S.T.A.L.K.E.R. campaign?

[riotshieldnation]

(In Ukranian accent) Greetings stalker! How are you?

Has anyone here ever tried to run a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. campaign? This is the idea that got me back into roleplaying in the first place, and now that my 4e campaign is wrapping up in a few sessions, I might take a crack at this.

My next hurdle is choosing a system. I've heard great things about Savage Worlds, the local game store guy recommended GURPS, and then there's also Ultramodern 4 and e20 coming out soon. If you've ever played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and have any thoughts on this, any comments would be appreciated. Right now I'm leaning towards waiting for e20 (will it be deadly enough for this?), but the best system for this setting is still up for discussion.

For those unfortunate souls who have never played any S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, check wikipedia out. A large part of the game is exploring for magic artifacts, defending yourself from mutants, and salvaging enough stuff to get money. You can then use money to buy food, upgrade your guns and armor, etc. The main goal of just about every S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is to reach the "wish granter" at the center of the Chernobyl zone of exclusion, where any wish you have comes true.

Anyway, that's just a short overview. As I said before, any comments about the system or otherwise would be appreciated.

 

[Yora]

I did something similar with Star Wars Saga. Which is a system I always recommend for all such campaigns. The only downside in this case is, that in SWS equipment is always very generic, while customized equipment is a great deal in Stalker. Though there are customization sub-systems in some of the sourcebook, but they would not be of much interest if you don't actually run a Star Wars game.

 

[riotshieldnation]

I did something similar with Star Wars Saga. Which is a system I always recommend for all such campaigns. The only downside in this case is, that in SWS equipment is always very generic, while customized equipment is a great deal in Stalker. Though there are customization sub-systems in some of the sourcebook, but they would not be of much interest if you don't actually run a Star Wars game.

Right. e20 is the generic setting rpg being made my the same guy who made SWSE.

I don't think I would mind making an upgrade tree either, I'd just basically copy it from COP.

 

[Water Bob]

There's plenty of out of print game systems you can use, and I bet you can find one or most of them for very low cost.

I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Brilliant game. I understand it's huge over the pond--with a novel series and what not (in Russian, I think). You might be able to find a lot of artwork online to serve in your campaign.

Plus, it's not like a post-apocolyptic setting with monsters running around is a new idea. There should be plenty of stuff to cobble together from other computer games and earlier RPG games (Gamma World comes to mind--it had a couple of editions).

Really, any RPG that features modern (or 1980's) equipment will do. The old James Bond game would work well (look for a generic version of it called Double Zero).

Or Top Secret SI. That'd be a perfect rule set. There was a mercenary supplement for that game as well as a modern equipment book. Plus, the game came out in the 80's, which makes the equipment perfect for what you're trying to do.

If it were me, I'd probably go with one of those two (I'd go with TSSI) because they were "modern" games in the 80's and will have the right type of equipment already statted up for you.

Later "modern" games are d20 Modern or Spycraft.

Remember--just because a game is out of print doesn't mean it is "no good". You could find a perfect fit by looking at the older, out of print stuff.

I've never used GURPS, but I'm sure there is some add-on supplement out there for GURPS that would be useful in a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game.