Never played BTS how's the feel?

Let's talk of things that go bump in the night. Stuff that makes your skin crawl. Creatures that are Beyond the Supernatural™. Also checkout the in-character site - Lazlo Society™

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Tiltowait
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Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by Tiltowait »

Say compared to Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, Monster of the Week or even Jinkies?

Are the players characters normal humans (highly trained, but still human - ala X-Files?) Superior to humanity (Super-ninjas, Captain America) or even stronger?
Are there existing scenarios or campaigns?

What was your experience?
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Mr. Jays
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Re: Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by Mr. Jays »

I have never played the other games you listed, so I cannot give you a compare and contrast, but as for the rest of your questions I can answer.

Player Characters:
You can play regular people with no special abilities if you want, the character class is called: Ordinary Person.
You can also play multiple character classes that have special psionic powers that allow them to perform various special abilities.
There is also a character class called Genius/Natural. Depending on which way you decide to go the character can be super strong and agile equal to a professional athlete. The other way is a genius who can perform skills successfully at an exceptional rate.
If you want someone even more spectacular you can port a Heroes Unlimited character directly into Beyond the Supernatural.

Existing campaigns an scenarios can be found in the BTS supplement Boxed Nightmares and in issues of the Rifter. There is a thread in this forum containing a complete list of BTS material that can be found in the Rifter.

As for my experience, Beyond the Supernatural is my favorite RPG to play and even more to GM. I find it a fun and unique horror game that can easily be adapted to whatever kind of horror game you would like to run.
The core book is only $25 and all you need to play. Of course there is more material out there, but it isn't required to play. I cannot recommend picking it up enough!
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Re: Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by employerwide »

The protagonist may have the strength of a professional athlete and the agility of a ninja, depending on the path you choose. On the other side, we have the genius who can master a skill in record time. If you're looking for someone even more extraordinary, you may bring a hero from Heroes Unlimited into Beyond the Supernatural.
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glitterboy2098
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Re: Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

whatever kind of characters you are playing, be they fairly mundane types or people with psionic and mystical abilities, the big thing to remember feel wise is that BTS is a game of investigations, spookiness, and horror. you are generally playing people who, for whatever reason, have started looking into weird events, strange creatures, inexplicable disappearances, and even the occasional bizzare death, and you are confronting things that are beyond the limits of what you thought reality included. and society will think you silly or even crazy if you try to tell them about it.

the game is meant to replicate the feel of supernatural horror films, as well as in the current edition, elements of films about the hunting of the supernatural. dpending on how seriosuly your GM takes it, you could be playing Scooby Doo or Buffy.. or The Haunting and The Exorcist. and so on.
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Re: Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by Grazzik »

It can have a different feel to other PB games. I've played in a city setting, where you don't generally get to run around with a military grade weapon full of silver bullets, popping off werewolves in midday traffic. That would get you some attention... and not the good kind. So, at best you might have a pistol or a knife, a level 3 concealed vest, and a satchel of charms, relics, powders, and apotropaics. And only get to go trigger happy in abandoned warehouses down by the docks... at midnight... when it's raining... during a storm.

Or be ghost hunters for hire with particle accelerators that cause major destruction... but people forgive the collateral damage because who doesn't like PhDs with ray guns?

As a result, unless you go cartoon style, typically super low powered... very different from Rifts or HU or even NB where fighting can play a bigger role. In fact, psychics tend to be the "tanks" of the game with psychic armor and powerful attacks that just appear out of nowhere, whereas they can often be underpowered in other settings when compared to munchkin OCCs. No respect!
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Re: Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by thorr-kan »

It can run the gamut from cosmic horror (see CoC/DG) to paranormal investigation (see Scooby Doo) to monster hunting (see Ghostbusters) to existential dread (see Dresden Files) to full on splatterpunk (see D&D when the PCs are in the groove and mesh well).
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Re: Never played BTS how's the feel?

Unread post by NMI »

The feel of the setting varies wifely based on the GM running the campaign and the overall setting being presented.
Overall, it is remniscent of the various supernatural style TV shows out there such as: Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and others.
This is my opinion anyways.
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