I get that much. But Delta Green is dark horror, not urban fantasy. What about urban fantasy that isn't dark horror? Stuff like Urban Arcana, Dresden Files, etc.

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on October 01, 2024, 06:19:32 AMMummy was a great concept but terribly implemented.

Which version?

Quote from: Chris24601 on October 01, 2024, 10:11:47 AMProbably BECAUSE the Zeitgeist has moved on.

It's sorta like how the public generally prefers sci-fi in good times and leans towards fantasy in harder times... the sort of urban fantasy characterized by Vampire needs a certain environment in order to thrive.

Specifically, it was easy to fake angst about fake existential crises when the economy was strong, the Cold War was over, and America had resurrected its image of military strength via the first Gulf War.

When the economy sucks, crime is up, and our leaders seem determined to start WW3 then nihilistic dystopian settings akin to the WoD lose a lot of their appeal.

I think in the present Zeitgeist games like Delta Green are probably the logical successors to the WoD.

Curseborne by Onyx Path just Kickstarted two hours ago, and is already funded. That's probably due to the OP faithful more than any zeitgeist. But if it breaks the $1M mark, that could be saying something.

The kickstarter is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/curseborne-tabletop-roleplaying-game

The setting looks like a simplification of World of Darkness and the rules look way more complicated than V5. It's pretty obviously funded by OP faithful.

I'll start caring if they announce a video game adaptation directed by Brian Mitsoda.

Quote from: Chris24601 on September 15, 2024, 03:40:03 PMRevised-era Hunter was a kinda gonzo "you've been empowered by the divine powers to punch monsters" type deal and is much more fun.

Being able to actually play the good guys in world of darkness was refreshing, none of the nonsense "woe is me I'm a blood sucking superhero"

Nope, you're the divine reckoning of all these punks who have squibbled over and fed on humanity, perfect kerma.

Yeah, the "woe is me, I'm a blood sucking superhero" thing is just so obnoxious. It's quite refreshing to see them get their comeuppance.

You know, I'd like to see a game where the vampires are outright b-movies supervillains who enjoy it and only use their humanity as a cover.

Did more research on Curseborne.

It doesn't have a humanity mechanic. So if you steal candybars, you won't develop schizophrenia.

It uses a "fail forward" mechanic where you get action points whenever you fail a roll.

So if you fail to rip your victim's face off, you get an action point and don't have to worry about developing schizophrenia.

There's no social/political splats like there were in Chronicles. Instead, your beliefs and personality are determined by your "family." E.g. all vampires are gay fashionista baristas, all werewolves are hairy uneducated mountain men, all ghosts are... whatever the stereotype for ghosts is, etc. And they all love squabbling over superficial garbage.

The core rulebook supports mixed groups. It only took, what, 33 years?

Truly, we live in exciting times. /s

For urban Fantasy/SF now maybe a revival of the old Dark*Matter RPG would work.

Quote from: finarvyn on September 15, 2024, 12:55:31 PMAnyone have recent experience with WoD games? Anything I should know about them if I decide to play at the store?

I gotta admit, I never played V:TM or any WoD RPGs. They never appealed to me.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on October 02, 2024, 08:19:47 AMYeah, the "woe is me, I'm a blood sucking superhero" thing is just so obnoxious. It's quite refreshing to see them get their comeuppance.

You know, I'd like to see a game where the vampires are outright b-movies supervillains who enjoy it and only use their humanity as a cover.

I personally double down on that notion, fiction writers are often interested in the concept of the vampire society, but to me that humanizes them to much.

I agree, the lone b-movie evil apex predator is the best model, classic Dracula and his spin-offs come to mind for a charismatic force of nature bad-guy.

Quote from: Socratic-DM on October 05, 2024, 10:49:44 AM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on October 02, 2024, 08:19:47 AMYeah, the "woe is me, I'm a blood sucking superhero" thing is just so obnoxious. It's quite refreshing to see them get their comeuppance.

You know, I'd like to see a game where the vampires are outright b-movies supervillains who enjoy it and only use their humanity as a cover.

I personally double down on that notion, fiction writers are often interested in the concept of the vampire society, but to me that humanizes them to much.

I agree, the lone b-movie evil apex predator is the best model, classic Dracula and his spin-offs come to mind for a charismatic force of nature bad-guy.

My approach for Hunters of the Damned is mostly classic Dracula, but with the ability to create mooks (ie. the equivalent of Dracula's Brides and, in this case, probably another tier below them) so the "Big Bad" can be an arc villain rather than just a monster of the week.

For those who want the "Woe is Me" type I'll have the Cursed... PCs who, like Mina, have been bitten and could become a full monster if not able to resist the temptations of hunger and power being so cursed inflicts (which is what the Virtues in the game allow them to resist until they can kill the monster who cursed them and be freed of its influence). The key point though is that they're basically "humans in transition to monster" not a full-blown monster themselves. Their abilities are a shadow of the true monsters (unless they embrace the temptations and become and NPC in the process).

I had some similar ideas. One time I had this idea for a setting where there were two types of magical creatures, each being counterparts. On one side were the evil monsters that prey on innocents, and on the other were tortured antiheroes who hunted the monsters while struggling against their own inner monsters.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on October 05, 2024, 03:15:58 PMI had some similar ideas. One time I had this idea for a setting where there were two types of magical creatures, each being counterparts. On one side were the evil monsters that prey on innocents, and on the other were tortured antiheroes who hunted the monsters while struggling against their own inner monsters.

Dresden Files (the book series that so happens to have an RPG) played with this concept, Red Court Vampires are basically more or less a contagion of sorts, once you're infected you don't become a vampire until you actually take someone's life via feeding on them, but they always have this underlying hunger, and while they are strong it scales with their hunger so...

Unlike VTM, where the beast is basically a non-existent factor, more so if you're playing Sabbat. I never ever heard of a situation where a vampire lost their humanity.

Quote from: Socratic-DM on October 05, 2024, 10:09:47 PMRed Court Vampires are basically more or less a contagion of sorts, once you're infected you don't become a vampire until you actually take someone's life via feeding on them, but they always have this underlying hunger, and while they are strong it scales with their hunger so...

So Lost Boys rules? It scales? Proportionally or inversely?

That reminds of a 2013 indie game titled Feed. Rather than having a vampire's power determined by generation, blood potency, dynasty, age or w/e, it's determined by how much humanity you've surrendered to the addiction. The downside is that this increases the hunger ceiling. More powerful vampires develop stronger hunger, emphasizing how, like real addictions, it's a curse that feels good rather than a gift. In one of the sample settings, the vampires are outright supervillains and use their humanity as a cover for their villainy, rather than being tortured antiheroes.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on October 06, 2024, 09:48:35 AM

Quote from: Socratic-DM on October 05, 2024, 10:09:47 PMRed Court Vampires are basically more or less a contagion of sorts, once you're infected you don't become a vampire until you actually take someone's life via feeding on them, but they always have this underlying hunger, and while they are strong it scales with their hunger so...

So Lost Boys rules? It scales? Proportionally or inversely?

That reminds of a 2013 indie game titled Feed. Rather than having a vampire's power determined by generation, blood potency, dynasty, age or w/e, it's determined by how much humanity you've surrendered to the addiction. The downside is that this increases the hunger ceiling. More powerful vampires develop stronger hunger, emphasizing how, like real addictions, it's a curse that feels good rather than a gift. In one of the sample settings, the vampires are outright supervillains and use their humanity as a cover for their villainy, rather than being tortured antiheroes.

Proportionally, Most "half-vampires" in the Dresden Files are either sleeper agents for actual Vampires, which are horrible evil bat monsters that wear literal human skin suits, or they inversely they work for a pseudo Catholic-Organization called the Order of Saint Julie's.

Basically put there is no moral grey-area in being a half vampire, you're either a thug for something more evil that slow burns your addiction, or you have literal divine aid to help not become a horrible monster.