Modern-day RPGs: urban fantasy
This is a companion entry to my list of horror and supernatural modern-day RPGs.
The term “urban fantasy” in the context of roleplaying games is a source of some confusion, because it can be taken to mean city-based adventures in traditional fantasy secondary worlds. For the purposes of this list, it refers rather to present-day settings that are permeated with fantastical elements. A common trope of many such settings is a “hidden world” of supernatural beings and magic that exists underneath the veneer of contemporary consensus reality.
In urban fantasy games, the player characters are typically either mythical creatures endowed with superhuman abilities or powerful mages capable of breaking the natural laws. Very often, the challenges faced by the players arise from the difficulties of leading life simultaneously in the magical “hidden world” and the mundane one.
The unquestionable leaders in this genre of RPGs are the sibling lines of World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness. This list aims to indicate the alternatives to their well-known and numerous titles. These lesser-known urban fantasy games sometimes contest or overturn the thematic and mechanical assumptions popularized by the White Wolf and Onyx Path behemoths – beginning with the necessity for an all-pervading angsty “darkness” itself.
Chronicles of Darkness (family)
5 figs out of 5
World of Darkness (family)
5 figs out of 5
GURPS Powers
5 figs out of 5
GURPS Cabal
5 figs out of 5
GURPS Technomancer
5 figs out of 5
WitchCraft
5 figs out of 5
Armageddon: The End Times
5 figs out of 5
Angel
5 figs out of 5
Marchland (Savage Worlds)
5 figs out of 5
Olympus Inc. (Savage Worlds)
5 figs out of 5
Fae Nightmares (Savage Worlds)
5 figs out of 5
Monster of the Week
5 figs out of 5
Unknown Armies (2nd Edition)
4.5 figs out of 5
Unknown Armies (3rd Edition)
4.5 figs out of 5
Dresden Files (Fate)
4.5 figs out of 5
Dresden Files Accelerated (Fate)
4.5 figs out of 5
Nitrate City (Fate)
4.5 figs out of 5
Ngen Mapu (Fate)
4.5 figs out of 5
Urban Shadows
4 figs out of 5
After the Vampire Wars (Mythras)
4 figs out of 5
Kult: Divinity Lost
4 figs out of 5
Kult (Classic)
4 figs out of 5
City of Mist
4 figs out of 5
Liminal
4 figs out of 5
Urban Arcana (d20 Modern)
3.5 figs out of 5
Shadowrun
3.5 figs out of 5
Shotguns & Sorcery (Cypher)
3.5 figs out of 5
Urban Fantasy Hero (HERO System)
3.5 figs out of 5
Dark Streets & Darker Secrets
3.5 figs out of 5
Modern AGE
3.5 figs out of 5
Esoteric Enterprises
3.5 figs out of 5
The Unseen World (Genesys)
3.5 figs out of 5
Something Strange (Genesys)
3.5 figs out of 5
Majus
3.5 figs out of 5
Don't Rest Your Head
3.5 figs out of 5
Kids on Brooms
3 figs out of 5
Opus Magi (Cepheus Engine)
3 figs out of 5
Hexpunk (Cepheus Engine)
3 figs out of 5
Sigil & Shadow
3 figs out of 5
Darkness: Supernatural Creatures (Everywhen)
3 figs out of 5
Monsterhearts
3 figs out of 5
Nameless Streets
3 figs out of 5
Scion
2.5 figs out of 5
The Kerberos Club (Fate, Savage Worlds, Wild Talents)
2.5 figs out of 5
Dark Decade (N.O.W.)
2.5 figs out of 5
Bloodshadows
2.5 figs out of 5
Nightbane
2.5 figs out of 5
OneDice Urban Fantasy
2.5 figs out of 5
human(ish) (FASERIP)
2.5 figs out of 5
Nightlife
2.5 figs out of 5
Sorcerer
2.5 figs out of 5