A Supernatural Slice of Life [ EDIT ]

This game has been retired! That means it's no longer being run.

The year is 2003. The place? The fictional island town of Motivation, Rhode Island, located approximately 4 miles from the coast of Newport. It’s connected to Jamestown, Narragansett, Newport, and Providence by multiple ferries. The forested Subtle Reserve has landscaped gardens and trails. Nearby, coastal Dunaway Park and Campground features a south-facing beach with breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean. Local legislation encourages local and regional artists to live in the community, bringing a bountiful creative scene unique to the region. Truly, the summer colony is known not just as place for New England's old monied types, but also as a place for creative types with bohemian lifestyles and celebrity-driven social scenes.

Most importantly, Motivation seems to be a draw for people interested in the supernatural. Unlike most summer colonies, Motivation is the scene of numerous hauntings, alien encounters, and government conspiracies (not helped by a secretive government research center on the island). Due to this, it sees a large number of visits from those interested in astrology, close encounters, crystal gazing, cryptozoology, possession, fortune-telling, ghost hunting, mediums, seances, spiritualism, and even ufology.

And for whatever reason, you? You view Motivation as home.

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A Supernatural Slice of Life is a D20 Modern game using a variation of RPG Object's Modern20. Don't know the rules? Good! The point of this game is meant to be an exploration of the TV tropes of the late 90s and early 2000s. It takes heavy inspiration from shows like Providence, Charmed, Gilmore Girls, Alias, The Invisible Man, Diagnosis: Murder, Special Unit 2, Mutant X, Smallville, and Jackie Chan Adventures, just to name a few.

You'll initially play a mundane character with no supernatural abilities, or few supernatural abilities, although you are encouraged to think about their future path. So, you could play a secret government experiment who's powers develop as we go, a magic user who has no idea about their heritage, even a creature a mythology like an elf, dwarf, or Medusa, whose magical potential is unknown to them, as they and everyone around them thinks they are just a normal human. Or an alien who's powers are just emerging.

Or you could just play a mundane person going on wacky adventures in town. A burned spy? A doctor moving back after a parent's death? A teen visiting their grandparents for a year? A college student taking a gap year to find themselves?

As the game progresses, we can bring in powerful beings that are aware of their state, like Immortals and Vampires and powerful Aliens, but initially, I'd like to have low powered beings.

Some thoughts about the game's Slice of Life theme
Players take on the roles of residents, new and old, living in a tight-knit community that experiences high levels of tourism. Residents all know each other, and secrets are hard to keep. The group must navigate the social dynamics of the community and work together to solve problems and overcome challenges. Scenarios include finding affordable housing, navigating public transportation, successfully participating in local events and celebrations, and making meaningful connections with others. The key to a successful slice-of-life game is to focus on character development and interpersonal relationships.

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Character Generation Info

About this system:
This system uses a combination of Modern20 and 5e rules. It eliminates the need for classes, instead replacing them with feats. Most importantly, it uses a variable bonus/penalty system, wherein a number is not added or subtracted to a d20 roll, but instead grants a certain kind and number of dice to add or subtract from your D20 roll. This is covered in more detail in a forum post.

Attributes:
This game uses the standard d20 ability scores, and you get 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 at character gen. All characters at the start of the game are humans; as such, you increase one score by +2, and two others by +1 each. These cannot be the same score. You may also select a score to receive a -2 to increase two other scores by +2. As before, none of these may be the same scores, meaning you will potentially have three scores with +2, two scores with +1, and one score with a -2.

Skills:
Afterwards, you'll notice each Attribute has skills associated with it. You receive a number of skill points to assign to these equal to their ability score modifier, plus a number of skill points for all your scores equal to your intelligence score. This means that if you have a Strength Score of 14, and an Intelligence score of 17, you have two skill points to spend on all Strength skills, and 17 points to spend on all skills. The highest you can increase any skill is 5 at character creation. Note that scores with (A) next to them are related to a form of attack, skills with (D) next to them are related to a form of Defense, and skills with an (SFX) are related to a supernatural ability, although most have mundane uses. I've added these to replace attack bonuses and saving throws.

SKILL	ATTRIBUTE	WHAT DOES IT DO/COVER?	CAN BE USED WITH 0 RANKS	TOOL TRAINING?	SPECIALIZATIONS?
Academics	INT	History, Literature, Writing, Philosophy, Religion, General Research, Geography, World Issues etc.	Yes	No	Yes
Acrobatics	DEX	Climbing, Jumping, Flipping, Tumbling, Swinging	Yes	No	Yes
Animal Ken	CHR	How well you handle and train animals	Yes	No	Yes
Arcana	INT	Used to cast spells if you have the appropriate feat, know things about Magic society	No	Yes	Yes
Artillery	DEX	Fire large, long range weapons	No	Yes	No
Artistry	WIS	Painting, Drawing, Pottery, Sculpting, etc.	Yes	Yes. Calligrapher’s Tools, Camcorder, Cartographer’s Tools, Carpenter’s Tools, Crocheting Supplies, Embroidering Tools, Gardener's Tools, Glassblower’s Tools, Jeweler’s Tools, Knitting Supplies, Leatherworker’s Tools, Model-building kit, Painting Tools, Photographer's Kit, Potter’s Kit, Scrapbooking Kit, Sewing Kit, Sketching Kit, Voice Recorder, Weaver’s Tools, and Woodcarver’s Tools	Yes
Athletics	STR	Throwing, Catching, Jumping, Climbing, Swimming, Running, Sports Knowledge, etc.	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bureaucracy	INT	Political Knowledge, Legal Knowledge, Politicking, Corporate Ladder Climbing, Legalese, Paperwork	Yes	No	Yes
Carousing	CHR	Partying, entertaining guests, rumor mongering, rumor gathering, center of attention	Yes	No	Yes
Chemistry	INT	Create and identify Acids/Bases, explosives, recreational drugs, pharmaceuticals, understand chemistry	No	Yes	Yes
Cleverness	INT	Try and think clearly under difficult circumstances, avoid being tricked, see through a scam, quickly respond to an insult, avoid becoming confused	Yes	No	No
Commerce	CHR	Buy and sell more efficiently and an understanding of business practices	Yes	No	Yes
Composure	CHR	Remain unaffected when your reputation, character, or image are under attack in some way; ability to show no or little emotion	Yes	No	No
Computers	INT	Computer Modification, Computer Networking and Computer Programming	Yes	Yes	Yes
Conjuration	CHR	How well you make deals with summoned beings, like Loa, Djinn, Angels, and Demons	No	Yes	Yes
Control	CON	Control non-magical, non-psionic powers. Usually only useful for aliens, mutants, and genetic experiments	No	No	No
Criminality	INT	A general proficiency and knowledge of the criminal world and various types of crime. Covers everything from fencing to embezzling	Yes	Yes	Yes
Culinary	INT	Cooking, Baking, etc skills	Yes	Yes	Yes
Deception	CHR	Lying and Disguises mostly	Yes	No?	Yes?
Endurance	CON	Made to resist effects that can make you sick, exhausted, or otherwise unhealthy, resist damage from poison, resist being stunned	Yes	No	No
Engineering	INT	Architecture, placing explosives, inventions	No	Yes	Yes
Gaming	INT	Covers everything from chess to video games	Yes	Yes	Yes
Heavy-Weapons	STR	Accurately use weapons that target areas, not individuals, but can be fired and carried by one person, like bazookas and chain guns.	No	Yes	No
Insight	WIS	Figure out what someone's motivation behind an action is, detect if someone is lying	Yes	No	No
Instinct	WIS	Respond quickly in combat, avoid surprises, get a good or bad feeling about someone/something, stay alive while dying	Yes	No	No
Interrogation	CHR	Get someone to give up secrets through a variety of methods	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intimidation	CHR	Get someone's compliance through threats both psychical and psychological	Yes	Yes	No
Investigation	INT	Discover what has happened in the past, what might occur in the future	Yes	No	No
Ki	WIS	This skill represents the power of the spirit and is only available to those who select the Initiate of the Inner Mysteries feat	No	No	No
Leadership	CHR	You have a magnetic personality capable of inspiring those around you to things they never thought possible.	No	No	No
Legerdemain	DEX	Pick pockets, sleight of hand tricks	Yes	No	No
Linguistics	INT	Speak/Read/Write languages, decipher script, forge documents, speech writing	No	No	Yes, gain a language
Maneuvering	DEX	Execute difficult combat maneuvers	No	Yes, with specific maneuvers	No
Marksmanship	DEX	Hit something at a range with a ranged attack	Yes	Yes, gain training with a personal projectile weapon or ranged power	No
Mechanics	INT	Repairs, jury-rig, building mechanical and electronic devices, disable devices	Yes	Yes	Yes
Medicine	INT	Heal others, diagnose diseases and other medical conditions, recognize and treat mental illness. Can only be used untrained for First-Aid	No	Yes	Yes
Meditation	CON	Maintain focus on a task, reorder your body and spirit to bring them into harmony	Yes	No	No
Melee	STR	Melee attacks, both armed and unarmed	Yes	Yes, gain training with a specific melee weapon, all improvised weapons, or unarmed attacks	No
Occultism	INT	Esoteric knowledge, understanding the occult, cast rituals with a perk	Yes	Yes	Yes
Perception	WIS	Discover more details in your immediate area	Yes	No	No
Performance	CHR	Sing, Dance, Stand-up, Act, play instruments	Yes	Yes	Yes
Persuasion	CHR	Persuade people to act against their best interest, and/or convince someone that doing so would be in their best interest	Yes	No	No
Presence	CHR	Bearing. Stature. Assertiveness. Presence suggests the power of your character's very identity. It reflects their sheer command over the attention of others, and impose their will upon them	Yes	No	No
Psionics	CHR	Your control over psionic powers	No	No	No
Reflexes	DEX	Your speed in combat, avoid a physically dangerous situation, turn away from an explosion, react to a fall, dodge an oncoming car	Yes	No	No
Resistance	STR	Used when you are unexpectedly physically challenged, resist being tripped, shield yourself from falling debris, to avoid being pushed off a cliff	Yes	No	No
Resolve	WIS	Resist emotional compulsion, resist temptation, overcome fear	Yes	No	No
Riding	DEX	Used to control bikes, skateboards, snowboards, surfboards, and yes, common mounts	No	Yes	No (Specific animals are considered tools in this case.)
Science	INT	Physical and Natural sciences not covered by other categories	Yes	Yes	Yes
Security	INT	Security is about both defeating security systems and creating them. Lockpicking. Hacking. B&E	No	Yes	Yes
Seduction	CHR	Using physical, sexual and/or romantic appeal, get others to do as you desire	Yes	No	No
Stealth	DEX	Hide, Sneak, Shadow others	Yes	No	No
Streetwise	CHR	You are skilled at surviving in an urban environment that can be as hostile to the uninitiated as the most desolate desert	Yes	No	Yes
Survival	WIS	Feel at home in nature and know how to provide for themselves. Knots. Tracking. Pathfinding. Navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tactics	INT	Knowledge of how military operations function, types of units, terrain types, target types, avoid artillery fire	Yes	No	Yes
Taunting	CHR	Attack someone's character, oftentimes to get them to aggressively and immediately act against their best interests	Yes	No	No
Vehicle Ops	DEX	Operate Vehicles, do cool tricks	Yes	Yes	No
Wits	WIS	Measures your reaction time, ability to pull off impossible actions	Yes	No	No
Writing	INT	Poetry, Reports, Essays, Stories, Books, Letters, E-mails. Copy writing styles	Yes	No	Yes

Defense: Your character's Defense at Character Creation is equal to 10 + their Dexterity Modifier.
Soak: If your character has armor, it's Soak score will go here. Soak is how much attack damage is reduced by when you take any.
HP: All characters get 1D8 Hit Die at each level, and they get maximum HP at first level and 4+1d4 HP at every level afterwards. These amounts can go down with disadvantages, and up with feats.

Languages: Your character starts being able to speak English, plus a number of languages equal to their ranks in Linguistics, plus any related to their background and/or career.

Hobbies: You gain 4 additional skill points to spend on skills that pertain to Hobbies your character may have. Remember to list the Hobby and the corresponding skill it is related to.

Background: Your background represents what your character did before the beginning of the game. It grants you 4 skill points for a number of skills, and a base wealth score. For now, know your options are:

Academic, Adventurer, Antiquarian, Athlete, Blue Collar, Celebrity, Creative, Criminal, Cultist, Dilettante, Doctor, Emergency Services, Entrepreneur, Law Enforcement, Military, Religion, Rural, Student, White Collar

Occupation: While your background indicates things your character has done in the past, occupations represent the things your character currently does for a living, even if they aren't actively engaged in it. Occupations provide three main benefits: salary, professional training and perks. For now, here are the occupations you can choose from at character creation:

Actor, Blogger, Bodyguard, Boxer, Burglar, Business Executive, Chef, Con-Artist, Cult Member, Dancer, Druid, Fortune Teller, General Practitioner, Ghost Hunter, Hunter, Institutionalized, Laborer, Law Enforcement, Magician, Martial Arts Instructor, Medium, Military Officer, Mobster, Model, Musician, Negotiator, Paramedic, Parapsychologist, Photographer, Politician, Priest, Private Investigator, Protectors League, Psychic, Reporter, Scientist, Soldier, Spy, Stunt Performer, Supernatural Scholar, Taste Maker, Technician, Thug, Truck Driver, Vampire Slayer, Voodoo Priest, Wheelman, Wrestler

Feats: Your character starts with 5 feats.

Training: Your character is trained in the use of certain weapons, armor, tools, software, etc. These are listed here. Without training, they grant Disadvantage.

Allegiances: A character may have up to three allegiances, listed in order from most important to least important. These allegiances are indications of what the character values in life, and may encompass people, organizations, or ideals.

Reputation: Reputation measures your character’s influence in the wide world. You gain Resource Points (RPs) equal to your Reputation to spend on Access, Contacts, Followers, Privilege, and Favors. Every time your Reputation score increases, you can reallocate your RPs. Your reputation is equal to your level plus you Charisma modifier plus your ranks in Presence.

Access:

Contacts:

Followers:

Privilege:

Favors:

Wealth: Wealth represents your total spending power, including cash on hand, salary, credit and so forth. Backgrounds and Occupations, and some Feats, can determine this score at character creation.

Action Points: You start the game with 5 Action Points. You regain action points when your disadvantages work against you, and when your personality traits change the direction of the story.

Disadvantages: Characters are not just a collection of abilities for what they can achieve. Their flaws add to their appeal just as much (if not more) than their heroic deeds. Disadvantages grant Action Points equal to their rating when they work against you.

Personality Traits: Fleshing out your character’s personality will help you bring him or her to life as you play the game. Five categories of characteristics are presented here: bonds, quirks, aspirations, dislikes, and fears.

Bonds: Bonds are an especially important aspect of this game. They represent a character’s connections to people and places in the world. They tie you to things from your background. They might inspire you to heights of heroism, or lead you to act against your own best interests if they are threatened. Create 4 bonds for your character. No more than 1 can be unrelated to the Island-town of Motivation. I highly encourage you to make at least one bond related to LIVING family members or close friends. If you want to make a lone wolf character, then this game is the story about how they stop being a lone wolf.

Quirks: Quirks are small, simple ways to help you set your character apart from every other character. Your quirks should tell you something interesting and fun about your character. They should be self-descriptions that are specific about what makes your character stand out. These are commonly likes, mannerisms, overly used phrases, habits, compulsions, vices, and odd beliefs. You should have no less than 3, and no more than 5.

Aspirations: Aspirations are your characters desires, goals, hopes, and dreams. Some might be personal, some might be external desires for a better world, far beyond their control. Your character should have at least 3, no more than 5, one of which should be something that they can achieve for themselves, and at least one which reflects your character's hope for the world, like the cure to a disease, the death of a certain individual, or the elimination of a certain attitude within the world; they don't necessarily have to be striving for such lofty dreams, just hoping that it happens.

Aversions: Call them dislikes, pet peeves, disgusts, turn-offs, revulsions, loathsome ideas, annoyances, everyone has things that they do not enjoy, and actively try to avoid, not out of fear, but out of a strong disapproval aroused by something the character finds unpleasant or offensive. They should have at least 1, and no more than 5.

Fears: Like Aversions, fears are things that appear to be particularly dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat for your character. These might make complete rational sense, like a fear of death, rational but highly unlikely, like a fear of losing a loved one to a rare disease, or completely irrational and/or unlikely, like a fear of the vacuum of space. It should be noted that fears are NOT phobias; these do not paralyze your character from taking action, they are just present to some extent in their decision making. Just to emphasis what I mean, I will share that I have a fear of hitting a child with my car, which means that I try to drive slowly in housing areas, but I don't avoid them.