Paranormal or X-Files RPG

[Endless Flight]

Hey Endless Flight , did you ever play Conspiracy X 2.0?
If not, did you find another system that worked for it?

No, my gamer ADD took me away from X-Files and back to Star Wars. I’ve been chipping away at my D6 game.

 

[finarvyn]

Two that come to mind are Eden Studios' Conspiracy X, and possibly the Dark*Matter setting for the Alternity rules. I've read the Dark*Matter core book (many years ago), and I'm currently playing in a Gurps campaign using that setting. It's been fun.

I like the setting for Dark*Matter quite a bit and own both the Alternity and d20 versions, so if you want something more D&D-ish keep the d20 version in mind. The d20 version is the one I play the most since I can use a lot of my D&D stuff with it. Alternity is an interesting system, with a cool dice chain as part of its core mechanic, but I will confess that I haven't played Alternity much. Looks really cool, though.

 

[Majestic]

There was a magazine back in the early 90s (I can't remember which one) that had "The X-Files RPG" on its cover. A few years ago I picked up a copy, only to find that I already had one in my collection. In any event, there was no game within. It simply listed some of the characters and concepts, and talked about what one would do if they ran an X-Files game (all based on the first season of the show).

Twice at a convention I ran an X-Files game, with new agents exploring paranormal phenomena, using Conspiracy X 2.0. It went pretty well and we had fun with it.

I've also ran a lot of Delta Green, though the default of that game is more Lovecraftian in tone.

Another system I've run a few times is Into the Shadows, which is effectively the West End Games d6 system (like for Star Wars and Ghostbusters) converted into a free, modern setting of exploring the supernatural.

All of these are good systems that - with a little bit of work - could be used for an XF-like game.

 

[TristramEvans]

In my mind I associate GURPs immediately with X-Files - just the clinical, proceedural nature of it.

 

[3rik]

I'm partial to ConX2.0 for this but you could mold The Unexplained from Carnivore Games into an X-files type game. It's a paranormal investigation game that runs on Fudge.

 

[Simlasa]

My first thought is still Delta Green... minus the overtly Mythos oriented stuff. Blame Mrs. Baughman's condition on weird alien tech instead of bad magic.
DG isn't all that much 'over the top' compared to a lot of the bizarre episodes X-Files got into.

 

[Baulderstone]

In my mind I associate GURPs immediately with X-Files - just the clinical, proceedural nature of it.

It also had GURPS Illuminati and an official conversion of Conspiracy X.

 

[Fenris-77]

Huh. I gave this some thought and I really wouldn't even consider using a percentile system for an X-Files game. They work really well for it, I'm sure, I just don't think I'll ever choose to run those systems. I'd play that game, for sure, I just wouldn't run it.

I'm not sure what I would use to run it though. Gumshoe sprang to mind but that's not right either. Hmm.

 

[Aglondir]

Used to own so many of the 1E books. The writing was incredible, especially the 3 aliens books (grays, saurians, atlanteans.) The psychic powers and magic had a very "real world" feel. As I recall, they were powered by a meta source called Seepage, which was basically the collective negative emotions of humanity. But 2E is a much better system than 1E.

I also owned both versions of Dark Matter (alternity and D20M.) The tone seemed lighter than ConX, which often felt like a horror game. As much as I love D20M, I'd go with ConX.

One thing that may be an issue for both games is that the world has changed a bit since they were published. Patriot Act, dep home sec, massive data centers, 5 eyes, space x, deep state conspiracies... lots of fun material.

But you could probably use any generic system for X Files. The big question is if you're going to have psi or magic. I can't recall what the official position was on that from the show, but I seem to recall psi was real but magic was not.

What about the Esoterrorists rpg?

 

[Gringnr]

I've had an X-Files scenario kicking around in my head since the 90s that I'll probably never run. It seemed novel and edgy back then, but just seems tasteless to me now. I was planning on using World of Darkness rules for it, Hunter's Hunted or something.

 

[urbwar]

One thing that may be an issue for both games is that the world has changed a bit since they were published. Patriot Act, dep home sec, massive data centers, 5 eyes, space x, deep state conspiracies... lots of fun material.

Con X 2.0 updated the timeline, so that's covered in that version

 

[Baulderstone]

Used to own so many of the 1E books. The writing was incredible, especially the 3 aliens books (grays, saurians, atlanteans.) The psychic powers and magic had a very "real world" feel. As I recall, they were powered by a meta source called Seepage, which was basically the collective negative emotions of humanity. But 2E is a much better system than 1E.

It's not just negative emotions. Seepage is a psychic white noise that most humans emitted at all times. Humans were originally an experiment of the Atlanteans, who implanted humans with some Grey DNA in order to better understand their power. They have no psychic ability and aren't affected by it. The occasional human actually learns to use their psychic abilities, but mostly the psychic energy just forms pools in places of great emotional significance, like holy sites, battle fields, homes of serial killers, etc.

The Atlanteans developed rituals that allowed them to channel seepage, which is the basis of magic. This magic was eventually turned on them by their servitor races (Humans, but also sasquatch and yeti, which have retained their magic to remain largely invisible to humans. The big downside to magic is that by channeling vast pools of seepage, it can eventually drown out a personality with them becoming more archetypal depending on the type of power used. They might become a vampire or a messiah, both of which can ultimately be just as dangerous.

Getting back to seepage, the white noise it travel across space to the Grey homeworld where it is beginning to drive them mad and interfering with their reproduction. All species on their planet are psychic, and all conflict, including predator/prey relationships is handled by psychic conflict rather than physical conflict, so they are completely unequipped for violence. They have travelled to earth in their saucer-shaped psychic lenses to find a way to make humans stop making this horrible noise.

It was great the way that game mixed so many types of weirdness into one coherent background, and I haven't even gotten into the Saurians, Mothman, the blues, etc.

One thing that may be an issue for both games is that the world has changed a bit since they were published. Patriot Act, dep home sec, massive data centers, 5 eyes, space x, deep state conspiracies... lots of fun material.

Con X 2.0 updated the timeline, so that's covered in that version

You can always make it a period game set in the '90s. I did that with Delta Green a few times before the new edition came out. Since the '90s were a high-water period for this flavor of conspiracy, it feels natural to set these kind of games then.

 

[CRKrueger]

It's not just negative emotions. Seepage is a psychic white noise that most humans emitted at all times. Humans were originally an experiment of the Atlanteans, who implanted humans with some Grey DNA in order to better understand their power. They have no psychic ability and aren't affected by it. The occasional human actually learns to use their psychic abilities, but mostly the psychic energy just forms pools in places of great emotional significance, like holy sites, battle fields, homes of serial killers, etc.

The Atlanteans developed rituals that allowed them to channel seepage, which is the basis of magic. This magic was eventually turned on them by their servitor races (Humans, but also sasquatch and yeti, which have retained their magic to remain largely invisible to humans. The big downside to magic is that by channeling vast pools of seepage, it can eventually drown out a personality with them becoming more archetypal depending on the type of power used. They might become a vampire or a messiah, both of which can ultimately be just as dangerous.

Getting back to seepage, the white noise it travel across space to the Grey homeworld where it is beginning to drive them mad and interfering with their reproduction. All species on their planet are psychic, and all conflict, including predator/prey relationships is handled by psychic conflict rather than physical conflict, so they are completely unequipped for violence. They have travelled to earth in their saucer-shaped psychic lenses to find a way to make humans stop making this horrible noise.

It was great the way that game mixed so many types of weirdness into one coherent background, and I haven't even gotten into the Saurians, Mothman, the blues, etc.



You can always make it a period game set in the '90s. I did that with Delta Green a few times before the new edition came out. Since the '90s were a high-water period for this flavor of conspiracy, it feels natural to set these kind of games then.

This setting sounds like 20 pounds of awesome in a 2 pound bag.

 

[Majestic]

Huh. I gave this some thought and I really wouldn't even consider using a percentile system for an X-Files game. They work really well for it, I'm sure, I just don't think I'll ever choose to run those systems. I'd play that game, for sure, I just wouldn't run it.

I'm not sure what I would use to run it though. Gumshoe sprang to mind but that's not right either. Hmm.

If one does decide to go with Gumshoe, Night's Black Agents actually does this genre pretty well also. And the core of The X-Files was investigative, anyway.

 

[Fenris-77]

If one does decide to go with Gumshoe, Night's Black Agents actually does this genre pretty well also. And the core of The X-Files was investigative, anyway.

Yeah, I like the tweaking NBA does to the Gumshoe base. Cthulhu Dark also has some promise as a choice perhaps, especially if you make the Dark die a Paranoia die, which, now that I think about it, also puts Trophy in the mix as a base system.

 

[Endless Flight]

 

[urbwar]

Yeah, I like the tweaking NBA does to the Gumshoe base. Cthulhu Dark also has some promise as a choice perhaps, especially if you make the Dark die a Paranoia die, which, now that I think about it, also puts Trophy in the mix as a base system.

Have you seen Cthulhu Deep Green? It is based on Cthulhu Dark.

 

[Fenris-77]

Have you seen Cthulhu Deep Green? It is based on Cthulhu Dark.

Yup, although I've only skimmed it and the fact it existed slipped my mind until you mentioned it. Fenris digs into his trove of PDFs to see if he can find his copy...

 

[Fenris-77]

So after a perusal, I don't think either Cthulhu Dark or Deep Green would quite do the trick for me, although both are quite excellent. Both games de-emphasize combat far more than I'd like for a non-mythos X-Files game, although both also have something like Gumshoes investigate rules where PCs always find something, which I would want for this style of game. My benchmark for X-Files is Monster of the Week, although even there I'd want less supernatural trappings although they are easy enough to ignore and it doesn't have the investigative emphasis. If I were going to hack my own I think I'd go the Trophy route and portmanteau Cthulhu Dark and FitD, just not quite way Trophy does it.

 

[Voros]

I was thinking of Monster of the Week because that was very much the structure of a lot of the better (imo) X-Files episodes.

 

[Fenris-77]

I was thinking of Monster of the Week because that was very much the structure of a lot of the better (imo) X-Files episodes.

Yeah, if you just ignore some playbooks it works ok. I think I'd want to lean into the paranoia and conspiracy a little heavier than the base game does, but that doesn't spound like a tough hack.