Urban Fantasy tabletop RPGs - Because the WoD thread is parochial

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Snekposter said:
I certainly do, although I'd argue that powers are a hard thing to write about given that they are the physical counterpart to a vampire's more intellectual bit. I mean, they're both humans-turned-monsters, and they're both mirror images of human nature. Vampires are the more intellectual side, cunning and ambition given physical power, and werewolves are the opposite, rage and fury given cunning and intellect. I suppose you could have them call on nature, but.. that's also a vampire thing, but they also have either resistance or straight-up immunity to attacks that aren't from silvered weapons, which combined with their absurd physicality isn't exactly a big issue. They've always been that way. I mean, you could tie their powers into passion and animality like the Werewolf games did but uh... you don't want to talk about those.
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Vampires only have laundry lists of superpowers and charming aristocrat vibes because of Stoker and Rice inventing that. In folklore, they were what we would now consider zombies or ghouls... or hungry ghosts, the specifics vary wildly by culture. (I read a dozen academic research books and watched who knows how many episodes of Maven of the Eventide to learn that.)

Werewolves being brutish is much more exaggerated in horror movies compared to folklore. In the folklore lycanthropy was often treated as a skill known to witches, so they knew plenty of other spells too.


Snekposter said:
I mean, you could tie their powers into passion and animality like the Werewolf games did but uh... you don't want to talk about those.
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I made this thread because I was told not to discuss general urban fantasy in the WoD thread. Why can’t we discuss topics like “werewolf superpowers” in a general sense unrelated to any particular IP?

For example, the Teen Wolf tv show from some years back tried its hand at expanding the werewolf’s superpowers.

Or perhaps answer a question like “if you were writing a setting about werewolves et al, then what would you do with them?”
 
Urban fantasy works as very good material for fiction be it tv shows or books. I'm pretty sure we consider to get a werewolf series of one kind or another every few years for example. As an RPG setting it can often struggle because it faces the dual challenge of how the fantasy side of it works in relation to the non fantasy stuff and how the real world handles the fantasy stuff as a functioning society.

Werewolves what they can and cannot do ultimately comes down to what fits and that tends to come down into what you use as the origins of their powers. WoD's source for their powers opened up a metric ton of abilities because it essentially opened the spirit world up for them and a vast variance of powers. If a setting did something similar where the tie to animals/nature opened up a raft of options to the character that would be a way to expand the powers. There's also the various legends about what consumption of animals or foes can do for a person, having werewolves be the origin of those who gain the benefits whether they devour as animal or a human. The dual nature aspect could provide them a measure of resistance vs other supernatural stuff, indeed I believe at least one fantasy series literally slapped magic immunity on their werewolves.

I continue to point to Secret World as a solid video game doing the urban fantasy genre though it will never get a conclusion alas. Physical RPGs both Dresden Files and Scion are decent ones that are on my shelf. Recent ones seem more like Monsterhearts and its ilk which just don't do it for me.

Also bear in mind this is Kiwi Farms rather a site big into general rpg discussion. Typically speaking the threads will move more enthusiastically with stuff to point and laugh at. For example I would swear one of the urban fantasy rpgs Fatal and Friends reviewed confirmed the person involved with it was also a fetish artist and had a lot of images in the game that could be considered work safe version of the same sort of fetish cartoons they drew. Given the urban fantasy fandom can include Potter fans, furries, Twilight lunatics some of them in recovery, those that never watched Lost Girl with their trousers on and worse there's a lot of potential there.
 
Morethanabitfoolish said:
Urban fantasy works as very good material for fiction be it tv shows or books. I'm pretty sure we consider to get a werewolf series of one kind or another every few years for example. As an RPG setting it can often struggle because it faces the dual challenge of how the fantasy side of it works in relation to the non fantasy stuff and how the real world handles the fantasy stuff as a functioning society.

Werewolves what they can and cannot do ultimately comes down to what fits and that tends to come down into what you use as the origins of their powers. WoD's source for their powers opened up a metric ton of abilities because it essentially opened the spirit world up for them and a vast variance of powers. If a setting did something similar where the tie to animals/nature opened up a raft of options to the character that would be a way to expand the powers. There's also the various legends about what consumption of animals or foes can do for a person, having werewolves be the origin of those who gain the benefits whether they devour as animal or a human. The dual nature aspect could provide them a measure of resistance vs other supernatural stuff, indeed I believe at least one fantasy series literally slapped magic immunity on their werewolves.

I continue to point to Secret World as a solid video game doing the urban fantasy genre though it will never get a conclusion alas. Physical RPGs both Dresden Files and Scion are decent ones that are on my shelf. Recent ones seem more like Monsterhearts and its ilk which just don't do it for me.

Also bear in mind this is Kiwi Farms rather a site big into general rpg discussion. Typically speaking the threads will move more enthusiastically with stuff to point and laugh at. For example I would swear one of the urban fantasy rpgs Fatal and Friends reviewed confirmed the person involved with it was also a fetish artist and had a lot of images in the game that could be considered work safe version of the same sort of fetish cartoons they drew. Given the urban fantasy fandom can include Potter fans, furries, Twilight lunatics some of them in recovery, those that never watched Lost Girl with their trousers on and worse there's a lot of potential there.
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I’ve tried other sites and it’s just not a topic that RPG nerds seem to be interested in. When it comes to RPG discussions, your choices are Shadowrun, World of Darkness, or GTFO.
 
Would the East Texas University count as urban fantasy? I don't know how popular it is but they funded an expansion book for it somewhat recently and it was constantly pushed by every Savage Worlds group.

ETU and the Dresden Files RPG are the only urban fantasy like ttrpgs I've read over but I don't think I'd run either but instead Frankenstein together a Dresden Files setting for Savage Worlds using some ETU stuff.
 
FreedomMussel said:
I made this thread because I was told not to discuss general urban fantasy in the WoD thread. Why can’t we discuss topics like “werewolf superpowers” in a general sense unrelated to any particular IP?
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I was referring to the powers from Werewolf in general as something you might not want to discuss, given your obvious dissatisfaction with WoD. And unfortunately the cultural consensus on werewolves is something you're going to have to take into account when it comes to anything. Don't be a sperg and insist things change overnight to suit you. I can see where you're coming from, but make a good argument (and you have, when you've kept your temper in check), don't just go "muh Bram Stoker" because let's face it, Dracula is a hell of a book.
 
How coincidental that this comes up, cause I'm currently writing a sourcebook with my friend for an urban fantasy setting. I'm using 5e for the system and pilfering a conversion of d20 Modern for ideas. If any of you cunts are interested in that I may post it here when it's done.
 
Acrid Alchemist said:
Would the East Texas University count as urban fantasy? I don't know how popular it is but they funded an expansion book for it somewhat recently and it was constantly pushed by every Savage Worlds group.

ETU and the Dresden Files RPG are the only urban fantasy like ttrpgs I've read over but I don't think I'd run either but instead Frankenstein together a Dresden Files setting for Savage Worlds using some ETU stuff.
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It's definitely urban fantasy. I like it well enough and appreciate that the books went to quite a bit of effort to flavour the setting as the area of the real world it's meant to be in. Didn't know they'd made further supplements to it.

Frankensteining is almost always a good idea. I quite like stealing the Dresden Files city building and Cortex Smallville's character building when doing a setting since it helps me envision the assorted places and people a bit more easily.

FreedomMussel said:
I’ve tried other sites and it’s just not a topic that RPG nerds seem to be interested in. When it comes to RPG discussions, your choices are Shadowrun, World of Darkness, or GTFO.
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Understandable. I'm just trying to help set expectations for you that the site isn't an RPG one. You'll have users with an interest in it but it's not the site's main point. I'd have similar success trying to get a discussion going about MMA on a site for knitting.

Roybertitos said:
If any of you cunts are interested in that I may post it here when it's done.
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Sounds good. Even if your system choices make me weep.

I tend not to frequent many sites for play by post and don't bother with Discord and the like. Anyone know what tends to be the systems showing up with any sort of regularity?
 
I wish there were more fantasy settings that were just the archetypal high fantasy races (humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, etc) in the modern day. I heard about d20 modern, but I heard its clunky, and it’s nearly 20 years old, making the modern part out of date.

Also, I don’t trust WotC to make a ham sandwich without adding modern race and sexuality into it somehow.
 
Gingervitis said:
I wish there were more fantasy settings that were just the archetypal high fantasy races (humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, etc) in the modern day. I heard about d20 modern, but I heard its clunky, and it’s nearly 20 years old, making the modern part out of date.
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Part of the dearth of settings may simply be due to RPGs being extremely niche in general, much less specific genres like urban fantasy. It's much easier to write prose fiction than to design an RPG or program a video game. The overwhelming majority of RPG interest is in D&D, and everything else is drops in the bucket.

Speaking of D&D, it is apparently now being played by more people than ever at any previous point in its history (which I suspect is mostly due to free advertising by Stranger Things and Critical Role). Maybe that success will trickle into the rest of the market, but I don't see any evidence of that. Non-D&D RPGs just seem to be continually declining, particularly because they're much harder to get started than any other kind of game short of miniature wargames. A game like Call of Duty, Monopoly, or Mafia/Werewolf is much easier to get going.

Anyway, the premise of Urban Arcana is a literal crossover between D&D and the modern day. The shadow plane is sending D&D races and monsters to modern Earth, while wiping their memories of their home and concealing their existence from most muggles thru a kind of glamor. In d20 Future you get some suggestions for combining it with cyberpunk, essentially recreating the premise of Shadowrun.

You don't need any particular ruleset to replicate this premise. You could use Savage Worlds, FATE, online chat, or whatever the current trend is.

Snekposter said:
I was referring to the powers from Werewolf in general as something you might not want to discuss, given your obvious dissatisfaction with WoD.
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In this case, my dissatisfaction stems from the parochial ecoterrorist premise. Giving werewolves more superpowers is not something I'm dissatisfied with. I can still discuss that in the abstract. The many different editions have changed the rules so much that I don't have the foggiest idea how they actually work anymore, so don't expect me to be an expert or anything.
 
Gingervitis said:
I wish there were more fantasy settings that were just the archetypal high fantasy races (humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, etc) in the modern day. I heard about d20 modern, but I heard its clunky, and it’s nearly 20 years old, making the modern part out of date.

Also, I don’t trust WotC to make a ham sandwich without adding modern race and sexuality into it somehow.
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As Bright demonstrated even in media that tends to go badly. Tabletop it could only go worse.

Shadowrun got fairly near it but the problem is they tried to bake in the racism the way Patchett did into his setting (black and white gang up to pick on green or to be clearer humans decide they'd prefer to get together to beat up metahumans instead) which in current year is very bad no no.

And a ham sandwich? I see what you're doing there Islamaphobe.
 
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Roybertitos said:
How coincidental that this comes up, cause I'm currently writing a sourcebook with my friend for an urban fantasy setting. I'm using 5e for the system and pilfering a conversion of d20 Modern for ideas. If any of you cunts are interested in that I may post it here when it's done.
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How would one convert Urban Arcana to the 5e rules? I'm still very new to the game and all the RPG players I know play 5e.
 
Troonologist PhD said:
How would one convert Urban Arcana to the 5e rules? I'm still very new to the game and all the RPG players I know play 5e.
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Well I used a conversion that's readily available as the base and tweaked them to fit my tastes. Basically instead of choosing fighter, wizard, or cleric as your class and having a subclass like eldritch knight, evoker, or light domain, you have a basic class and an advanced class.

The six basic classes are based around the six primary stats in dnd, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. They determine what you're generally good at and function similarly to a main class from vanilla 5e. Advanced classes provide you featured at certain levels and function like a subclass. This is your specialization, from magical to non-magical, like say a stealth guy, a bomber, a spellcaster, etc.

Check here if you wanna read through the conversion I based it off, but I tweaked it heavily cause I feel it's too weak in a lot of places.
 
WhatIsThePunchline said:
Yeah I agree with Adamska, that's pretty much the oWoD already.
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It’s impossible to make an urban fantasy game with splats that doesn’t invite this comparison. Nightlife came out a year before VtM, and it still feels very similar.

I like a lot of what I’ve seen in WoD/CoD, but not everything. If I made an urban fantasy game, then it would be impossible not to owe some debt to that. But that doesn’t make it identical.
 
FreedomMussel said:
It’s impossible to make an urban fantasy game with splats that doesn’t invite this comparison. Nightlife came out a year before VtM, and it still feels very similar.

I like a lot of what I’ve seen in WoD/CoD, but not everything. If I made an urban fantasy game, then it would be impossible not to owe some debt to that. But that doesn’t make it identical.
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You should play Unknown Armies. Unkown Armies is the shit. You'd still have to get your own group into it though.

Also if you lean more into Urban Horror there's Kult. I think at least that's a game people might have heard about.
 
WhatIsThePunchline said:
You should play Unknown Armies. Unkown Armies is the shit. You'd still have to get your own group into it though.

Also if you lean more into Urban Horror there's Kult. I think at least that's a game people might have heard about.
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Thank you for the suggestion. I have looked into a number of games. Urban Shadows, Monsterhearts, Blood Dark Thirst, Actual Fucking Monsters, Esoteric Enterprises, WitchCraft, The Everlasting, and more I can't recall right now.

They all have ideas scattered among them that I like. I like Everlasting's take on vampires and WitchCraft's take on werewolves. I especially like Esoteric Enterprises' take on "vampire broods" where there are multiple unrelated creatures all called "vampires" including the undead, animals that have evolved to mimic and prey on humans, offshoots of the hominid family tree, human families with crazy blood rituals, blood parasites that take human hosts, the mortal descendants of the biblical Cain, etc.
 
A few friends and I once played in a campaign of “D20 Modern”. Long story short, our characters were all fictional people from our actual home town and we were using Google Maps as our World Map. I played a corrupt police officer soon to be in the company of an arsonist I framed for murder and a black computer geek. Our job was to navigate and survive a zombie apocalypse which we did in style, our adventure spanning the distance of six whole states and ending when we took over a decommissioned aircraft carrier and made it our home.
 
DDBCAE CBAADCBE said:
A few friends and I once played in a campaign of “D20 Modern”. Long story short, our characters were all fictional people from our actual home town and we were using Google Maps as our World Map. I played a corrupt police officer soon to be in the company of an arsonist I framed for murder and a black computer geek. Our job was to navigate and survive a zombie apocalypse which we did in style, our adventure spanning the distance of six whole states and ending when we took over a decommissioned aircraft carrier and made it our home.
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Neat.

I remember reading the original pitch for "Shadowchasers" in Dungeon magazine. It included a rule where undead wouldn't stay dead unless you fulfilled some condition to put them down for good. In the sample adventure, some skeletons would keep regenerating unless you removed coins glued to their empty eye sockets. They removed that rule when they published the final version of the setting in the d20 Modern rulebook.
 
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