An interesting thing happen on the way to CoC

[Pagrin]

I recently GMed a game of Call of C for some friends of mind. The game was written by two other people who had hosted it at a recent Con. As we didn't get the chance to play at the con we got hold of a copy and away we went.
What we discovered (appart from some major flaws but thats another story.) is that while the plot was on the whole good, it wasn't really what we would have called CoC, but rather just a horror/thriller game. The only monsters in the game were there for the battle value and not really the plot advancement. So I found myself wondering why the game was written as CoC.
I came to the conclusion it was because it was set in the 1920s. But this doesn't mean that any game system couldn't have been used really.
So I was wondering has anyone run a game where the rule system has been used for a setting which is not the norm? That is a D&D system used in a modern day setting etc.
Pagrin :-)

[wyrm]

Well, there's D20 Modern ;-)

[Keith Senkowski]

Hi,

My friends and I have been playing (on and off for several years) Ninjas and Superspies in a WWII setting.  It is less of a superspy game and more of a OSS/special forces type of game.  It isn't that big of a stretch but it does answer the question.

We also tried (years ago) an ill fated 2nd Edition DnD game in space.  Not Spelljammer, but tried using the 2nd Edition rules to play a space opera style game.  It didn't work out to well, but at the time it was the only game system we played.

Keith

[wyrm]

I, myself, like what I call "quick, easy and simple systems" like Tri-Stat and FUDGE (http://www.fudgerpg.com/fudge/)

I've converted many different games from various settings and games into Tri-Stat and FUDGE.

[Valamir]

So I was wondering has anyone run a game where the rule system has been used for a setting which is not the norm? That is a D&D system used in a modern day setting etc.
Pagrin :-)

Hey Pagrin,

Can you provide a little more guidance for this thread.  I mean right now the only possible answer is "of course...the vast majority of gamers do this all the time".

So to prevent this thread from being nothing more than a catalog list of everyones attempts to hack one system into something else, what about the actual issue are you trying to explore?

Are you looking to have a discussion about your actual play experience in this game and specifically what tweaks you did to the system that did or didn't work, or did things that you didn't expect?

Are you looking to discuss in general the connection between a particular setting and how one achieves a system that handles that setting well (which is more of an RPG Theory question)?

What utility are you hoping to get from this thread?

[Pagrin]

You may be right, in that this should be an RPG theory question. But I just found myself thinking, why is it we tend to thing of a given system as working for a given setting.
Apart from Gurps, D20 etc which have been marketed to be generic.
When you say to someone D&D they assume you mean a fantasy medievil setting. If you say CoC people assume 1920 or modern settinging.
Even when the plot of the game doesn't fit the system being used very well. (As in the game I ran.)
I was wondering has anyone tried a D&D game set in say the 1700s. Or maybe a CoC game set during the roman empire?
Sorry if this isn't a very cohesive message, but when I get an idea I like to see if anyone else has dealt with it already.
Pagrin :-)

[Nathan]

I'll bite.

I am one of those unfortunate fools who do as you say.

I often run Call of Cthulhu games which tend to be more of a thriller/horror tale without relating to the eldritch gods and what not. I mean, this isn't unheard of I think from the game's perspective -- there are numerous campaigns and adventures which contain no link to cthulhu mythos at all.

What I like about Cthulhu when running horror games -- you can peel off the mythos and still have a solid horror game. The key ingredients are the investigator's mortality, their mental instability, and the ability to have competent characters put into situations which lend their skills as incompetent. I also think Cthulhu's D100 mechanic lends itself to research and real world "guessing" (if any of that makes sense) -- which makes it useful for normal people vs. weird stuff.

Now, I would never run D20 Cthulhu, for instance, like I would classic Cthulhu. D20 Cthulhu is more heroic -- with extra guns, science fiction, and bangs and bings. In D20 Cthulhu, I let the characters be top secret agents, special forces operatives, and so on who have to take down lots of creepy mooks before getting on to the unstoppable bad guys. I think that is the benefit of D20.

Another game I do this with is Feng Shui. I am interested in running a full fledged netherworld/timeline/chi battle sites game, but most of the time, it turns out to be a martial arts action flick with a measure of occultic or supernatural. The element of magic and what not can be peeled off, and you still have a coherent, exciting game.

I don't think every game can do this -- some can more so than others. I would never run a more action-packed game with Cthulhu (my games tend to be action-packed enough) -- but a spy game with Cthulhu? Or even old fashioned dungeon crawling? Yuck!

My own theory that you can use any system to play any sort of game, I think, holds true. The system may get in the way of certain parts of the action and adventure, but you can still eke it out. I mean, how many of used D&D or homebrew D&D to run scifi, action, or other silly games as a youth? I know I did. Looking back, it wasn't great -- but we had fun (which is the key).

Anyway, interesting stuff...

Thanks,
Nathan

[DrStalker]

I've run Planscape using the Unknown Armies Rules.

In this case I felt I could capture the mood and feel on Planescape better with the UA system than I could ever do with D&D.   I was less concerned with the mechanics of task resolution (although being able to support everything in the setting with mininimal work is really handy) than I was with the general feeling that the UA rules can help evoke; a universe of highly varied individual creatures with no moral absolutes people can point to and say "that is good, that is evil"

[Doctor Xero]

I was wondering has anyone tried a D&D game set in say the 1700s. Or maybe a CoC game set during the roman empire?
Sorry if this isn't a very cohesive message, but when I get an idea I like to see if anyone else has dealt with it already.
Pagrin :-)

Well, using a genre-specific system for something other than its intended genre mixes the flavor of the campaign setting with the flavor of the system (as Ron Edwards would point out, system does matter).  I once ran a classic 1930s horror campaign using Mekton.  It gave the horror setting a certain anime' feel, and the underlying optimism inherent to the Mekton system made an ironic counterpoint to the horrific elements of the campaign.  Similarly, I ran a four-color superhero campaign using Ars Magica.  It flavored the campaign with a certain Medieval Faerie Story feel simply from the feel of the system.

Also, telling players to ready themselves for an AD-&-D game and then running it in a different setting than what they are used to enables the game master to play against their default assumptions, adding a certain lustre to the game through both defamiliarization and a 90-degree angle violation of their automatic expectations.

Doctor Xero