I am interested in playing/running a campaign about one or possibly more vampire characters struggling to deal with their immortal existence and what it entails while trying to hold onto whatever humanity remains desperately and possibly even trying to pay back society for the wrongs they have had to commit given their affliction.  The idea is heavily inspired by the old tv show Forever Knight and would allow for some other PC and NPC types like Werewolves and such.

I think I have it narrowed down to 2 games:

Angel RPG by Eden Studios (Cinematic Unisystem) or Nightlife RPG 2nd. Edition by Stellar Games.

Which would you choose? Which is the superior game? I tend to prefer rules lite to medium games.  Which is more rules-lite?

Why not just use Vampire the Masquerade? Or Requiem?

I'd go with Nightlife. Though I am only familliar with the original.

Another one worth possibly glancing at is the Nights Edge supernatural setting for Cyberpunk 2020. That one deals with vampires as well and could be adapted to a non cyberpunk/technohorror theme.

Quote from: Batjon on July 11, 2022, 04:24:30 AM
I am interested in playing/running a campaign about one or possibly more vampire characters struggling to deal with their immortal existence and what it entails while trying to hold onto whatever humanity remains desperately and possibly even trying to pay back society for the wrongs they have had to commit given their affliction.  The idea is heavily inspired by the old tv show Forever Knight and would allow for some other PC and NPC types like Werewolves and such.

I think I have it narrowed down to 2 games:

Angel RPG by Eden Studios (Cinematic Unisystem) or Nightlife RPG 2nd. Edition by Stellar Games.

Which would you choose? Which is the superior game? I tend to prefer rules lite to medium games.  Which is more rules-lite?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/124387

I recommend this one instead. It's similar to Nightlife in premise (I did a conversion on my blog a while back, it's easy), but the humanity system is vastly refined. Also, it's free.

Quote from: Batjon on July 11, 2022, 04:24:30 AM
I am interested in playing/running a campaign about one or possibly more vampire characters struggling to deal with their immortal existence and what it entails while trying to hold onto whatever humanity remains desperately and possibly even trying to pay back society for the wrongs they have had to commit given their affliction.  The idea is heavily inspired by the old tv show Forever Knight and would allow for some other PC and NPC types like Werewolves and such.

I think I have it narrowed down to 2 games:

Angel RPG by Eden Studios (Cinematic Unisystem) or Nightlife RPG 2nd. Edition by Stellar Games.

Which would you choose? Which is the superior game? I tend to prefer rules lite to medium games.  Which is more rules-lite?

Out of the two RPGs listed, I would urge you to go with Unisystem. I liked it for Conspiracy X v2.0.

But I more strongly urge you to go with V20.

Quote from: MeganovaStella on July 11, 2022, 04:34:42 AM
Why not just use Vampire the Masquerade? Or Requiem?

Quote from: drayakir on July 11, 2022, 02:00:36 PM
But I more strongly urge you to go with V20.

I strongly urge not to touch those with a ten foot pole. If Nightlife's humanity mechanic is swingy af, WW's is wishy-washy af.

EDIT: "You stole a candy bar? Roll to see if you develop schizophrenia!" is a recurring joke in the fandom for a reason.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 11, 2022, 02:09:23 PM

Quote from: MeganovaStella on July 11, 2022, 04:34:42 AM
Why not just use Vampire the Masquerade? Or Requiem?

Quote from: drayakir on July 11, 2022, 02:00:36 PM
But I more strongly urge you to go with V20.

I strongly urge not to touch those with a ten foot pole. If Nightlife's humanity mechanic is swingy af, WW's is wishy-washy af.

EDIT: "You stole a candy bar? Roll to see if you develop schizophrenia!" is a recurring joke in the fandom for a reason.

Assuming you follow the Path of Humanity (at least for V20). I had an absolute blast playing a flesh trader following the Path of Honorable Accord. Admittedly it's been years since I've looked at V20, but I don't think you get a Derangement if you fall on the meter, that's VtR, innit?

Quote from: drayakir on July 11, 2022, 02:38:37 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 11, 2022, 02:09:23 PM

Quote from: MeganovaStella on July 11, 2022, 04:34:42 AM
Why not just use Vampire the Masquerade? Or Requiem?

Quote from: drayakir on July 11, 2022, 02:00:36 PM
But I more strongly urge you to go with V20.

I strongly urge not to touch those with a ten foot pole. If Nightlife's humanity mechanic is swingy af, WW's is wishy-washy af.

EDIT: "You stole a candy bar? Roll to see if you develop schizophrenia!" is a recurring joke in the fandom for a reason.

Assuming you follow the Path of Humanity (at least for V20). I had an absolute blast playing a flesh trader following the Path of Honorable Accord. Admittedly it's been years since I've looked at V20, but I don't think you get a Derangement if you fall on the meter, that's VtR, innit?

That's been a rule ever since the first edition from 1991. As is having a higher Conscience rating making it easier to get away with humanity violations. But I digress...

Batjon said he wanted to play Forever Knight. The WW games are pretty much the worst choice you could possibly make. The rules and setting fight you every step of the way. Unsurprisingly, most groups ignore the rules and pretend it works. So not understanding how the rules actually work is pretty common.

I'm assuming Batjon already dismissed that considering that he knows Nightlife and Angel exist and it's highly unlikely that someone would know what those games are but not the WW games that overshadow them in popularity.

I have to hand it to whoever remembers forever knight. That was one excellent show. I'd say it was a best choice for a vampire themed game setting. A pity it wasn't done specifically for a good game ruleset.

Honestly gurps could do it, with losing humanity treated as a derangement that gets worse under certain conditions. I think there was a gurps vtm crossover once.

If you want some good reading on vampires and humanity I highly recommend the Sonya blue series, starting with sunglasses after dark.

I'd choose Night Shift, personally.

Cool, I have not thought about Forever Knight in a long time. Loved that show.

I was catching up on FK on streaming services.

An interesting aspect of FK's vampirism is that it's psychosomatic. (The rules for vampirism aren't consistent across the series, but this plays a role in several episodes.) Nick's symptoms become less severe as he becomes more "human." Crosses only irritate where before he'd burst into flame, he develops a reflection, etc.

Nightlife is the only system that models this sort of thing out of the box. Other systems require house rules.

However, FK vampires don't seem to actually need blood to survive; Nick drinks protein shakes instead with occasional relapses whenever drama is needed. It's more like an addiction or eating disorder. The only rpg I found that models that is the Feed rpg I linked above.

Quote from: MeganovaStella on July 11, 2022, 04:34:42 AM
Why not just use Vampire the Masquerade? Or Requiem?

I own V5 but am not a fan of the setting and I fear there might be too much setting and lore stuff to rip out to make it really worthwhile.  It is also a tad on the crunchy side.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 11, 2022, 11:33:17 AM

Quote from: Batjon on July 11, 2022, 04:24:30 AM
I am interested in playing/running a campaign about one or possibly more vampire characters struggling to deal with their immortal existence and what it entails while trying to hold onto whatever humanity remains desperately and possibly even trying to pay back society for the wrongs they have had to commit given their affliction.  The idea is heavily inspired by the old tv show Forever Knight and would allow for some other PC and NPC types like Werewolves and such.

I think I have it narrowed down to 2 games:

Angel RPG by Eden Studios (Cinematic Unisystem) or Nightlife RPG 2nd. Edition by Stellar Games.

Which would you choose? Which is the superior game? I tend to prefer rules lite to medium games.  Which is more rules-lite?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/124387

I recommend this one instead. It's similar to Nightlife in premise (I did a conversion on my blog a while back, it's easy), but the humanity system is vastly refined. Also, it's free.

I actually own this game, both PDF and physical.  I have not fully read it yet but it seemed to me while looking through it that it was basically more of a vampire construction kit rather than a fully fledged game.  I also do not think you can make other supernatural types with it.

Am I wrong? Are you able to tell me more about it?

Quote from: drayakir on July 11, 2022, 02:00:36 PM

Quote from: Batjon on July 11, 2022, 04:24:30 AM
I am interested in playing/running a campaign about one or possibly more vampire characters struggling to deal with their immortal existence and what it entails while trying to hold onto whatever humanity remains desperately and possibly even trying to pay back society for the wrongs they have had to commit given their affliction.  The idea is heavily inspired by the old tv show Forever Knight and would allow for some other PC and NPC types like Werewolves and such.

I think I have it narrowed down to 2 games:

Angel RPG by Eden Studios (Cinematic Unisystem) or Nightlife RPG 2nd. Edition by Stellar Games.

Which would you choose? Which is the superior game? I tend to prefer rules lite to medium games.  Which is more rules-lite?

Out of the two RPGs listed, I would urge you to go with Unisystem. I liked it for Conspiracy X v2.0.

But I more strongly urge you to go with V20.

I own V5 not V20.  I mentioned in one of my posts above why I did not consider V5.