So, since we've been talking about lesser-known horror games (that is to say, second-tier behind Call of Cthulhu) of the 80s and 90s, what about Beyond the Supernatural?

I think it is one of the most underappreciated gems of the genre, myself.

Never wanted to run it, because of the Palladium System (which I dislike), but there was a great deal of superb info on running a horror game therein.

Quote from: Daddy Warpig;881634Never wanted to run it, because of the Palladium System (which I dislike), but there was a great deal of superb info on running a horror game therein.

This I think sums up a lot of Palladium for me. They have great setting material but I'm not a big fan of the system.

The system while a bit clunky isn't the problem for me. The fact that Tomb of the Grotesque, and Beyond Arcanum (Monster and Magic) books have been coming soon for what over a decade? It kills me, and shows Pally lack of support for the line.

What are some good "beyond the supernatural" settings out there? Ones that are actually scary and not just gory.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;881670What are some good "beyond the supernatural" settings out there? Ones that are actually scary and not just gory.

While some setting are a bit campy, or what not. I think the key is how they are run by the DM and played by the players. For example "Chill" can be a creepy/scary game or it can be a wacky, pulpy, fun house ride.

Quote from: Certified;881641This I think sums up a lot of Palladium for me. They have great setting material but I'm not a big fan of the system.

this is very much how i react as a whole for example im a big fan of macross but id never use there system for it.
on the other hand id likely be willing to run after the bomb

Quote from: Daddy Warpig;881634Never wanted to run it, because of the Palladium System (which I dislike), but there was a great deal of superb info on running a horror game therein.

BTS was from the era before Rifts (Its a sort of neo-background for Rifts). And the system works darn well really as it has not yet bloated into the later power creep.

That, Night Bane, and System Shock are three settings overlooked due to people seeing "Palladium" and walking away in moral outrage. Hating it because someone told them to.

Now if on the other hand you actually looked at the game and just didnt like the mechanics. Which are a pseudo-D&D with a percentile based skill system and point based magic/psi. Then thats a different matter.

I GMed BTS quite a bit way back. Fun system and setting. Lots of oddities to explore and fairly versatile too. You could run Kolchak style investigators, Lovecraft style investigators, Ghostbusters style investigators, Doctor Strange style, and so on. Or even run things like Scanners style psychic wars.

Quote from: Omega;881785...

That, Night Bane, and System Shock are three settings overlooked due to people seeing "Palladium" and walking away in moral outrage. Hating it because someone told them to.

Now if on the other hand you actually looked at the game and just didnt like the mechanics. Which are a pseudo-D&D with a percentile based skill system and point based magic/psi. Then thats a different matter.
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While it is popular to hate on Palladium's systems, it's been my experience that it's not because someone told them to, it's because they suffered through it on one or more occasions.  Up until a handful of years ago, I've owned most of Palladium's games at one point or another, and I, like many others, respect their ideas, but the systems have consistently been sub-par in my experience.

That said, I never picked up BTS because it just flat out wasn't something I figured had all that many neat ideas.  I looked at it a number of times and then put it back on the shelf at the store.  I don't think it was bad, it just wasn't great and there were many other better options.

Quote from: Brander;881794While it is popular to hate on Palladium's systems, it's been my experience that it's not because someone told them to, it's because they suffered through it on one or more occasions.  Up until a handful of years ago, I've owned most of Palladium's games at one point or another, and I, like many others, respect their ideas, but the systems have consistently been sub-par in my experience.

That said, I never picked up BTS because it just flat out wasn't something I figured had all that many neat ideas.  I looked at it a number of times and then put it back on the shelf at the store.  I don't think it was bad, it just wasn't great and there were many other better options.

Have to agree here, my dislike for Palladium comes from the games I've played. My 90s were littered with Ninjas and Superspies, TMNT, Rifts and Heroes Unlimited. The engine got more than it's fair chance to impress me.

Also, Nightspawn... damn it.

Did Palladium players not know from reading the rules if they would hate the system or not before ever playing a game?

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;881829Did Palladium players not know from reading the rules if they would hate the system or not before ever playing a game?

For me, the settings, were enough to get me to try the games. While I was generally not a fat on the rules even at the time I had few other options outside of D&D with my gaming group. At least until Vampire started to catch on. Once we started to see other more streamlined games my gaming group quickly moved away from the Palladium system. Although, we did suffer from bouts of Palladium flair up as one member of our gaming group really liked the system itself.

Palladium never appealed to me. Partly because it was reskinned D&D. Back in the day I wanted rules which were significantly different, not just a variation on what I already had. I did buy the Rifts book when it was new and flashy and was the big hit of the year. It looked cool and all but I just couldn't grok how the world was supposed to function. And the game itself... how does one run an adventure when one PC is a Glitterboy pilot, another a Ley Line Walker and a third is a woodland scout? The GM would have to restrict half the classes just to make the scene plausible, but then that would kill half the fun too. I dunno... interesting idea but too wild and strange for me.

As for horror, I didn't move beyond Call of C'Thulhu. Never needed to. When you got the best why mess with the rest? Heck, at the convention last week I mostly played CoC. Went insane and died alot, fun was had by all.

I was a big Palladium fan in my pre-teen and early teen days, and I eagerly bought Beyond the Supernatural when it first came out.

I remember the book almost came across as a slightly-more-serious Ghostbusters game, except for the sample adventure which had the players taking on the role of a group of pubescent girls in a horror movie scenario.

The table that had you roll for breast size was funny, but made me uncomfortable enough that I never really did much with it, and stuck with my TMNT/Ninjas & Superspies/Heroes Unlimited mash-ups until I had a group that would play Star Wars D6.

I thought they did a fine job on the unifying conceits involving ley lines and such.

I don't recall how that version of the Palladium rules set looked to me.  I'd had a lot of fun with the Mechanoids booklets and the Palladium RPG (1st ed.) as GM, and TMNT and Battletech as a player, but found Heroes Unlimited off-putting.