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04:26, 19th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

Posted by Varsovian
Varsovian
member, 1531 posts
Thu 1 Jul 2021
at 22:55
  • msg #1

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

Note: this is not interest check thread. Just a general request for advice.

Let's say you want to make a game of modern occult / mystical / supernatural horror and mystery. With the characters being mystics, occultists and / or psychics. A game that would be a bit like The Invisibles, with the characters exploring scary weirdness, while also doing some magic on their own, engaging in vision quests etc...

Question: what kind of game / system would you use for that?

Mage: the Ascension in various incarnations has some good depth, but it's also quite over the top in places (Technocratic space marines! Men in Black with laser guns! Martial arts mages! Steampunk science!). Mage: the Awakening did away with such silly stuff, but feels quite flat to me overall. Kult: Divinity Lost is stunning, but also really dark - and it's not really about being a mystic. Unknown Armies is... just not for me.

Any other games like that out there? Alternatively, what system could be used to make such a game from scratch?
donsr
member, 2304 posts
Thu 1 Jul 2021
at 23:00
  • msg #2

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

 for my part?... You take the  best  things..YOU  like... then build  a semi-freeform game around it.

 mix and match rules.. tweak some   or add some of your own. Set the types  of characters. and you're good.
phoenix9lives
member, 1066 posts
GENE POLICE!  YOU!
GET OUTTA THE POOL!
Thu 1 Jul 2021
at 23:32
  • msg #3

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

Palladium Books Beyond the Supernatural is easily that sort of game.  There is also Chill.
facemaker329
member, 7349 posts
Gaming for over 40
years, and counting!
Thu 1 Jul 2021
at 23:53
  • msg #4

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

I never played either 8ncarnation of Mage...but I have no problem taking a system I mostly like and saying, "These particular rules do not exist for this particular game."  Especially when it's a well-known system that's easy for people to work with.  One of my favorite gaming campaigns ran a kit-bashed system that used Dark Conspiracy for setting and some chargen principles, and the D6 system for actual in-game mechanics.  That campaign ran for three years (handy, since the GM almost of the players were roommates of mine!)
Isida KepTukari
member, 385 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Fri 2 Jul 2021
at 01:22
  • msg #5

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

While a generic system, Cypher System offers a lot of variety for the kind of game you're looking for, and some of the game world supplements (Stay Alive (horror), We're All Mad Here (fairy tales)) offer some additional flavor and rules for the kind of thing you're trying to make. It's a basic ruleset, but offers a lot of flexibility in terms of character creation, and has a several optional rules that could be useful for you.
truemane
member, 2156 posts
Firing magic missles at
the darkness!
Fri 2 Jul 2021
at 12:39
  • msg #6

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

I might go with White Wolf's Sorceror Supplement for Mage (either the original or Revised). I find the Storytelling System does a pretty good job of modeling characters who live in the modern world. And the Path Magic in Sorceror is much more down to earth, and much more granular, than the Spheres.
warjoski
member, 122 posts
Sun 4 Jul 2021
at 03:15
  • msg #7

Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

There are a few games out there with similar premises to The Invisibles.  Over the Edge and Unknown Armies, besides some of the ones previously mentioned.
evileeyore
member, 497 posts
GURPS GM and Player
Joined August 2015
Sun 4 Jul 2021
at 04:12
  • msg #8

Re: Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

Varsovian:
Let's say you want to make a game of modern occult / mystical / supernatural horror and mystery. With the characters being mystics, occultists and / or psychics.

Okay, take this in the vein it's meant, which is trying to be helpful:

Is is really, really hard to make a mystery about occultism, magic, or supernatural elements (horror or otherwise) when the Players and PCs are deeply competent and/or knowledgeable in that subject.

Because understanding of mechanics takes the mystery out of the system.

Even setting a 'whodunit' in a setting with "get answers from beyond" powers is difficult.

Now, I'm not saying you can't do it, just warning you in advance there are a lot of trip points, so carefully examine the powers and lines of info you give the PCs/Players.

quote:
Any other games like that out there? Alternatively, what system could be used to make such a game from scratch?

Depending on what you want (simulationism vs narrativism) I'd say GURPS and FATE are great systems for this.  GURPS allows you to get gritty and detailed and set the challenge a lot lower, more in the meat and dstreet level (but it can 'high level play as well) while FATE is far, far, far more loose and GM/Player Fiat narrativism and intrinsically sets better in the "mid-range" power level.
Isida KepTukari
member, 386 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Tue 6 Jul 2021
at 08:47
  • msg #9

Re: Let's say you want to make a mystics / occultists RP...

What might be a possible source of inspiration is the board game Mysterium.  It's a game where the players are psychics/mediums, and are aiding a ghost in finding out his murder.  Their only clues are mystical visions sent by the ghost, represented by cards with interestingly ambiguous pictures on them, to help them figure out the who and where and why of the crime.  While the players could use their skills to investigate various leads/interrogate people, the visions (either cards from the board game, or pictures you have or found on the internet) would provide the "mysticism" element that can be, as evileeyore said, elusive.
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