I need a system to run a campaign idea

[Rhaegar14]

Hello Playground,

I'm looking for system input for a pretty cool campaign idea I had a couple nights ago. Basically, I want to run a game where the players are harbingers of the Apocalypse, akin to the Four Horsemen, on a quest to unlock the Seals of the Apocalypse and usher in the end of all things. Now, my main problem is this: while my first thought was to make the first part of the campaign the characters recovering their full powers, eventually I would like to see them WAY outside the power scale of traditional D&D. For example, I imagine the armies of everyone who wants to live gathering around the final Seal for a last stand, and the brute force approach looking possible to the players, if very difficult. So basically I want them to be thematic demigods. What's a system I could use for this?

[Sith_Happens]

Mutants & Masterminds. Use the lethal damage and mass combat rules from the Gamemaster's Guide and set the starting power level appropriately high (probably 14, which is one below modern-day Superman).

[Gritmonger]

Hello Playground,

I'm looking for system input for a pretty cool campaign idea I had a couple nights ago. Basically, I want to run a game where the players are harbingers of the Apocalypse, akin to the Four Horsemen, on a quest to unlock the Seals of the Apocalypse and usher in the end of all things. Now, my main problem is this: while my first thought was to make the first part of the campaign the characters recovering their full powers, eventually I would like to see them WAY outside the power scale of traditional D&D. For example, I imagine the armies of everyone who wants to live gathering around the final Seal for a last stand, and the brute force approach looking possible to the players, if very difficult. So basically I want them to be thematic demigods. What's a system I could use for this?

I hesitate to say "Nobilis" again - but as avatars of Death, War, Pestilence, and Famine... but it's a narrative system instead of traditional dice rolling - you could try Scion, but I'm not sure if the power scaling and challenges would be correctly thematic.

[Magic Myrmidon]

Legend from Rule of Cool is pretty high on the power scale, at least towards level 20. If you take a look at the Legendary abilities, and look at skill uses, characters in Legend are pretty much demigods. Which is how I like it.

Examples of legendary abilities: Immune to physical or magical damage, spells that have been multiplied by 32 in size, (A fireball with a 1,280 ft radius is a sight to behold), the ability to outright win an encounter once per quest as long as you explain how your (offscreen) plans have come to fruition, and stuff like that.

Skills uses: Climb up snowflakes, balance on clouds, knowing the formulas for a worldcracker engine, sunder mountains, etc.

I haven't even gotten into track abilities. Man, I love Legend.

[kyoryu]

Fate would work well. Changing aspects based on how they "grow into" their personas would kind of implicitly change the scale of the game.

[TheCountAlucard]

Once more it's up to me to nominate Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine. With some adaptation of course.

[Sith_Happens]

Fate would work well. Changing aspects based on how they "grow into" their personas would kind of implicitly change the scale of the game.

Note that if you go this route you'll need to

1. Recalibrate the difficulty ladder far, far away from how it is by default.

2. Stat hordes of normal humans as single characters in order to fit them into the recalibrated difficulty scale.

[Maglubiyet]

The Steve Jackson game In Nomine is specifically about the war between angels and demons.

What's the setting for this campaign -- modern, historical, fantasy, future?

[Eisenheim]

I'll second fate. On the subject of calibrating the difficulty scale, you just need to remember that it's relative to the characters, not some arbitrary or universal zero. The four horsemen don't even need to check to defeat ordinary mortals or do any task on that power scale.

I may be unreliable, as I will suggest fate for almost any game, but I really do think it would work well for something like this, possibly fate accelerated, which is good for differentiating characters who all it fit the same general category.

[Rhaegar14]

The Steve Jackson game In Nomine is specifically about the war between angels and demons.

What's the setting for this campaign -- modern, historical, fantasy, future?

I'm thinking Fantasy, but a more modern take could be interesting. Still, assume Fantasy.

[Segev]

Exalted 2e's Abyssals, with the PCs as the only Exalts in the setting, could work.

[goto124]

OP, what systems do you know? Not sure how bad an idea it would be to run a system you've never played before, but it doesn't sound good either.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Nobilis would definitely be my pick.

Once more it's up to me to nominate Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine. With some adaptation of course.

....I have, however, heard that Chuubo's works quite serviceably for godlike characters, and might have more flexibility than Nobilis, where you have a particular niche of godlike character (more like an aspect of reality). It might be much better-suited to "thematic demigods".

[Sith_Happens]

I'm thinking Fantasy, but a more modern take could be interesting. Still, assume Fantasy.

In that case if you use M&M you can probably drop the starting power level to 13 or maybe 12 and still have the PCs capable of obliterating standard armies while making it slightly more plausible that there exist foes who are capable of opposing them (in sufficient numbers at least).

I also do like the Fate idea, with the caveat that any abilities your players want to have that are much more than "hit thing with weapon" will require a decent degree of homebrewing (this is true in general of the system except when an existing game derived from it already does what you want).

[Eisenheim]

Sith Happens, those abilities will only require a complex homebrew if they need to have strongly distinct mechanical effects. The beauty of fate is that weapons, magic, chi, and almost anything else can be handled narratively without need separate mechanical systems. There's really no need to homebrew something like a magic system if you start from the idea that characters with the appropriate aspects can use magic to solve problems in just the same manner that a swordsman uses his talents.

The idea of god-like powers for the horsemen is why I specifically suggested fate accelerated, where things like that are especially easy to handle because of the abstract nature of approaches.

[mikeejimbo]

GURPS with 10000 point characters would only work if your group is entirely composed of GURPS gurus.

I would give up hot dogs to be in such a group...

[Maglubiyet]

GURPS with 10000 point characters would only work if your group is entirely composed of GURPS gurus.

I would give up hot dogs to be in such a group...

You wouldn't need 10,000 points to be demigods in GURPS. 1,000 points would model that very nicely.

GURPS Powers has some good concepts for the abilities of "force of nature" type characters. War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

[mikeejimbo]

You wouldn't need 10,000 points to be demigods in GURPS. 1,000 points would model that very nicely.

GURPS Powers has some good concepts for the abilities of "force of nature" type characters. War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

Yeah, both of these are true, though GURPS Supers puts an upper teir of Supers around 10,000. Being able to take on armies solo? Hmm, yeah probably could be done on 1,000.

[Rhaegar14]

OP, what systems do you know? Not sure how bad an idea it would be to run a system you've never played before, but it doesn't sound good either.

I have passing familiarity with Savage Worlds and Mouse Guard, and I'm comfortable with 3.5e, Pathfinder, and 4e. I have run 5e but that hasn't existed long enough for me to know ALL of its ins and outs.

I have thought about just doing it as an Epic-level 4e campaign, but the problem is two of our players have never played 4e, and starting with 21st level characters is really hard.

To reiterate a little, I plan on making a large part of the campaign's first act center around the Horsemen waking up severely weakened and having to regain most of their true power. They would not be STARTING at the demigod level. They'd be more like special snowflake PCs who have reasonable levels of power compared to mortals but can't truly be killed at the beginning. This means that the system in question needs to be able to handle both ends of the scale, but it also means that I can start them low enough that character generation shouldn't be excessively difficult.

[Magic Myrmidon]

Legend handles that pretty well. Characters are very special from first level, forward, especially if you give them [legendary] abilities. And it's very similar to DnD on a base d20-using level, so it would not be hard to learn.

If I HAVE to discuss other systems (), I'd recommend against Savage. In my experience, it doesn't get to the heights that a lot of other RPGs do. 3.5 DnD certainly lets players get to demigod levels, and if you start them at, I dunno, 12th level, they'd probably be sufficiently strong to have no threat from mortals. I think I'd recommend against 5th edition if you want a super high power level.

Lessee, what other games have I played... Tiny Dungeon is a rules light thing that might work? There's... basically no crunch involved, which means it can be played on any power level.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

IIRC Chuubo's handles power ramp really well. You let players subtly change their Afflictions and Bonds over time.