Shadowrun, Modern, Saga, Oh My!

susan

So my 4th Ed D&D Players are going to be wrapping up a 2-year campaign sometime over the next month or so (we made it, yay!), and naturally I'm going to want to start them on some other campaign not too long afterwards. Since we've been playing D&D for, as mentioned, a solid two years at this point (and all play in another D&D game with a second DM anyway), I'm looking to try something different with them. And so, I am officially looking for suggestions and recommendations for new RPGs to try on and see how they feel. Qualifiers are as follows:

1. I'm thinking more Modern/Future for this one than fantasy; there's only so many Orcs you can kill with a sword before you want to shoot one of them in the face with lasers.

2. I'm hoping for something a bit more... "brutal" is a word I'm coming up with. My players are getting cocky; I want to try and put them in their place.

3. Complex is OK, but I'd prefer smooth as well, especially combat.

4. I'm familiar with d20, and have some d6 experience, but that's pretty much it. I'm open to learning, though.

5. Genre loves include: Warhammer 40k, Firefly, Daily Show. Hates include: Twilight, typecasting, mayonnaise

Let me know your thoughts.

Descendant X

If you want brutal and they like 40K, you could always give Dark Heresy a try.

If you want brutal, you could do Call of Cthulhu...

Chanus

Well, not modern but certainly brutal: Dark Sun launches next month

PMAvers

Chanus wrote: »

Well, not modern but certainly brutal: Dark Sun launches next month

You might've missed the whole "played D&D for two years straight, looking for something else" part.

I'd say go with Shadowrun, you can never go wrong with that.

3cl1ps3

Descendant X wrote: »

If you want brutal and they like 40K, you could always give Dark Heresy a try.

If you want brutal, you could do Call of Cthulhu...

It will make you question your own sanity, not just your character's.

Descendant X

3clipse wrote: »

Descendant X wrote: »

If you want brutal and they like 40K, you could always give Dark Heresy a try.

If you want brutal, you could do Call of Cthulhu...

It will make you question your own sanity, not just your character's.

I've got both the BRP and the D20 version of CoC. I just wish I could get my friends interested...

Reptar

I would suggest Eclipse Phase. A transhuman futuristic setting that has some similarities to Shadowrun, but with space travel and rogue A.I.'s instead of mythical creatures and magic. The system is somewhat complex, not much more complex than Shadowrun, though. I'm not sure how easy it is to get a hold of one of the books right now, but I believe Eclipse Phase falls under the Creative Commons License, so you should be able to get the PDF of the rules for free from them, though I could be wrong on that.

Firebug

susan wrote: »

5. Genre loves include: Warhammer 40k, Firefly, Daily Show. Hates include: Twilight, typecasting, mayonnaise

Have you heard of the Serenity RPG? It might be what you're looking for. Rules aren't too hard to pick up, chargen's easy and well, it's Firefly in Space. Or Bounty Hunters in Space or Alliance Officers in Space or Something Else in Space.

Reptar wrote: »

I would suggest Eclipse Phase. A transhuman futuristic setting that has some similarities to Shadowrun, but with space travel and rogue A.I.'s instead of mythical creatures and magic. The system is somewhat complex, not much more complex than Shadowrun, though. I'm not sure how easy it is to get a hold of one of the books right now, but I believe Eclipse Phase falls under the Creative Commons License, so you should be able to get the PDF of the rules for free from them, though I could be wrong on that.

Far as I know, EP materials are still legally free, even if they only have purchase links on the site. Here's the Quick-Start Rules though. If you do go this route and want to get a print copy, make sure it is the updated second printing. First release has some wonky things like burst fire sniper rifles.

Rules are simple enough; d100 roll under. It's when you get into backups and bodyswitching things get complex. Fun game though.

CptHamilton

It's pretty non-brutal but I really love the Spycraft 2.0 system for modern games. It's d20-based but has a great many changes to the combat and equipment systems. There's a lot more to do in a given combat round, and the mission-based equipment system keeps you from having to worry about giving out loot in a modern setting.