I am looking for a game system for a modern urban fantasy campaign that I have built. The world is as if a standard fantasy world exists in 2023 on Earth. I am having difficulty finding a system I think would do this style of campaign justice, and could really use some help.
Systems I have contemplated and the reasons I am having difficulty: D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e - don’t translate to modern world well Fate/Rules Lite RPGs - Doesn’t give players a sense of advancement/leveling Hero System/GURPs - Magic users are either very under powered or the point values get out of hand for non-magic users Savage World - Combat is grindy Open Legend - This has the flexibility, but doesn’t have any bestiary making every monster/npc necessitate creation from scratch.
Systems I think might work well for this: Genesys - The drawback is the narrative dice are sold out everywhere and secondary market for them is outrageous. WOIN - Just found this and think it is suitable, but would like opinions as I have just discovered it. BRP - Again just found this while searching suggestions and think it may work well, but would like opinions. New edition recently released.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
The Survive This! Games are pretty good. What Shadows Hide is the urban fantasy book, but you can get a similar effect by mixing some of those games together for a higher power level. Survive This! Zombies has modern weapons and Survive This! Fantasy has magic and monsters
BESM is a similar concept to GURPS, but on an anime scale. Crazy powers are pretty much expected, so magic users are more doable than GURPS. It’s also not too hard to make a powerful character that’s not a magic user. It’s also not too heavy on rules
Dark Streets and Darker Secrets is great for a grittier, more dangerous game. Players need to be pretty careful, but it definitely does dark urban fantasy reasonably well