I own a lot of games. Not as many as some of my friends, but still, I’ve got options for this Next Big Campaign^™. What, you might ask, are they?

• Basic Action Super Heros (BASH)
• Castle Falkenstien
• D20 Call of Cthulhu
• D20 Modern
• Pathfinder
• Shadowrun(editions 1-4!)
• Star Wars Saga
• And a couple of other games that I own but have never actually played.

Now, why are these important? And why pick the system now? Well, I now know I’m doing something modern, and I’ve got the big research done. I like to let that big research stir around my headbits for a while, so I need to be doing something else. Picking the system keeps me engaged, but without poisoning my subconscious thought processes.

More to the point, the system is going to have an effect on a lot of the nitty-gritty game design. A lot of the systems I might use are level based. That would railroad me into doing things based on what level characters are. Some (I’m looking at you, Castle Falkenstien) are obscure, and hard to come by. Fine, I’ve got a copy of the rules, but if everyone is dependent on that one copy, it gets hard to let players plan.

Let’s pro and con it. In no particular order:

Castle Falkenstien is a fun game. It’s been years since I’ve played it, and I’d have to relearn the rules. Of the people I know, maybe two of them have ever played it, so they’d have to relearn it. Everyone else starts from scratch. Ugh. Pass.

Shadowrun could work if I ditched all of the cyberware and magic. It’s a fun game, and easy enough to play (at least until combat breaks out, though 4^th edition is better about that), but it brings a certain mentality to the party. It’s a cutthroat game, at least in my experience, and I want heroism. So, it’s a maybe at best.

d20 Modern is a level based game that hasn’t been supported in any real way for years. I happen to like it, but one of the people I know (and want for this game) hates it so much that he refuses to play it. And it’s level based, which I’m not that down with. Pass.

d20 Call of Cthulhu is even less supported than d20 Modern. I’m the only guy I know who owns it., though apparently a lot of my friends have it. It handles magic, psychic powers and all that shit really, really well. It is level based, but I can deal with that. The character creation system is the second most customizable I’ve seen in a d20 based system. Definite maybe. I can photocopy the important bits.

Pathfinder is a streamlined adaptation of the d20 rules set. It’s fun, and incredibly customizable with the addition of the Advanced Players Gudie. (Every race and class has swappable abilities and powers. So cool.) Everyone I know is familiar with it. It sucks for this game. Many of the classes don’t translate to a modern setting. I’d have to add in firearms (do-able, but a lot of work). It’s level based, and the more I think about it, the less I like that. It’s rules heavy, meaning that players get hung up on “do the rules cover this” instead of doing something cool. I play it A LOT. Pass.

Star Wars Saga Edition is a solid rules set. Characters are customizable using the talent system. It’s set up for guns. It has the Force, though. Well, I could ditch the Jedi class, and allow psychics, using force powers to explain them. (As it turns out, you don’t need to be a Jedi to use the Force. You need a feat. Spending more feats and talents allows you to do more cool Force stuff.) It is level based, so that’s a downside. Also, in my experience playing the game, you need to plan your character’s level progression well in advance to be able to do cool stuff. I don’t want this game to have that much homework. Still, it’s at the top of the maybe list.

BASH is a “rules light” system. It’s intuitive, encourages being heroic, and is a hoot to play. The lack of hard rules encourages clever thinking, and character creation takes about 10 minutes. It’s designed for superhero games, but there is no reason it can’t be used for mundane people. I know a couple of people who own the rules, but not everyone has played it. Damn, it’s easy to learn, though. I’ve never run it, but I’m confident in my ability to do so. The game is fast paced, already supports a modern setting, and the superpowers can be adapted (with no real effort) to mimic psychic powers, magic, high technology or just being the best there is at what you do. The game even has an optional rule for experience points! BASH wins.

What We Learned Today

I have a lot of games. Many of them have levels. BASH kicks ass. Also, your game system has a pretty big effect on campaign design.

Next Up: A More Detailed Plan