Help needed to choose a Gothic Horror game system

[Melnibonean]

Hi all. I've been lucky enough to come into possession of a large bunch of vampires and sundry other folks that you might find in a gothic horror setting.
But, since I’ve never played this type of game (despite being a 40+ year fan of gothic horror) I need some help in finding a suitable game system.

My preference is a system that is simple to use and allows for quick games (2 to 3 hours). Something that is detailed without getting bogged down in excess detail, is versatile, multi-player, skirmish level, and is fun all involved.

Oh... And is a solid set or rules without recource to endless updates or vast pages of errata.

What's out there there? So far Chaos in Carpathia is looking okay.

Cheers.

[Conquistador]

<snip good event - more miniatures>

My preference is a system that is simple to use and allows for quick games (2 to 3 hours). Something that is detailed without getting bogged down in excess detail, is versatile, multi-player, skirmish level, and is fun all involved.

Oh... And is a solid set or rules without recource to endless updates or vast pages of errata.

What's out there there? So far Chaos in Carpathia is looking okay.

Cheers.

Wow, you're looking for the Holy Grail too?      

CiC  is my choice, I chose it over Faith and Fear only because it "flowed better" when I read the rules.  F&F seems like a great game though too.   

Gracias,

Glenn

[zemjw]

I know lots of folk like Fear and Faith (and songs of blades and heroes), but the couple of games I played were extremely disappointing.

I have read CiC, and it looks more promising.

WestWind used to do a Gothic Horror rules set. If it's still available, it's worth a look. I have a copy, but it's more focussed on Gothic (hence the name I suppose  ), while I prefer modern vampire hunting (I appreciate CiC is also Gothic, but it seems more generic than WestWind's rules)

I have another set of rules at home whose name escapes me just now, but I think it's geared towards modern vampires. I'll update the post when I find it.

Also just noticed this thread

Edit: The rules I couldn't remember are Occult Wars from Stealthy Spider Publishing. I'm not sure they're in production anymore, as occultwars.com leads to a page full of Japanese(?) characters. There's an entry on Wikipedia about it, last modified in 2010.

[richarDISNEY]

The main issue with West Wind's rules is it reads like it was edited by an 8 year old.  Really a wonky read. GREAT rules, but you really have to do some digging and self organization to get anything out of it.

CIC is solid.  As also is the stand alone Rippers (or the Savage Worlds version -- both are good...)...
I am in the middle of the read of Witchfinder General.  Vote's not in yet on this set...

[Cultist #3]

I own all of the above fore-mentioned, and I have to agree, CiC is a solid system and well worth the purchase price, especially if you get the PDF version.

[Melnibonean]

Thanks for the help folks. It looks like CiC is the go. I thought there might be more on offer out there in the big wild world but it seems I must be wrong... Or am I seeing a void in the Gothic Horror genera? Nature hates a void... 

[Blackwolf]

Yeah, Call of Cthulu is the game,a classic and it still stands up(I first played when I was 15.....31 years ago ).

[The_Beast]

I have the Westwind book, glad I bought it, but consider it more of a sourcebook rather than an actually playable game. Malamute put the effort into making it work, but, alas, a dead computer took most of that effort with it.

Did I hear it's supposed to be reworked? Hope so; there could be greatness there...

Outside of old CoC, I've not looked at anything comparable.

Doug

[Melnibonean]

Yeah, Call of Cthulu is the game,a classic and it still stands up(I first played when I was 15.....31 years ago ).

Hmmm... Interesting. Does CoC work for Victorian era horror (the clasic Gothic era I guess)?

[The_Beast]

Hmmm... Interesting. Does CoC work for Victorian era horror (the clasic Gothic era I guess)?

It was 'Call of Cthulhu - Cthulhu by Gaslight'. Apparently out of print(?) and asking high bucks on eBay.

Doug

[Malamute]

I have the Westwind book, glad I bought it, but consider it more of a sourcebook rather than an actually playable game. Malamute put the effort into making it work, but, alas, a dead computer took most of that effort with it.

Did I hear it's supposed to be reworked? Hope so; there could be greatness there...

WestWind has new set of rules scheduled for release next year called "End of Empires". There is running about it somewhere.

Yep, I did some work to correct all the typos and make the Gothic Horror set playable sometime ago. If you can be bothered to look closely there is a decent playable game in there.

[Simlasa]

It was 'Call of Cthulhu - Cthulhu by Gaslight'. Apparently out of print(?) and asking high bucks on eBay.

Doug

I was under the impression that Chaosium is about to bring out a new edition of Cthulhu by Gaslight with a chunk of new stuff in it. I think I read that on yog-sothoth.com forums.