, but never played it. I like some parts - but feel the system is kind of clunky, and the background is kind of dull -- like how the PCs work for an agency called S.A.V.E. I did like some of the 2e supplements - especially their Vampires supplement. But I still just used them as material to mine for other games rather than running Chill itself.

GURPS is a classic that has a lot of fans - you might consider using GURPS Lite instead of the full system, especially if the PCs are mostly ordinary humans.

As something in a rather different vein, there is an excellent RPG using the Powered-by-the-Apocalypse system called "Monster of the Week". It's got a different style than the older RPGs, but still has a traditional GM/player division. It's modeled after television series like Supernatural, Grimm, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel. It's my favorite of the PbtA games, and I think it works really well for what it's trying to do - episodic investigations of different creatures and phenomena.

https://www.evilhat.com/home/monster-of-the-week/

Yes the Pacesetter system is clunky. In a way I kind of like it, because it sets up for a number of different contingencies. But it's tough getting used to, and I suspect it's one reason why I'm having a hard time finding players. My hope is that maybe with an API script on Roll 20 I can overcome this, assuming I stick with the game.

Chill 2e did indeed have some great supplements. I played it back in the early 90s. Today, though, I think I would only want to play 1e. It's the more classical version of the game and now with its OSR clone, there's more support available for play.

I've heard about Monster of the Week but so far I'm not convinced that it has any bigger a support base. I'll probably go with GURPS Horror if I switch from the Pacesetter games. It's important to have an active forum where I can recruit players and it looks like that might be the one.

Again thanks for all the recommendations.