Post Apocalypse: Help me choose a system

Oh wait, did you mean the base of Call of Cthulhu? I thought u were talking about Battletech RPG or something. Ive never played CoC though

I've always wanted to try out Mutant Epoch, but no one ever runs it.

>start as peasant farmers
that's gay, have them start out as salary men and students with next to no survival skills and the goal of becoming farmers to survive
fashy goys vs pedo-bolshevists vs big brain nibbas escalates while they escape the city for greener pastures

Apocalyptia, It's pretty great and you can get if for free

The GURPS 3e book "Y2K", might also be worth a look. The rules might be outdated but it has quite a lot of detail on a variety of social collapses and how to survive the aftermath. If you like the look of After The End, Y2K could makeforinteresting additional reading. GURPS books make for good setting research even when running other systems.

High Tech, Low Tech and Ultra Tech (maybe Biotech as well if that's a thing in your world) cover the gamut of equipment you find in a Post-Apocalyptic future. After that it kind of depends on what sort of game you want to run, Martial Arts(everything from boxing to horse archery to pollaxe fighting in full plate), Gun Fu, Tactical Shooting and Social Engineering all add interesting options.

Check out Atomic Highway. It's free on drivethru last time I checked. It's okay, it's mechanical fidelity is low but it's full of random loot tables and stuff. Might be worth your while if only for the charts. The dice system is cool, uncomplicated but has a way of "making the game about the rolls" so they take a while because it's dice pool and you have points to spend too.

I'm using Atomic Highway, it's a pretty nice generic system, it might not as crunchy as you'd like though

Fallout was originally based off of GURPS for a good reason: It does post apocalypse very well. Check out the After the End books in the GURPS mega:
mega.nz/#F!yxFxlD4I!CGTYsnTE_8XAmcJxdMehAQ

Savage Worlds may honestly fit your descriptor better though, not TOO much crunch but not extremely fluffy, and would do a post apocalypse game very well.

The biggest reason you may want one or another is that GURPS is significantly more lethal than SW. In GURP, one well placed shot can easily kill a PC while in Savage Worlds your PC's are very competent and can take a bruising.

Also check out Atomic Highway, have't read it really but it seems good for your purposes

And if you want something more rules light, check out Apocalypse World, very narrative based system

Thats the D6 system right? Ive played d6 space, not a bad one

Have you tried Z-LAND? Just take out the zombies and it will work. It's gritty, lethal and is all about surviving in the post-apoc world.

If your campaign is going to be very vehicle centered, I can highly recommend Atomic Highway for that type of campaign.

Ive never heard of Z-land, but i'll look it up! Thanks!

Try Mercenaries, spies and private eyes. It was used as a base for Wasteland's system, and it's a pretty cool system in general.

GURPS: After The End for all-purpose game.
Twilight 2000 if you explicitly want to play as military or guys with at least some sort of military experience.

Both are absolutely perfect at what they are designed for.
After the End line for GURPS greatly simplifies many mechanics spread all over GURPS and put them in one place, so you have things like radiation rules, scavenging mechanics (really fucking great ones, too) and tinkering with junk put together in a space of about 40 pages, with another 40 pages discussing different core elements of what makes post-apo setting work both on fluff and crunch level.
Twilight 2000 is about Cold War going hot. Hot and nasty. You are what's left of the last organised NATO unit after the last battle of the WW3 at least that's the basic premise and your goal is to survive in the shithole that Europe turned into and maybe try to get home. If there is still home. OR you can start already at home and realise how much fucked up post-apo setting is, The Day After style. The first edition was in fact massively inspired by that movie, but done with autistic care for military stuff that carried over to 2 and 2.3e. Definitely one of the grittiest games ever made, while staying fun.

Also, there is Reign of Steel setting/crunch for GURPS, but it is for VERY specific type of post-apo - a SkyNet scenario going really fucking bad for humanity. But it's more of a setting book than ruleset, so I'd rather suggest picking After the End for GURPS and running with it, then maybe borrowing ideas from Reign of Steel, if that's the apocalypse you want to use.

It's d6 pool based on attribute, fishing for 6s. Can spend relevant skill points to boost a die up to six. Nat 6s explode, potentially infinitely. In practice it's fun to roll and I like the interplay between Attribute and skill beyond the usual addition based mods or just expanding the pool, but it also felt far too easy, with most tests only requiring 1 six to pass. As a player in a party, we'd frequently get 3+ successes in our areas of expertise and I for one can attest I didn't munchkin it up and spread myself pretty thin, so make of that what you will.

Post thicc wasteland cuties

t. hungry cannibal

Twilight 2000 has a single, but very serious flaw, design-wise. I mean it's not an exact flaw, since it was intended design choice, but it doesn't really mesh well those days with people playing tabletops:
There is zero character progression. You start with your very limited poll of points to allocate into skills and that's literally all you are going to have, period. You are never going to get better at any of those things.
Now I know there are decent house-rules that are widely used by newbies to the system, but the point stays - the lack of any character progression really does feel awkward. Especially if your character is lucky enough to survive couple of scenarios, or even finish a campaign.

Also, the game assumes right off the bat that the GM has military experience of any kind. Can be basic training or conscription, but your GM must understand how military and military tactics work, or the game will never live up to even half of its full potential. So at least read through a bunch of field manuals for NCOs or visit nearest garrison club for clues from actual soldiers (not kidding with the last one)

Said all of above - the game absolutely kicks ass.

That would be great if our old player was here, he was an officer for 10 years counting. Great guy, but gone.

I appreciate all the help everyone has given. I'll work on researching the suggestions. Cursory review suggests i may go GURPS, but i kinda forgot about Atomic Highway, never heard about the Mercs and Spies (but liked Wasteland)

OP, go with Savage Worlds. Pretty light on the crunch, bretty gud with the tactics and options, pretty pulpy too. Does two-fisted heroes duking it out with minions and big bads well, though remember that numerical advantage is not to be underestimated. I'm doing a post-apo campaign now, with all characters being mutants and I just let my players use the race construction tool to make up their own mutated PCs.

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Further reinforcing GURPS for this. I run a Fallout game for my friends using it. It's a very good system in general, and one of the best systems for running Post-Apoc.

The really short answer: you can basically run it with GURPS Lite plus the After the End books, of which there are two.

Why?
>Good tactical combat, even in basic set (Lite's combat is lite).
>After the End books (inexpensive!), solid breadth of character classes based on classic tropes, mutations, sample enemies
>Handles guns and melee weapons both very well with strategic depth available for those who want it
>Rolling system makes for more consistently competent characters
>RAW wounds, infection, etc is fairly gritty
>System is designed to have rules slotted in and out at the GM's discretion; can be as cinematic or gritty as you want

I encourage you to hang out in the /GURPSgen/ and ask some questions. The Lite pdf is posted there, and you should check the OP while you're at it.

>Oooh ok, my bad. I thought it was more Fallout than Thundarr.
It doesn't have actual sorcery and wizards like Thundarr, but it's got mutated humanoids and animals (and maybe plants, depending on the edition) with all sorts of mutant powers. It's also future apocalypse, so right beside the machetes, muskets, and bolt-action rifles are laser guns, blasters, and spooky black ray pistols. I think the setting is fucking awesome, and way more interesting than present day (or near-future) apocalypse, but it may not be what you're looking for.

>D20 Modern
>Gamma World
6th edition Gamma World actually uses the D20 Modern Rules, so you get a combo deal. I'd recommend avoiding it though, as D20 Modern blows.

>savage worlds
>Gamma World
There's a Savage Worlds port of Gamma World (which should be easy to find online) that I can't vouch for but seem to remember hearing good things about. Honestly, Savage Worlds seems like a pretty good fit for Gamma World, a setting I've always enjoyed, but one with rules that tend to be just okay. But if you're not looking for a future apocalypse with mutant powers, Gamma World might not be your thing.

Barbarians of Lemuria has a build-your-own apocalypse supplement called Barbarians of the Aftermath. I don't have any experience with that either, but Barbarians of Lemuria is a cool, rules-light game, so it might be worth checking out.

D20 modern may suck overall, but it has a very neat post-apoc book. Definitely worth a read, even if you choose another system, mostly due to the world building pointers.
I used it to run a pretty long game, and with some tweaks,(limit the game to E6 mostly) it worked reasonably well.

Actually, mutations aside, thats kinda what im looking for. Where the heroes start with bows and muskets and machetes, progress to bolt actions, fight robots, and graduate to power armor and laser pews

Savage Worlds vs Savage Rifts? I hear that Savage Rifts had a few improvements

Would you mind sharing any BOS or Enclave stats? I need Power Armor bandits and thats probably a good start

Just pick any set of TL10 powered armour and go from there.

I suppose you could just think about restricting people to pure strain humans and give Gamma World a look. 2e is pretty much the definitive "classic" edition, but may seem dated and clunky to modern eyes. I've heard that 6e has interesting fluff with a grittier take, but I've never been able to get very far in before the D20 Modern mechanics make me walk away. I've heard good things about 7e for running a zany pickup game, but that doesn't really seem like what you're looking for. Attached is a Savage Worlds port of Gamma World that might be worth checking out.

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Sauce? Reverse search gives nothing

I'd recommend Degenesis, but that's cause my group had a lot of fun with it. If you need me to I can try and sell the system.

AFAIK, if Savage Rifts works just the way any other SW setting port does, there isn't much of a difference. SW Rifts will have some setting fluff and setting specific rules, but it shouldn't be anything that you couldn't do with just the barebones Savage Worlds, because the game is sort of like a younger brother to GURPS - essentially it's a toolbox to build your game out of it, but it's way less autistic. Hell, you can mix and match shit from any and all Savage Worlds books you can lay your hands on if you so desire. Personally I use and abuse bestiaries and armories from every SW pdf I can find pirated.
So, no harm done if you pick up Savage Rifts, but unless it has something specific that you want out of it, core Savage Worlds will work just as well.

Incidentally that's also a theme in my current Savage Worlds game, PCs are mutant tribal warlords, but they will soon have a chance to lay their hands on some real firearms, and if they keep expanding they just might reach higher tech levels. I suggest you look up Sci-Fi companion splat for some generic hi-tec gear.

Forgot to mention that I'm running it with the core book only just using horror companion's and deadlands' bestiaries, plus some custom weapon and armor tables.

Yes, the CoC-system. It does the gritty very well, and you can twiddle the crunch to your liking. Not big on bells and whistles, but huge on functionality and not getting in the way.
Only comes with one (mediocre) PA-sourcebook. If you branch out, Mythras and the Arkwright-setting has some stuff usable for PA.

Mutant Future is a light-weight, OSR-style RPG that you'll be able to pick up easily if you have ever played a d20 game. It provides fun options to bring your 80s-desert-dystopias to life.

wizardawn.and-mag.com/rpg_mutfut.php

How about Apocalypse World ?
If you want to go for an easy to use system then I would recommend it

Not easy to use. It's a good one, but definitely requires some out-of-the-box thinking, plus it supports a very specific experience, that is gritty interpersonal drama in the world of scarcity.

One of the best campaigns i did was actually a Fallout-esque D20 Modern, but that was more due to the players than the wonky-shit rules. Hence my search for a new one. But I'll take a look at it; its kinda convenient to flip open the Monster Manual and throw in a """mutant""".

Ive never heard of it, pitch away please.

I'll hunt around the interwebs for pdfs, thanks!

My only issue with GURPS and, by extension, Savage Worlds or a build your own system thing, is that I always struggle building encounters. I dont want to accidentally paste my players--though I know GURPS at least has some sort of challenge effective score

>Even mentioning Apocalypse World
Christmas break will end in just few days, hopefully...

Pick After the End for GURPS and you are literally ready to go.

Alright, you're in post end time europe. Europe, and the rest of the world, was ended by giant meteors crashing into the world. Each meteor released these powerful spores that control/degrade people's minds and bodies or sometimes cause them to change into powerful mutants that want nothing more than to propagate and destroy everything they can. These are one of the primary antagonistis. Each crater has its own spore outbreak that affects a different "chakra" resulting in different mutations.

Meanwhile, the rest of humanity that survived are dealing with this new problem and the problem of the aftershocks of going into the dark ages. You play as members of several factions or clans a few decades after this event. Factions range from Mad Max inspired rebels, Technofuturist Hoarders, German Cleanfreaks, Swedish Military, Holy Crusaders, Ottoman Warriors, Egyptian Cultists, Wandering Judges, African Raiders, Libyan Tradesmen and Scrappers. Combat is pretty lethal, bullets are rare and its a fun experience to roleplay. Leveling is based on you upgrading your skills enough to advance in your factions.

You forgot to mention the setting only works if you are drunk and/or don't think too much about it.

You could use HERO system. Its like GURPS. And you can mash other genres in if you want.

There is atomic highway if you want to focus on mad-max road car battle shenanigans.

Pic related is my face regarding PTBA

Wha-whats wrong with Powered by the Apocalypse??

Everything

Apocalypse World is pretty good, even if it is a one trick pony. The rest of the PbtA-..family is mostly hipster drivel.

You what? The setting works perfectly fine. Biggest problem is in order to start making your own adventures you need to crack open a map of Europe.

>You could use HERO system
That was legit what I was going to suggest.
I use Hero System for everything.

Hi there! Here to be a shill for my shitty system!

It's meant as a semi-realistic PA game which has fewer rules and restrictions so players can make the type of character they want to play.

Basic system is 2d6 + skill + specialization vs. a target number. Pretty simple.

Here is PDF if interested and I will post an un-updated character sheet.

My only request is if you do use it, tell me how it plays.

and here is the character sheet. The biggest difference is that the gun/laser weapons skills are now combined into just firearms instead of being split like they are on the sheet.

>Here to be a shill for my shitty system!
>system
>General Setting Notes.pdf
Go away Ruse-man.

Haha, there is a system in there. I just haven't changed the file name since i started. Cant think of a good title.

Truly must be a massive issue for Americans

t. Canadian

The setting works about as well as Fallout, or MadMax.

Which isn't really a problem. Post-Apocolyptic stuff usually includes a large amount of suspension of disbelief.

I mean, how much suspension of disbelief do you need? The rocks fell not even in our time period and forced things into the dark ages.

>americans get bonus to language
>chinese get bonus to firearms

w0t did I just read?

Joking aside Im working on a somewhat similar system, which is more level based though. Very similar desu, I like what you did though with the Resolve

The bonus to language is because i noticed in playtest that a goodly amount of skill points were being used for languages which players didn't need but made sense for their character. So i reduced the skill points, added in the homelands, and gave each one some bonus to at least one language based on what i thought their general education levels would be. The firearms is from mandatory conscription and basic military training.

I moved away from levels because i felt them arbitrary and that what i was doing with them made no sense with the classless system i had built. So i just removed them entirely and instead plan on giving some guidelines in a gm section in rewards for doling out skill points, trainings, mutations, augmentations and the like.

Is the default setting 1946? China hasn't had mandatory military service since 1949.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_China

Well, it changed back during the apocaplyse when they decided to invade india and the middle East

>setting specific character creation bonuses
Abandon hope.

Yep, there are 3 technically. One for homeland, one for race, and one for region.

They are all pretty loosely tied to the setting but tied nonetheless.

Not the guy who made it, but I could totally see it. Like, Raider vs Brotherhood upbringing in Fallout

i'd write them to be more generic, otherwise if someone has a specific setting in mind, they'll have to start homebrewing right out of the gate.

I was going to add a few sections in the gm part about using the system more genetically. It's actually perfectly usable with just the skills since the bonuses only give you what are essentially free skill points. Just add more or less depending on what they want to accomplish. The most setting specific are the homeland stuff but if you just add 5 skill points to the start, you can get the same results.

Whats the difference between GURPS and Hero?

GURPS is better
And more supported