WWII RPG - Question

[Zarniwoop]

Phil at Spirit has asked me to raise the question as to what would be a good system to use for WWII roleplaying.

I have suggested
Savage Worlds
Basic RolePlaying: The Chaosium Roleplaying SystemBasic Roleplaying
Spycraft

phil is looking for something other than Gurps to suggest for a customer.

[EvilGinger]

GURPS definitely for the background but not the system. I would suggest D20 modern as a possibility as well as with some work traveler with mercenary  or WOD, the new basic role playing might also be an idea but I have not had my hands on it yet but am familiar with Rune quest its parent system and its earlier incarnations. It mostly depends on what sort of game is going to be run and how rules heavy the potential Referee and players likes it.

I hope that helps


   

[whitefire]

Z -

I'd suggest the following:

1) For a "heroic" style RPG- a la John Wayne war films, the Great Escape etc.. I would definitely go for Savage Worlds - it gives a solid starting point for everything right out of the box, and it is very flexible indeed.

2) For relatively rules light quick and simple games with a real world feel I would suggest BRP - it is afetr all a distillation of CoC and has been tested extensively over the years. I have a copy and have skimmed through it - it would seem an ideal candidate.

3) For more rules intensive but not overly complex I think D20 Modern is a good chioice as well, or the Mongoose version of Traveller could be used to create very well backgrounded characters, and the overall rules system could be used in a current day setting without having to change too much (we represent a relatively basic technology level planet at the time of WW2).

4) If the person wants to have the ultimate flexibility and a wealth of material to draw on I don't think you can go wrong with HERO System rules. The only drawback - as you are well aware - is that the core rulebook is enormous, and the character generation takes up something in the region of 250 pages of the book alone. That said there are a huge range of supplements, pdf's and other things that would work well.

There are also a couple of Zombie sytle RPGs - names escape me at the moment - which might be appropriate. One of them was actually set as starting in an alternative history after WW2, I am sure.

[EvilGinger]

Gear Krieg I think its called but I think its out of print at the moment its theme was Zombies ans Pulp super science if I remember correctly

[Slatie]

I'm a bit late on the uptake here but....

There was a (then) modern warfare RPG based on the movie Red Dawn a little reseach suggests it may have been called 'Price of Freedom' by Westend games.  What I remember of it's game play could easily be adapted to WW2.

[Snakes in the Tiki Lounge]

Just a couple of years later, yeah.

[EvilGinger]

Just a couple of years later, yeah.

that's quite quick for a RPG of the film at the time. The other good one to convert would have been Mongooses Starship troopers game which was already a military RPG, but its out of print now, or turn a detailed WWII small scale skirmish game into an RPG I would suggest Rules of Engagement or Rate of Fire


 Ginger