Are you a bad enough dude to blow up Stalin?

[Sierra]

Post of interest for a game idea that occurred to me recently and will not leave my head until I do something with it so here it is. I revisited Shadow Hearts recently and was reminded of how cool early twentieth century settings with a dash of the supernatural can be. Have been fixated on doing something similar for a few days, had to ramble about it already. So: think Shadow Hearts, think Lovecraft, think Indiana Jones...in general, think globetrotting in search of mystical creatures and ancient artifacts. Features include:

-Commies!
-Nazis!
-Commie-Nazis!
-Eldritch horror(s)!
-KITSUNE!
-Did I mention you can kill Nazis?

The year is 1937. The Spanish Civil War and the Japanese invasion of China serve as grim harbingers of the upcoming conflagration of World War II. All the while, anarchic entities from before the dawn of civilization lurk deep underground, waiting for their chance to resurface...

In Istanbul, a few strangers meet in pursuit of a common enemy. Will this chance meeting lead to an epic adventure spanning all seven continents?! Let's find out!

~

The system in use would be d20 Modern, with a few minor restrictions (anything involving computers is obviously out, but that's about it). The various magic-using classes are available, provided you theme it up lots (attach your character to some actual tradition of mysticism; build them into the world, basically). Playing as half-human or other creatures is conceivable provided you do a good job of convincing me. Any such beings have to be practiced at blending into a world that generally doesn't think that non-human sentients exist anymore.

Would like to have an even four players. Not speculating about schedules just yet, will wait to see who's interested first and then determine times. So, gimme a post of interest here if you're at all intrigued by the premise. I would very much prefer to run in IRC but can keep this a board game if an IRC schedule proves impossible to work out.

~

NEW! Chargen notes, huzzah and so forth. Character/theme stuff first:

-Where do you come from? That's the most important thing to sort out first. Everyone should be built into the world, or at least a particular corner of it that really matters to them. Find some community, religion, cause, etcetera that your character is sufficiently attached to to protect it with their life.
-Good-aligned party! Cannot stress this enough. You don't have to be paladins here, but conscience should be an important motivating factor.
-Wherever you come from in the broader sense, your individual communities were all recently the target of a crime perpetrated by an outsider. I'll work with each of you personally to sort out the specifics of this, but the gist of it is that each of you is pursuing the individual responsible as a representative of your community. This is why you're out adventurin' and why it proves advantageous to work together (at least initially).
-Some familiarity with the arcane is necessary. Your PC doesn't have to have dealt with it on a regular basis, they just have to know enough not to gawk when NPCs throw spells around or when mythical monsters show up. If you're going to build a magic-using PC, I'll actually insist that you theme it up lots and invoke some actual tradition of mysticism. Flavor is king.
-You cannot be German or Russian for plot reasons relating to both dictatorial regimes. You can be from Italy or Japan, but whatever drives your character has to be something more personal than furthering the mere imperial ambitions of their country of origin. Pretty much anywhere else in the world is fair game, but remember: when it comes to motivation, personal reasons trump political ones.
-Though nonhumans are allowed, you have to look close enough to a normal person to pass unnoticed in a crowd of such. See the mechanics section below for which races are allowed; note that all of them are of mixed-blood types. Whatever mental/emotional baggage your character might have on account of such a lineage should be secondary to to whatever personal cause motivates them to hit the road.

Mechanical stuff:

-Everyone starts out at level 4. Level 3 is about the earliest you can complete the prequisites for d20 Modern's various advanced classes, and you can start moving into those as early as level 4 if you like. I feel this best reflects a group of PCs with some specialized training but little practical experience.
-Attributes! Should be rolled in my presence, obviously. You can reroll only if the total overall mod of your attributes is zero or less. You can opt for the standard spread (8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15) or point buy if you still don't like what you get.
-HP gains, on levelling up, can be rerolled only in the event of a natural 1.
-Classes available include all of the basic heroic classes in chapter 1 of the d20 Modern core rulebook, all of the advanced classes in chapter 6 of the same book (except for Techie, which doesn't jive well with a 30's setting), as well any of the Urban Arcana classes listed in chapter 9 of the core rulebook and in chapter 1 of the UA Campaign Setting book (except for Shadowjack, because it is 1937 and there is no internet for you to hack).
-Both magic and psionics exist. However, you cannot employ both. If you take any levels in Telepath and/or Battle Mind, you're barred from pursuing arcane/divine magic later, and vice versa.
-Races are highly restricted, but a few quirky ones are available. Bear in mind that most invoke the dread specter of ECL for balance purposes. Available races include: Aasimar (level adjustment 1), Dragonblooded Human (level adjustment 1), Snakeblooded Human (no adjustment), Tiefling (level adjustment 1--also, ignore the "Allegiance must be to evil" bit. Upbringing can trump heredity). I would also consider Changeling (found on page 206 of the UA book, level adjustment 2); while perhaps not intended for inclusion in the book's list of PC races, I find it suitable for the campaign.

[Dracos]

Sounds totally wacky...  I don't think it's my flavor right now, but I hope this rocks out.

[Edward]

Setting sounds cool, but I'm not a fan of D20.

[VySaika]

This sounds like a blast. I'd be game, but you know my schedualing woes.

Of course, if we can work something out, you have basically just dared me to play a non-human.

[Sierra]

Bump since I've added chargen details, will see if that gives anyone ideas.

[Jon]

You're making a horrible mistake. You want to use Spirit of the Century as your system for this.

I would be willing to play in almost any SotC game on IRC, provided time scheduling works out.

[Corwin]

To me, game flavor trumps system flavor.

Cid! Discuss the times!

[Jon]

To me, game flavor trumps system flavor.

And you can drive a screw with a hammer, but it's harder to have a good time doing so. I want to run a light-hearted anime game, I'm not going to use Vampire. I want to run a semi-hard deep-space exploration game, I'd certainly consider Traveler. And for pulp? Well, that is what Spirit of the Century lives for.

Also, d20 Modern is a horrible twisted mockery of D&D.

[Carthrat]

It`s vaugely, uh, rude to show up, go `you want to do things my way, if you do things my way I will deign to play in your game.`

The merits of d20 modern are up for debate, but you could`ve picked a better way to make your case, dude.

[Jon]

It`s vaugely, uh, rude to show up, go `you want to do things my way, if you do things my way I will deign to play in your game.`

The merits of d20 modern are up for debate, but you could`ve picked a better way to make your case, dude.

That's not quite what I meant. I simply wanted to show ElCid a system more suited to his stated plans. And, well, I've been keeping my eye out for a SotC game for a while. I'm sorry the combination offended you.