I'm in the mood for some dark/urban fantasy after falling off the World of Darkness bandwagon a decade ago, but few of the games I've found have fleshed out backgrounds. Everlasting has an overly flowery kitchen sink background and Witchcraft isn't detailed enough for what it's trying to do.

I'm not attached to any particular system, so I figured I might as well just devise a background that could be fit into whatever rules I'm using at the time. Since brainstorming and writing background is a time intensive process, I thought to ask if anyone here wanted to share their thoughts too.

Is there some reason reading any of the voluminous fiction in this genre is not an option?

I always thought what would make for a good "you are the monster" -type game would be one where you ha to deal with all the consequences as a person of being the monster, rather than roleplaying out the time as a monster.

For example, a werewolf game where you periodically black out and wake up somewhere in the woods, naked and covered in blood and entrails. You just roleplay the time you are conscious as a human, and trying to find ways to cope with and get around your periodic condition, as well as dealing with people hunting you, the police, and keeping your "other side" away from anyone you care about.

Quote from: daniel_ream;891843Is there some reason reading any of the voluminous fiction in this genre is not an option?

90% of it is just WoD fanfic

Quote from: TristramEvans;891844I always thought what would make for a good "you are the monster" -type game would be one where you ha to deal with all the consequences as a person of being the monster, rather than roleplaying out the time as a monster.

Reminds me of a movie I saw recently, Ava's Possessions, which follows a woman in the aftermath of a demonic possession... having to account for the destruction she caused, assigned by the court to a Spirit Possession Anonymous program, and trying figure out the huge bloodstain on her apartment floor.

What kind of dark urban fantasy did you have in mind? Something like White Wolf but different in some ways? What elements of the Worlds of Darkness do you like and which do you dislike? That could help us brainstorm a bit. Would you just like us to suggest dark urban fantasy ideas and we could collectively create a setting? Those sorts of forum games can be fun.

I've always thought it might be cool to have Addams Family sort of beings (are they human? Not quite) in an urban fantasy setting but play them straight and not just as dark humor.

Crayon, what angle are you looking for?  Humans vs. Monsters?  Players as the Monsters?  Secret Societies?  Things I've missed mentioning?

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;891804I'm in the mood for some dark/urban fantasy after falling off the World of Darkness bandwagon a decade ago, but few of the games I've found have fleshed out backgrounds. Everlasting has an overly flowery kitchen sink background and Witchcraft isn't detailed enough for what it's trying to do.

I'm not attached to any particular system, so I figured I might as well just devise a background that could be fit into whatever rules I'm using at the time. Since brainstorming and writing background is a time intensive process, I thought to ask if anyone here wanted to share their thoughts too.

It would be nice to learn what games you've found already. After all, there are a few quite well written, with a substantial settings and there's a possibility you didn't know them. There's also a question of what you mean by "urban fantasy", because for some it's "our cities, only faeeeeeries" (along the lines of Harry Potter) and for others - contemporary times, but there's also second reality to it, more darker and sinister (as presented in WoD).

So...

Unknown Armies. KULT. Dreaming Cities. JAGS Wonderland. Fluxborn. Exquisite Replicas. Hoodoo Blues. Any version of Gaiman's Neverwhere (not very detailed by default, but it's ready to be updated with any "now we're here, now we're in fantasy world" material ranging from Neverwhere itself to Locke & Key comic books series). To the extent - Over the Edge, Don't Rest Your Head, Night's Black Agents and Fear Itself.

Perhaps you're ok to move the time a bit forward and then you might want to read Kuro, Armageddon, Conspiracy X, Daemornia, SLA Industries (heh),

And of course, if everything else fails, there's always good ol' Call of Cthulhu, or one of its offshoots.

As for the sources of inspiration - simply visit some site featuring movies/books reviews and read a few "the best of" lists. You'll find a few good suggestions in no time.

See, the problem here is that your question is too vague and it might be interpreted in more than one way, so unless you don't give us some more details...

Nightbane...

Thou shalt discover Nightbane!

Seriously, it rocketh most hardeth. It's WoD minus the angst.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightbane

http://palladium-store.com/1001/product/730-Nightbane-Role-Playing-Game.html

Quote from: TristramEvans;89184590% of it is just WoD fanfic

And the games themselves aren't?

Anyway, take a shot at Emma Bull's Finder, which very much isn't.

Quote from: Spinachcat;891860Nightbane...

Thou shalt discover Nightbane!

Seriously, it rocketh most hardeth. It's WoD minus the angst.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightbane

http://palladium-store.com/1001/product/730-Nightbane-Role-Playing-Game.html

Yeah but...Palladium mechanics. I  sense it might be WoD without the angst, but with squared bad editing.

This reads very much like, "amuse me..." Without parameters and desires it's a crapshoot to guess what you're in the mood for.

Therefore I suggest Little Fears meets Toon.

More feedback gets better suggestions.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;891853Crayon, what angle are you looking for?  Humans vs. Monsters?  Players as the Monsters?  Secret Societies?  Things I've missed mentioning?

Quote from: Sergeant Brother;891849What kind of dark urban fantasy did you have in mind? Something like White Wolf but different in some ways? What elements of the Worlds of Darkness do you like and which do you dislike? That could help us brainstorm a bit. Would you just like us to suggest dark urban fantasy ideas and we could collectively create a setting? Those sorts of forum games can be fun.

I've always thought it might be cool to have Addams Family sort of beings (are they human? Not quite) in an urban fantasy setting but play them straight and not just as dark humor.

Quote from: JesterRaiin;891855It would be nice to learn what games you've found already. After all, there are a few quite well written, with a substantial settings and there's a possibility you didn't know them. There's also a question of what you mean by "urban fantasy", because for some it's "our cities, only faeeeeeries" (along the lines of Harry Potter) and for others - contemporary times, but there's also second reality to it, more darker and sinister (as presented in WoD).

So...

Unknown Armies. KULT. Dreaming Cities. JAGS Wonderland. Fluxborn. Exquisite Replicas. Hoodoo Blues. Any version of Gaiman's Neverwhere (not very detailed by default, but it's ready to be updated with any "now we're here, now we're in fantasy world" material ranging from Neverwhere itself to Locke & Key comic books series). To the extent - Over the Edge, Don't Rest Your Head, Night's Black Agents and Fear Itself.

Perhaps you're ok to move the time a bit forward and then you might want to read Kuro, Armageddon, Conspiracy X, Daemornia, SLA Industries (heh),

And of course, if everything else fails, there's always good ol' Call of Cthulhu, or one of its offshoots.

As for the sources of inspiration - simply visit some site featuring movies/books reviews and read a few "the best of" lists. You'll find a few good suggestions in no time.

See, the problem here is that your question is too vague and it might be interpreted in more than one way, so unless you don't give us some more details...

Quote from: Opaopajr;891905This reads very much like, "amuse me..." Without parameters and desires it's a crapshoot to guess what you're in the mood for.

Therefore I suggest Little Fears meets Toon.

More feedback gets better suggestions.

My mistake. My goto games include recent titles like Monster of the Week, Monsterhearts, Urban Shadows, Feed, Vampire City, Undying, etc. What they all have in common is a relative scarcity of background in comparison to, say, World of Darkness, Everlasting, Dresden Files or even Witchcraft.

I want a setting that may support the main paranormal subgenres: monster hunting in the vein of Buffy, Charmed, Angel, Supernatural, Sleepy Hollow, etc; teen drama in the vein of Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, etc; soap opera in the vein of Dark Shadows, Being Human, Once Upon A Time, etc. At the same time, I don't want to restrict the monsters to any one set of powers/limitations (a la the broad varieties of vampire and werewolf in Dresden Files or Witchcraft) and I don't want the setting to feel absurdly overcrowded like World of Darkness or Everlasting.

In not so many words, I'm looking for a happy medium between the unwieldy in games like Everlasting or Nephilim and the minimalism in games like Witchcraft.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;891906I want a setting that may(...)

The majority of things you're asking about aren't "fulfilled" by the game/setting itself. It's GM's job to select what to use, when, how and in what quantity. In addition, there's no way to tell "how much is too much" without being yourself, so...

Tell you what. Check games that were suggested already. Reviews, excerpts and even quickstart rules are available for at least some.

It kind of sounds like you don't want a developed setting, but that you want to be able to have human characters encounter a variety of monsters. In that case, just make the monsters and let PC's encounter them.