I've had a quixotic desire to run a modern game for ages now, and I have been homebrewing my own personal campaign with elements of both Delta Green and Dark Matter (from the old Alternity game). As you might imagine, this game will be dark, full of intrigue, and loaded with ambiguous motives.
A real problem is giving this campaign a set of rules. Modern games don't really have a "default" to run with, and so I can't just default to Pathfinder. Further, I don't have a lot of experience with the settings I'm considering, so balance may be a problem. Especially when I need to add aliens and explosions into the mix. The options I've considered are below:
D20 Modern: Well, it's close to the default at least. But bluh, so generic. I'm playing the smart guy, and just like every other class I get extra feats, none of which are deeply interesting. The only thing I like about d20 modern is the wealth system, which is abstract enough to apply to the insanely complicated real life finances. I'm no accountant, and I don't want to need to know the difference in interest rates between a high yield mutual fund and a standard 401k. I have a hunch that whatever else I do, I'll graft the d20 wealth system onto the actual winning system like some hideous Frankenstein Monster.
BRP: The system used by Call of Cthulhu, and therefore Delta Green. It's advantage is its simplicity, as you just check to see if you rolled under your skill. The downside: it may be too simple. I've got the same chance of hitting with my gun, no matter if I'm shooting a train or a rat. Plus, the non-combat skills may accidentally create plotline bottlenecks. Like if the next clue requires a physics roll, but no-one can pass the skill check. This is generally managed in other systems, and I'm not sure I can graft those on to fix it.
Alternity: I spent a lot of the nineties playing this particular sci-fi proto-d20 system, and I have a great fondness for it. It operates much like d20, except that modifiers are addressed in the form of extra dice. So a +1 is a +1d4. Also, it has three tiers of success for every action. 4 tiers if it is the kind of core clue that must be revealed. Plus, the gun combat is pretty deadly, as it should be. The downsides: it is unbalanced. Dex and Int are the only abilities that matter, and every little thing is based off of skills, most of which are Dex and Int based. Oh, did I mention that skill points are only determined by Int? I'm not sure that I've got the design skills to fix the balance flaws in the system. As a secondary consideration, the game is long out of print, and didn't make a big splash, so I'm not sure I'd be able to find even pdfs for my players to use. (I haven't checked, my hard copies are still alive after all).
Gumshoe: The cinematic mystery system. Most of the game's mechanical energy is expended on the finding and understanding of clues. The "action scenes" have an almost non-existent "roll 1d6" method of adjudication. I love (love love) how the investigation works, but I don't think I'd want to be so bare bones on the action, especially in modern day where the PCs can get very high powered weapons very easily. I also don't think I can graft the investigation rules onto one of the other systems here. They tend to be based in very different requirements.
I dunno. What would you, the wonderful folks of the boards, do in this situation? Is there another system I haven't considered?
You could use Call of Cthulhu D20, which in a lot of ways is a blend of D20 Modern (more D&D 3.0) and the standard CoC system (especially the sanity rules). I've never played Dark Conspiracy but that has rules for that sort of modern horror game too if you have it.
I think that All Flesh Must Be Eaten uses the same basic engine as Buffy and Angel if I'm not mistaken. It has a particular emphasis on the zombie apocalypse but it defaults to a modern setting with a lot of character templates to choose from.
GURPS is superior to all these systems...that said it requires lots of work to bring a campaign to fruition but the work is usually worth it when all comes together.
Me, personally, I'd go with Cyberpunk 2020/Interlock. One of the most easily modified systems I have ever worked with, good armor vs. gun rules, classless system (overall), no levels, and it uses the same lifepath/generation that many people have praised, and that you will find in games like Artesia.
Barring that, I've had luck with D20 Modern, HERO, and I'm considering trying M&M3E for a similar game I'm working up in the back of my brain this very instant, in fact.
D20 Modern is good for High Cinema Action.
I'll second Cyberpunk/Interlock, insomuch as you're willing to do a lot of 'tending the garden' with players in the setup.
GURPS is okay, but turgid. Frankly, if you're going to go to GURPS, you might as well go all the way to Twilight:2013.
Gumeshoe isn't a bad choice. If you want a slightly more action-y version, Savage Worlds?
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think based on the suggestions here I'll take a look at the All Flesh/Buffy system, Cyberpunk/Interlock, and maybe finally bite the bullet and try to figure out how the hell GURPS works. Also take a look at Savage Worlds. We'll see how this works out.
Thanks!
Savage Worlds could do that.
Also, D6 Adventure, the old D6 West-End Games' Star-Wars system adapted to modern settings is free to download here.
FATE is also, and almost always, a good choice. Strands of Fate is a slick generic version of the system I would recommand.
If you really want to get into the "illuminati" (I'm thinking about the Steve Jackson's game) feeling of powerfull groups scheming in the dark against one another, Reign could do that, and the ORE system is quite good IMO.
If you do look at the Unisystem, which is the Buffy/AFMBE system, I would check out Conspiracy X over the other two games, as I have a feeling it would be more useful for the flavor of game you seem to want to run.
Shadowrun could also work well. The 4E system is fairly simple once you cut out all the magic, hacking, cyberware etc... It would be a pretty good system to use for a standard modern game, and removing those extra elements would be really easy. You'd have to lower the amount of BP points players start with, and obviously you'd have to place some restrictions on the gear they can buy (i.e no cyberware etc...).
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think based on the suggestions here I'll take a look at the All Flesh/Buffy system, Cyberpunk/Interlock, and maybe finally bite the bullet and try to figure out how the hell GURPS works. Also take a look at Savage Worlds. We'll see how this works out.
Thanks!