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Voros

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Recently got my hands on a reasonably priced and nice copy of Transdimensional TMNT from a secondary seller on Amazon and the nifty Usagi Yojimbo rpg from Lulu.

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Also looking over pdfs of the After the Bomb UK and Australian books. Love the art and ideas but not a fan of the Palladium base system.

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I was starting to think if there was another system that would be a good fit. Suddenly occurred to me that Usagi Yojimbo is a great replacement for the martial arts part of TMNT...but what about the firearms and sf elements of After the Bomb? Maybe Feng Shui?

Any other suggestions? I prefer light to mid crunch games. Modern or older game systems are good as long as they aren’t too clunky.
 
My two options would be Mythras or Cortex Plus/Prime. Truth, I would probably do Cortex for this one (gasp). It’s dead easy to work up the characters for it. You could easily use the marvel heroic roleplaying variant. Armor, ninja skills, weapons, distinctions, etc. sample datafile looks like https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/lost-files-of-marvel.615591/page-12

Feng Shui is another option here. I think someone did up the TMNT in Feng Shui and you can find the sheets out on the internets.
 
I might also consider Marvel Superheroes (FaseRip) since the turtles differ a lot in several attribute/ability sets, then fine tune that with Talents.
 
I agree that pretty much any superhero game could be used. I might also go with Savage Worlds. The Science Fiction Toolkit has rules for building alien races. They could be re-purposed for making mutant animals easily enough.
 
Wild Talents. It's versatile enough that it's one of the easier games to make mutant animal superheroes in. (Although it comes down to whether you like ORE or not. I do, but it seems to polarise people).
 
Wild Talents. It's versatile enough that it's one of the easier games to make mutant animal superheroes in. (Although it comes down to whether you like ORE or not. I do, but it seems to polarise people).
That's not a bad choice. Wild Talents is grittier than most superhero games, which works well for the comic/RPG version of TMNT.
 
I agree that pretty much any superhero game could be used. I might also go with Savage Worlds. The Science Fiction Toolkit has rules for building alien races. They could be re-purposed for making mutant animals easily enough.

I'd have to check, but I think the SWADE creation rules are now as robust as those, so you don't even need to dip into the Science Fiction Companion.
 
Usagi Yojimbo, actually:smile:.

It's even supported by the source material:wink:!
teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-usagi-yojimbo-2017-stan-sakai-991730.png
 
I'd have to check, but I think the SWADE creation rules are now as robust as those, so you don't even need to dip into the Science Fiction Companion.
Off topic: I am designing a Space Opera setting, loosely based on European Graphic novels, and the creature creator in the SWADE is robust enough, so I will also back this suggestion if you're using Savage Worlds.
 
I'd have to check, but I think the SWADE creation rules are now as robust as those, so you don't even need to dip into the Science Fiction Companion.
I'm still using Explorer's Edition. I'm a Savage Worlds grognard.

I'll probably pick up SWADE when my next buying splurge comes around.
 
Off topic: I am designing a Space Opera setting, loosely based on European Graphic novels, and the creature creator in the SWADE is robust enough, so I will also back this suggestion if you're using Savage Worlds.

If you don't mind the PDF format it is selling for 10$ on Drivethrurpg.
 
I'm still using Explorer's Edition. I'm a Savage Worlds grognard.

I'll probably pick up SWADE when my next buying splurge comes around.
SW would be a close second, for me and TMNT, but I would probably use GURPS for my first choice.
 
I'm still using Explorer's Edition. I'm a Savage Worlds grognard.

I'll probably pick up SWADE when my next buying splurge comes around.

Tricky Troll Games made a mini setting called Sewer Rats that's Turtles-esque. Jason L. Blair, of Streets of Bedlam and Little Fears fame, had a failed KS that would have damn near done the whole thing with serial numbers filed off.
 
I would think just about any system would work.

The one and only time I ever ran Cyberpunk 2020 for any span resembling a campaign was when I converted a player's TMNT character to it and just ran their character in a futuristic urban setting. IMX, TMNT always focused on gun action above martial arts, and there's nothing about the Palladium firearms rules that stands out above anything else.

Just about any other point build system would offer a superior alternative to the BioE system of TMNT. Considering most characters end up being animal looking humanoids with one or two obvious animal related powers (claws, nightvision, body armor), it's not really anywhere near the animal building system it's often touted as.

The one thing that is pretty nice in the Palladium system is the original combat engine with it's back and forth phased combat methodology. It really does seem to suit martial arts stuff. In practice, I can't say that I've ever seen anyone not just reach for the guns. Even the sample characters in the TMNT book (the Sparrowhawks) are gun focused. But Palladium combat before the freelancer rewrite of it was pretty cool.
 
I'm still using Explorer's Edition. I'm a Savage Worlds grognard.

I'll probably pick up SWADE when my next buying splurge comes around.
Hey man, I didn't even know there was such a thing as SWADE until I read your post! Is it worth picking up?
 
Why would you run it with anything but Toon?

Well, there are two main reasons why I wouldn't. Firstly, the Palladium RPG was pretty grim and gritty. Secondly, the original TMNT comics (which the Palladium game is based on rather than the later cartoon) are also pretty grim and gritty.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to play the later adaptations of course but for me TMNT are about dangerous, dark, noir-esque city streets filled with rain, detritus, and blood. A Foot clan member encountered on those streets isn't a dumb, clumsy oaf who'll fall over, or run away, at the first sign of trouble, no, they're a well trained fighter, they're armed, and they will kill you or fuck you up if you take your eye off the ball. Sure, there's some pop culture references in there to lighten things up from time-to-time but it's rare anyone calls for pizza or shouts "cowabunga".

I've been thinking about other systems for this recently as well. Palladium is not a system I want to run anymore and my players aren't going to want to play it either. Systems that I think that could do it, with some hacking (and attempting to retain the BIO-E system mostly intact), include some flavour of simple OSR (maybe The Black Hack), Mutants & Masterminds, Modern Age, or Covert Ops. A couple of outliers that I've started to consider are Barbarians of Lemuria/Everywhen or Delta Green. I think a lot depends on what level of crunch I want and the length of any game I run. In the case of the latter, if it's going to be fairly short, then I think I might go with BoL/Everywhen and tweak the system to be a bit grittier. If I'm going for a longer term game, where there's greater expectation of character devlopment and thus increased granularity, then I'd either go with Modern Age or Delta Green. With the latter I could take some ideas from Pulp Cthulhu and RuneQuest (as well as other BRP games) and use them to get the appropriate level of grim and gritty. Delta Green by default is leaning just a little too hard on the grimdark! I do like the thought of retaining a percentile mechanic for pure nostalgia though.
 
Just about any other point build system would offer a superior alternative to the BioE system of TMNT. Considering most characters end up being animal looking humanoids with one or two obvious animal related powers (claws, nightvision, body armor), it's not really anywhere near the animal building system it's often touted as.

I like the Bio-E system but it does have two weaknesses. The first is that it needs rebalancing as some creatures get way more, or less, points than they should. This weakness MUST be addressed in order to fix the second weakness. The other is that Animal Powers are bought with Bio-E points when all the animals should have them as standard and their initial Bio-E points should be reduced to reflect this. Then players will have to think more carefully about their characters as to get what they want they may have to sell off some of these powers in order to gain Bio-E points back.
 
I like the Bio-E system but it does have two weaknesses. The first is that it needs rebalancing as some creatures get way more, or less, points than they should. This weakness MUST be addressed in order to fix the second weakness. The other is that Animal Powers are bought with Bio-E points when all the animals should have them as standard and their initial Bio-E points should be reduced to reflect this. Then players will have to think more carefully about their characters as to get what they want they may have to sell off some of these powers in order to gain Bio-E points back.
That was my biggest issue with the system. And although in my circle this was a big complaint, the problem was no one tried to do anything about it.
 
Survive This!! Vigilante City from Bloat Games IIRC specifically mentions TMNT as a source of inspiration.
I think there is an entire mutant animal class if I recall correctly from my read through. I actually got a pretty good vibe from that game overall. Seems very fun.
 
Systems that I think that could do it, with some hacking (and attempting to retain the BIO-E system mostly intact), include some flavour of simple OSR (maybe The Black Hack), Mutants & Masterminds, Modern Age, or Covert Ops.

If you go the Modern Age route, I'd be curious as to how well it turned out.
 
I think there is an entire mutant animal class if I recall correctly from my read through. I actually got a pretty good vibe from that game overall. Seems very fun.
Yes, there is. That's also why I would suggest using this. I'm sure Supers! Revised could also do the job, but Vigilante City seems made for it.
 
If you go the Modern Age route, I'd be curious as to how well it turned out.

I'm waiting for the Companion to come out in print before I consider working on a conversion for it. The thing I like about Modern Age though is that with the various optional rules, combined with the stunts, it's possible to get a gritty and dangerous feel to combat while still allowing for over the top action. I think it has a good chance of capturing the feel of the original Mirage comic books.
 
I would think just about any system would work.

The one and only time I ever ran Cyberpunk 2020 for any span resembling a campaign was when I converted a player's TMNT character to it and just ran their character in a futuristic urban setting. IMX, TMNT always focused on gun action above martial arts, and there's nothing about the Palladium firearms rules that stands out above anything else.

Just about any other point build system would offer a superior alternative to the BioE system of TMNT. Considering most characters end up
Well, there are two main reasons why I wouldn't. Firstly, the Palladium RPG was pretty grim and gritty. Secondly, the original TMNT comics (which the Palladium game is based on rather than the later cartoon) are also pretty grim and gritty.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to play the later adaptations of course but for me TMNT are about dangerous, dark, noir-esque city streets filled with rain, detritus, and blood. A Foot clan member encountered on those streets isn't a dumb, clumsy oaf who'll fall over, or run away, at the first sign of trouble, no, they're a well trained fighter, they're armed, and they will kill you or fuck you up if you take your eye off the ball. Sure, there's some pop culture references in there to lighten things up from time-to-time but it's rare anyone calls for pizza or shouts "cowabunga".

I've been thinking about other systems for this recently as well. Palladium is not a system I want to run anymore and my players aren't going to want to play it either. Systems that I think that could do it, with some hacking (and attempting to retain the BIO-E system mostly intact), include some flavour of simple OSR (maybe The Black Hack), Mutants & Masterminds, Modern Age, or Covert Ops. A couple of outliers that I've started to consider are Barbarians of Lemuria/Everywhen or Delta Green. I think a lot depends on what level of crunch I want and the length of any game I run. In the case of the latter, if it's going to be fairly short, then I think I might go with BoL/Everywhen and tweak the system to be a bit grittier. If I'm going for a longer term game, where there's greater expectation of character devlopment and thus increased granularity, then I'd either go with Modern Age or Delta Green. With the latter I could take some ideas from Pulp Cthulhu and RuneQuest (as well as other BRP games) and use them to get the appropriate level of grim and gritty. Delta Green by default is leaning just a little too hard on the grimdark! I do like the thought of retaining a percentile mechanic for pure nostalgia though.

being animal looking humanoids with one or two obvious animal related powers (claws, nightvision, body armor), it's not really anywhere near the animal building system it's often touted as.

The one thing that is pretty nice in the Palladium system is the original combat engine with it's back and forth phased combat methodology. It really does seem to suit martial arts stuff. In practice, I can't say that I've ever seen anyone not just reach for the guns. Even the sample characters in the TMNT book (the Sparrowhawks) are gun focused. But Palladium combat before the freelancer rewrite of it was pretty cool.
You folks really need to check out the 2nd edition After the Bomb. Its a complete stand alone game. Erick revises the BIO-E system. Adding options and making it a bit better as a whole.

As to the question at hand about what system to use,
Feral RPG is a love letter to TMNT.
 
You folks really need to check out the 2nd edition After the Bomb. Its a complete stand alone game. Erick revises the BIO-E system. Adding options and making it a bit better as a whole.

Yeah, I have looked at After the Bomb 2e and it did appear to have some improvements but, if I remember correctly, it still had the Animal Powers as something extra that you buy with Bio-E instead of something that you naturally have that could be exchanged for it. still, a step in the right direction, even if it isn't perfect, is better than nothing.

Feral RPG is a love letter to TMNT.

To me D&D 5e doesn't have the right feel for TMNT but I downoaded Feral a while back and it is an awesome looking document. Aside from the visual style it looks like you could get a great game out of it if you were so inclined.
 
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