Scampir

I've got a series of TTRPGs I've been working on that I'm loosely referring to as The Blight Trilogy.

The overall gist: Supernatural darkness already exists in the world, vampires, werewolves, demons, cryptids, etc. Then one day, a malevolent force from Beyond™ touches down in the Mojave desert, ushering in horrors that no one's seen before. So far, I've got two games set in this world, you can check them out in my pinned post:

• In A Red Valley: A Cortex Prime game, and the epicenter of the Blight Trilogy. A malevolent entity from beyond the stars touches down in the Mojave Desert and declares itself king of the hill among the denizens of the supernatural here on earth. The only thing standing in its way? A motley band of hunters, supernatural creatures that've thrown themselves in with humanity, and survivors of the initial calamity looking for revenge.
• Comrade - The Allegiance: An Illuminated By Lumen game, and the East Coast response to In A Red Valley. Players are different sorts of creatures (and humans) that go bump in the night, and under normal circumstances they'd be at each other's throats. With multiple invading forces of opportunistic supernatural threats heading their way, these feuding factions put their differences aside to beat them back.

Right now I'm working on the third game in this series, a game set in the American Midwest that's been tentatively titled Flyover. The basic pitch: As various supernatural creatures make the exodus from the event that took place during In A Red Valley, the U.S. government has sanctioned the use of military intervention to intercept their efforts. Including scrambling jet fighters in domestic airspace. Incidents that result in aircraft and other foreign objects being brought down (and their aftermath) are known as Flyover Incidents, and the players are all members of a formerly clandestine government organization called Black Box, that are tasked with investigating (and handling) them.

• RIYL: The X-Files, the BPRD universe (Hellboy, etc.), Midwestern horror films (Halloween, The Crazies, Nightmare On Elm Street).

I've also settled on the character types you can play:

• Agents: Traditionally employed and trained government agents that through experience, circumstance, or active pursuit have found themselves with a unique understanding of the supernatural.
  • Their key mechanic is luck. Basically, their prolonged exposure to this weird shit allows them to survive things they shouldn’t, and the ability to attune to things they shouldn't.
    • Backlash: Bad luck. The universe's rubber-band snapping back.
• “Witches”: A pseudo-military academy of magically inclined young students that have been training to be part of a specialized support squad for Black Box operatives. The Flyover incidents have greatly accelerated the timetable of their debut, the PCs are the first of their kind in the field.
  • Their key mechanic is reality bending. Most magic is either subtle or is limited in its scale. Depending on what they’re willing to risk, mages are able to affect large areas or numbers of targets.
    • Backlash: Literal psychic backlash. The forces that the mages are bending assert their dominance and damage them.
• Conduits or “Lawyers”: Individuals that have deliberately or inadvertently struck up a bargain for power with an otherworldly being or powerful spirit.
  • Their key mechanic is the summon. The being that they’ve struck the bargain with manifests itself in our world and directly intervenes on their behalf. 
    • Backlash: The being takes their end of the bargain, which is some form of stolen life energy. This can potentially be fatal.

I haven't nailed down the full playlist to keep it in tune with the aggressive music tone with the other two games, but we're starting with Chicago's own Russian Circles:

As for the system, I'm narrowing it down to the following options:

• Free League's Year Zero Engine
  • Pros: The license is royalty free, the system itself is light, I think I've got a pretty solid idea on how to freak it for the key mechanic and so that it matches the horror tone.
  • Cons: I don't have a handle on how to incorporate magic/supernatural abilities in a way that I like (the examples of magic included in the SRD doesn't feel right).
• EDGE's Genesys System
  • Pros: The narrative dice system hews pretty close to the unpredictability and potential dread of the tone I'm going for.
  • Cons: People will cry about proprietary dice (even though the digital die roller is now free for all), their creator program is a foundry deal that as near I can tell only allows you to sell through DriveThruRPG.
• Green Ronin Publishing's Adventure Game Engine
  • Pros: The AGE nails the "action" part of the action-horror equation.
  • Cons: I'm not sold on the horror end.
• Rolling My Own
  • Pros: It's all mine, I have a very base idea a fun/light system for the player's key mechanic.
  • Cons: It'll take a lot of time, I've never built a system from scratch before, kinda don't wanna.

Watch this space for more, and feel free to reach out if you're interested in any of this stuff.

Just finished up the first draft of character creation for Flyover. Sneak peak of the character archetypes down below:

All players are representatives of a government organization known as Black Box that is tasked with dealing with the paranormal and supernatural. Prior to the Event in the Mojave Desert, Black Box was a secret, extremely confidential outfit, but became public once the truth of the supernatural was revealed:

• Agents: Traditionally employed and trained government agents that through experience, circumstance, or active pursuit have found themselves with a unique understanding of the supernatural.

  • Power - Requisitions: Agents have the ability to call in favors and request equipment from Black Box even in situations where it seems implausible.
  • Transgression: Bend - The arc of the universe bends just so for the Agent in ways that are subtle, but unlikely. Every member of Black Bag has plenty of stories about encounters they shouldn’t have survived, or something going their way that was a 1 in a million shot. They’d call it luck, but for everyone outside of the org. that has any regular contact with Black Bag, it seems unreal.
    • Tier 1: Hidden Hand - One passive roll automatically succeeds per scene.
    • Tier 2: Pressing Your Luck - Pushing your roll comes at no cost.
    • Tier 3: Grace - A number of failed rolls equal to spent resonance succeed.
  • Backlash: Bad luck. The universe’s rubber-band snapping back.

• “Witches”: A pseudo-military academy of magically inclined young students that have been training to be part of a specialized support squad for Black Box operatives. The Flyover incidents have greatly accelerated the timetable of their organizational debut, these operatives are the first of their kind in the field.

  • Power - Spellwork: Witches are trained in magic from a young age and upon enrolling in [The Academy], they specialize in one particular area. Every Witch has immediate training in common spells. Then once they advance to training for the field, they focus on one of the following disciplines.
  • Transgression: Break - Through Spellwork you’re already familiar with how human beings can adjust the whims of the universe to their own whims. With concentration you push this to—and beyond—its limits. Within your discipline, you’re able to stretch spells to unheard of results.
    • Tier 1: A single spell automatically overcharges by 2.
    • Tier 2: All spells cast in a scene have their overcharging doubled.
    • Tier 3: Ignore Mishaps for a scene.
  • Backlash: Literal psychic backlash. The forces that the Witches are bending bite back.

• Conduits or “Lawyers”: Individuals that have deliberately or inadvertently struck up a bargain for power with an otherworldly being or powerful spirit.

  • Power - Blight: Conduits have been touched by the Blight and are able to channel its mysterious energy into strange powers. Those powers manifest from physical or behavioral tics brought on by Blight exposure. A third eye that allows for extra-sensory perception, glowing sores that radiate unearthly heat, etc.
  • Transgression: Beg - The entity that is responsible for your powers acts directly on your behalf. Rather than affecting your abilities, or obliquely responding to your requests and prayers, it literally shows up and gets its hands—or other appendages—dirty.
    • Tier 1: Entity is able to affect the outcome of a single action.
    • Tier 2: Entity is able to assist with one challenge/enemy/obstacle. Once it’s eliminated the entity leaves.
    • Tier 3: Entity is able to act over the course of an entire scene.
  • Backlash: The being takes their end of the bargain, which is some form of stolen life energy. This can potentially be fatal.