So, best way to run a Hellboy/B.P.R.D. game?

So, best way to run a Hellboy/B.P.R.D. game?

There's an official Hellboy RPG game out, published in 2003, that uses GURPS 3e.

I'm not sure GURPS would capture the feel of the Hellboy comics very well, but if anyone has played it and disagrees, please share with me your experiences with it.

The Atomic Robo RPG sounds like the perfect fit, but I'd have to change around some parts of it for it to work. For the people familiar with ARRPG, what would you change?

If that doesn't work, or requires too much tinkering, maybe just plain Fate Core might do it.

bumpster johnson

Ive used GURPS recently to run a game; it revolved around a rogue necromancer in Louisiana, and the players were a motley crew. Rehabilitated Cro-Magnon Neanderthal, a human-bullet psychic midget, and a 'totally not hellboy' tiefling with a golden tongue.

The game still used advanced combat options (hit locations, techniques, full combat options + martial arts stuff) but otherwise was a very loose, not quite !Wildcard! skills cinematic game.

The schedule killed it in the end; the game ran fine in GURPS and the 3e book converted to 4e (for some small things like expanded setting and equipment lists regarding Zinco goods) was quite helpful.

I'd go with Godlike for 30s/40s and Wild Talents for modern. The dice mechanics are really good and it's very easy to mod. Also look at Better Angels, it's different but has great ORE ideas. The system toolkit will help with any custom work.

Pulp Cthulhu might do it.

Definitely. But Pulp Cthulhu is always character decay. Health isn't as much of an issue, but luck and sanity run out. If that's the tone you want then Pulp Cthulhu is excellent.

So remove or lessen luck/SAN decay?

I mean, you're probably gonna have to do some houseruling anyway if you want to play anything besides a normal human.

By then you're basically back to BRP. It'll work. It won't tell a survival horror story especially well.

I'd rather use Nemesis. It's less of a decay and more a change that can be harmful but also empowering. Where the Co/P-Cthulhu games feature a narrative decay of the characters, Nemesis has more of a trauma simulator. The Madness Meter comes from UA and there every PC is insane by definition. That's how you get power in UA. Unlike sanity, madness has entirely unrelated tracks to roll against for personal responsibility like risking the lives of fellow crew members to secretly ensure the alien is preserved for analysis, and confrontation with stress like a Xenomorph eating your friend's head suddenly and then studying you. You can be fine with one because you're a dick but not fine with the other because you're still a mammal.

Sorry, that metaphor and picture belong in another thread. The point stands though.

Laundry
WoD

I'd use Mutants & Masterminds 3e, but I'm also looking for an excuse to play that system.

Savage Worlds.

Eh, Hellboy stories are dark, sure, but they're not really about insanity and survival all that much. They're really pulpy and actiony. The B.P.R.D. knows about all the eldritch abominations and their implications, and they just want to shoot it in the face.

Use mutants and masterminds 2e.

How about Adventure!

Hollow Earth Expedition + Leagues of Gothic Horror.

The Angel (Unisystem) would work well too.

bump

why?

why not? I'm interest in this.

Then start a discussion. But OPs question was answered.

For a fairly loose game, I'd recommend Risus - you give your characters Cliches and assign dice to them, then roll against a TN.

Hellboy
Anung Un Rama, The Right Hand of Doom (4)
Sarcastic Paranormal Investigator (4)
Rightful King of England (2)

Not really. The majority of the post was related to the official Hellboy RPG and the Atomic Robo RPG, and no one touched on those topics.

I really like those types of systems, that use descriptors instead of fixed skills. Where can I get a pdf of that?

You could learn to Google?

Or I'll be kind and share it here. It's free to share, so here you go.

Thanks!