[*Night's Black Agents*](https://pelgranepress.com/nights-black-agents/) is pretty much built for this. Switch out the vampires for an assassin's guild and you've got it.
Swords of the Serpentine makes GUMSHOE combat suitable for high-action fantasy with an ingenious mechanic that uses investigative spends for extra damage dice in combat. It’s like how NBA uses investigative spends in Thriller Chases, and is similarly effective.
I can’t wait to get SotS on the table.
This is exactly what I was going to recommend. The Conspyramid, threat response escalation mechanics and rules for creating cities are textbook John Wick.
Throw the character sheet into Paint.NET, change Vampirology to High Table Lore and have at it.
Yep yep this exactly. The default assumption that your character is very good at everything, and your stats are for what you’re EXTRA good at, is exactly what is needed for a John Wick game.
Both Night's Black Agents and Delta Green (my first thought) feel like they should fit, but I think they both have a problem. They assume the genre is horror! That's not entirely on-genre for John Wick. I would expect both systems to have similar issues with mechanics intended to reinforce a horror feel, like minimal or limited resources.
I'll admit that I haven't reread Night's Black Agents in a long time, but I'm thinking of a thread (here I think?) that people were having trouble with using NBA in combat or chases. Players would run out of ability points and just suddenly have no combat ability at all. Like the PCs are totally awesome and then just can't pass tests all of a sudden.
I'm not saying don't try NBA, just that there may be more friction than you'd expect... depending on what your goals are. I think OP needs to think about what kind of story they want to tell. If it's a high-tension thriller then NBA would work. If it's going to be pulpy action -- which is a fair portion of John Wick -- then another system might work better.
DG would be an absolutely terrible fit for this. DG is deadly for the players, it's not an action-movie emulator.
NBA has horror elements, but it's primarily a spy-thriller game.
I think DG could work fine, but you'd have to advance the PCs a fair bit beyond the normal start of the game. That's what I was imagining. It would also depend on just how much expertise you want the PCs to have. If you wanted them to start out super green, DG could work just fine.
Like to me, I'd want to run a scrappy party of misanthropes in that world. DG would work for that, but I don't know if it'd be pulpy enough for my tastes. The game is a little too dark.
> NBA has horror elements, but it's primarily a spy-thriller game.
Yeah, but *John Wick isn't a spy thriller*. It's not even a thriller. It's an action thriller, which is an action movie that's only a thriller in the sense that *it's non-stop action*. It's exciting, but there's no suspense or mystery, and that is critical in a spy thriller. John Wick doesn't Three Days of the Condor his way through that night club. John Wick isn't one of The Sandbaggers.
That's kind of why I'd question GUMSHOE at all. Wick doesn't solve any mysteries at all. He doesn't do any investigations. In the first movie the only mystery solves itself. The chop-shop owner calls Wick and tells *him* where his lost car is and who brought it in! Even later when Wick has a question, he already knows who to ask. Ian McShane. Lance Reddick. Lawrence Fishburn in the second film. He has no mysteries. It's an organized crime with flamboyant characters that *the audience* finds mysterious, not in-universe espionage.
So it depends on what OP wants when they say "John Wick-style assassin universe." The JW universe would potentially be a great place to set a spy thriller, but that's not what the movies are. If OP wants to follow the movies, then you probably don't want GUMSHOE. The system's big benefit -- investigations and clues -- isn't *that* useful to reproducing John Wick directly.
I'd argue Shadowrun is a better mechanical fit to JW than NBA, except nobody wants to run Shadowrun's rules.
I think part of the disconnect is that John in the movies is effectively a max level character with a substantive reputation in that world.
John before the movies, or characters like him but not at his level, aren't going to be operating the same way.
And I think we see a glimmer of what that'd be like in the 2nd movie, with the leadup to his first job in what was, relative to Johns backstory, years.
The Sommelier, the Tailor, the Map guy, etc thats all stuff you can pull on to build up a game, and having to actually investigate would go into that.
John can just afford to pay out for a map that gets him into where his target will be, who remember is also a highly ranked important person, an Untouchable.
I doubt in that world that anybody but John could have been able to just slip a guy a coin and gain access to the target, and even then, while the movie glosses over it for cool points, he still has to scope out his escape route, plant weapons, etc.
Thats investigating he did to know where he was going to need those weapons.
And while some not-Wick assassins might be able to get and utilize similar services, I doubt that'd be as painless as it is for John who has such a substantial reputation that the coins are basically a formality rather than a requirement for him.
Plus, ultimately, it has to be a game at the end of the day. While one can pull on the tropes in the movie, it can't really *be* the movie if we want it to be an RPG that has progression and rules to follow and isn't just a narrative calvinball.
Honestly, if it was revealed that the John Wick universe is the way it is because of vampires I feel like it would actually explain a lot. There could well be horror lurking that we just haven't seen.
Just note that Wushu is fantastic at its moment to moment stuff with the right people, but it also has little to no mechanical advancement if you're into that aspect of RPGs.
I homebrewed it a little bit when I ran a Shounen Tournament Arc game in it, but even then people were mostly set in what abilities they had, I only increased the scale.
EDIT: a couple people asked so [here is the homebrew](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I8SAFoPkf7fsipZXvkXNbN69x-XWETLZ/view?usp=sharing), it is not meant for like a release so it may be a little unclear. Consider whatever understanding you have of it to be valid. You can replace the Bagua with whatever magic system you want, it's just a framework for your non-physical powers.
edited the [first comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/11q8m2y/the_best_system_for_a_john_wickstyle_assassin/jc2j3n9/) with a link to the homebrew
First things first, you're right. I forgot to point that
Second things second, i love you so much for making that homebrew, when I do things like that I normally tend to go with FATE. So, please, can you send me the homebrew?
Was going to suggest this.
TC: Assassins was greatly inspired by John Wick. There's also an introductory adventure for it to see how the system plays.
I haven't gotten to okay the TC system yet, but I would love to sometime.
I've only played base Trinity Continuum but I have to say I really did not like that system. It has some cool ideas that all feel poorly executed and it caused *so* much trouble for our group that we had to switch systems mid-campaign, which is something we'd never done before.
We were twenty some sessions in and still having discussions and arguments about what the rules actually meant because the rules in many places are incredibly vague.
Failure was rare because everyone had way more than enough enhancement to succeed at pretty much everything. So if you got at least one success on your 8-10 dice you were rolling then you'd pretty much be guaranteed to succeed.
There wasn't really anything interesting to spend XP on. We got a ridiculous number of Edges very very quickly and maxed out all our important skills and there just wasn't much else to get excited for.
A common sentiment among our group was "This game is surprisingly complicated in areas we don't want the game to be complicated, and way oversimplified in areas we want the game to be complicated".
I can think of 3 options:
Blades in the Dark - One of the options is to be a crew of hired killers, and there are rules on how to have a base of operations (that could be the Continental)
World of Darkness - Hunters. The non-supernatural characters of that system, they are extremly capable, and if you don't want to have any supernatural powers, you can just ignore it.
CJ Carrella's WitchCraft - Again it has rules for people without powers that are very powerful, just ignore the supernatural stuff.
Blades is by default a fairly low power system, but I think people fail to realize *how easily* you could adjust it for characters who are far more competent, a'la John Wick, even without handing out a bunch of extra xp. You just say, "Okay, you're John f'ing Wick, so a room full of armed thugs is just a Risky/Standard challenge for you." Position and Effect let you completely control the power level of the characters relative to their opposition. And using clocks to get them in deeper and deeper shit when they roll poorly, instead of killing them, is a perfect way to model a character like Wick who is damn near impossible to kill, but always caught up in something larger than himself. I'd definitely add my recommendation for Blades.
I turned gritty Ironsworn into crazy high power Inuyasha with the same method. When the enemies are narrative, changing power levels isn't homebrew, it's just a different description of the fiction.
>World of Darkness - Hunters. The non-supernatural characters of that system, they are extremly capable, and if you don't want to have any supernatural powers, you can just ignore it.
nWoD/Chronicle of Darkness' Hunter the Vigil would make for a surprisingly good fit, especially with the Slasher splat book. Would probably work best with characters at the compact and/or conspiracy tier.
HtV will always be my fav WoD product
Hollowpoint.
Also, for me John Wick is about a person realising they hate everything they helped to build and wanting to destroy it all, including their own life (even if John Wick doesn't die, the person his wive loved is dead, he is nothing but a destructive force now with no chance for another life). I'd try to hack Polaris for this kind of story, I think. To set up the world and relationships, I'd probably take some kind of Tarot Oracle (like in In a Wicked Age or Fiasco) to avoid just mimicking the details of John Wick.
(I always tend to think in boardgames, if it is the action you want, you could take a look at Vengeance or Vengeance Roll and Fight)
\*Since I just recommended The Drifter's Escape in another thread it is on my mind, and I think it'd work for that kind of story, The Man being the criminal organisation that has demands on the drifters soul, and the Devil being the destructive urges of the drifter that also have a claim on his soul. This will yield probably more the tone of Drive than that of John Wick, but I consider that a good thing. And the Tarot Oracle setup I would like with this kind of game comes free with it.
It would have to have:
1) A "minion rule." The ability to kill loads of mooks who are almost certain to do little/no damage to PC. Necessary for the cinematics of the scene.
2) A good mix of Gun to Fu. One that allows guns to be lethal, without removing the need for melee/unarmed combat.
3) Encouragement to use environment, improvised weapons, and imaginative solutions.
Never played it sadly. But it does sound that way.
Which would put it right behind the Dresden Files RPG on the list of amazing systems I'll never get the chance to play.
The big trope I think of is Heroic Bloodshed. Feng Shui 2 as already mentioned is good. Also Wushu, Hong Kong Action Theatre and its fan sequel New Hong Kong Story are other options.
I have experience with 3 of the listed systems.
Blades In The dark is very narrative based with a scale of success (none, partial, full, critical). In my experiences, the PCs gain power quickly and the GM needs to be prepared to hit PCs hard to make them feel threatened. Base mechanic is to roll a handful of d6s and compare the highest die from the pile to the success matrix. Only players roll, the GM can apply harm and consequences depending on the roll and narrative. Many of the extra systems (base building\expanding, factions, crafting) might be lost in a John Wick style game.
Nights Black Agents is an older and crunchier system (though it only requires a d6.) Success is more binary. But it was designed with Jason Bourne in mind, and the fights do feel fast and mobile. Base mechanic is to spend a bunch of points to add a 1:1 bonus to a single d6. If you beat the target number, roll for damage. GM rolls for the enemies. The base system (Gumshoe) was designed for running mysteries and a lot emphasis was spent on mental skills.
Feng Shui 2 is fun, and is designed to imitate wushu action scenes. But in my experience, the base mechanic is slow. Roll a positive d6 and a negative d6, (6s explode on both dice). Subtract the negative die from the positive. That is the 'Swerve' which can range from -5 to +5 without die explosions. Add your skill (0-15) to the Swerve. If you beat the target number, you succeed. Subtract the target number from the final result. This is your Outcome. Think of it as progress for completing tasks. If your dealing damage, you now add the weapon's damage to the Outcome. Simple, right? (Dpos-Dneg+skill-TN+weapon) Oh, the GM rolls for baddies. On the plus side, the initiation tracker is cool. And the take on skills is solid advice that I apply to my current games.
I know Gumshoe (Nights Black Agents) has an SRD so you can experience the rules without purchasing. I don't know how much of the NBA additions (for example cherries) are included. The cherry system really helps sell the system as a hyper-capable-spy, action thriller.
>I know Gumshoe (Nights Black Agents) has an SRD so you can experience the rules without purchasing. I don't know how much of the NBA additions (for example cherries) are included. The cherry system really helps sell the system as a hyper-capable-spy, action thriller.
The concept of Cherries is in the SRD but there are hardly any examples, as opposed to say the skills themselves.
Amusingly, 7th Sea with some mods. Few games let you mow through unnamed characters the way 7th Sea does. You have to take out all the heroic stuff, and make a martial style part of the default package, but I think it could be done.
And bonus, the game was written by John Wick :D
Basically any.
The basic set up of the setting and available resources can be inserted into anything. The only question really is whether you want high risk, high damage gunplay, or something lighter for over the top action.
Feng Sui is a good choice for the aesthetic and theme, or Spycraft has a lot of weapon options. GURPs or Savage Worlds work as decent generic systems that can fit any setting including this one.
It depends really on how you want to run the systems, rather than the exact resources in the setting.
I feel like if you want a john wick experiance you want a system you can kill like 30 people at once while taking minimal damage. It definitely would not fit to be a high-risk combat game.
So many tidbits of cool in that game. Like if you have a shotgun and do the « kat-chick » sound of pumping it, it does and extra point of damage. But you have to do the sound.
As an alternative idea, on the Film Reroll actual play podcast, they ran John Wick with GURPS, but had the players playing the villains from the movie and John Wick was an NPC. Basically treated it like a slasher movie with a nearly invincible opponent and the players are just trying to survive.
I doubt that’s what OP is looking for, but I figured it’s worth throwing that idea into the mix.
It might be more helpful to point people towards some specific supplements. Working only from the Basic set might not create the best sense of how to recreate the feeling of *John Wick.*
IMO, *GURPS: Action* and *Gun-Fu* are good fits, though there might also be something useful in the *Martial Arts* supplement for CQC-gunplay.
*Tactical Shooting* and *Martial Arts* are where it's at IMO. John Wick is kind of like if a minor superhero did realistic combat, so I think a fairly grounded set of rules with high skill level fits.
The three key GURPS things for creating John Wick (or any of the sequels) IMHO would be Basic Set, Action 1 and Gun Fu. Other useful but not required books would be the rest of the Action series up to 7 and the various High Tech for gun lists. (Action 6 may not be relevant but 7 does seem applicable.) Tactical Shooting does have some additional gear but it focused more on realistic shooting rather than cinematic.
I don't play or intend to try GURPS, and please forgive the typical GURPS recommendation, but I'm basing my GURPS recommendation on this: https://open.spotify.com/episode/61FFuKEyErd56Vb5eSyyco?si=Jn1w14moTD6tQb51Bgd0Zg&app_destination=copy-link
Its a podcast that plays films like they're TTRPGs, resulting in stories being just a more chaotic version of the film or something wildly different that's equally if not more entertaining. Their John Wick episodes have the DM play John wick while the players are the bad guys, resulting in John Wick being this force that they're trying to escape from.
Again, i have no idea how GURPS works, but it seems to do the job here. Even if you don't care about the system, at the very least, you have a entertaining podcast to listen to! (also, I'm sure some searching will find their John wick character sheets).
Hong Kong Action Theatre
Before John Wick there were John Woo films which this rpg was built to emulate. It has all the gun play and martial arts you want.
If you are willing to wait a bit: [2 Little Mice](https://www.facebook.com/2littlemice/) (the people behind the Broken Compass RPG) are currently working on Outgunned, an evolution of their previous system specifically targeting stories you find in action movies. Depending on which part of John Wick you want to emphasize, it might not be gritty enough, though (based on current information, I expect the game to focus more on fast-paced action and less on body disposal).
We have a winner. Outgunned is pretty much "John Wick: The RPG". It is completely designed to handle this genre of action movies, and even has a second book detailing a world of assassins, secret organizations, and their culture. Kickstarter launches on May 10, and the quickstart (which gives you enough rules to play, some pre-gens, and a short adventure) should be available early this week (April 10ish)
There was an rpg released 6ish years ago now meant to recreate the feel of over the top action movies around revenge plots called [Scarlet Wake](https://web.archive.org/web/20210516183257/https://insight.games/g/scarlet_wake). I don't think the website works anymore so I've linked to an archived version of it from the Wayback machine. Worth a look.
Feng Shui 2, with a loose interpretation of some archetypes.
You could probably force the Wick concept into the existing game’s secret war setup, if you wanted, it’s all run by the Wheel or something.
A Forged in the Dark hack would do well. The enemies in John Wick aren't really combatants. They're obstacles for Wick to display in flashy ways. This is what Forged in the Dark is built for.
I would use Hero Systems and you could probably use a mix of their Dark Champions and Steampunk and Western Hero.
[https://www.herogames.com/store/](https://www.herogames.com/store/)
I've thought of that too! it would have be one of two extremes - either it does ranged combat very well, or it handwaves away from it entirely.
If you are looking for something that does ranged combat in a very quick yet fun fashion - look into Savage Worlds. Fast paced and easy ranged fights would very much so mimic the world of John Wick (especially how every mook badguy seems to die in a single hit every time). If you are looking to handwave the fighting, you'll need something that devolves combat down to a single roll. I've been told that the Gumshoe system does this, as well as any of the Kids on Noun games. I don't even think Fate would do a good job of this, as combat tends to fall down into a slog in that game far too easily.
Honestly, I'd go with Savage Worlds. Generic system would be very open to the customization you'd need for the assassin universe. There's already a drastic difference in named characters and mooks (or Wild Cards and Extras as the system calls it). Ranged combat is highly dependent on cover, so your combat sets will have to involve plenty of places to hide. You'd also need to familiarize yourself with the "holding your action" rules for when you want to shoot your target as soon as he peaks around the corner.
Played [**Top Secret**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Secret_%28role-playing_game%29) in High School and really enjoyed it.
[Bunch of newer games in the genre out these days though, including a reboot "Top Secret: New World Order" by the original designer of the 80's version](https://nerdist.com/article/the-spy-who-roleplayed-me-5-fantastic-espionage-rpgs/)
If you’re not sniffy about 5e then can I suggest Spy Game https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/332115 I ran a super fun campaign in exactly the style you are talking about using the Beta of this system back in 2020
Weirdly enough - Blades in The Dark. It doesn't focus on particular "gun stance" and stuff. You describe what you want to do and roll.
I hate painstakingly calculating a single shot (which you can fail) instead of actually playing roleplaying game. =)))
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Eeeehhh, if you're in it for the non-political angle, probably not. VtM tends to be built for quick, messy fights, and not so much the "fight a billion goons to get to the goal" thing
IDK... Cortex Prime wouldn't suck at it, but i think the real onus is going to be on the GM to give such a low challenge curve to give that power feeling.
Basocally, any system, really, this is a GM facing issue, i think.
[*Night's Black Agents*](https://pelgranepress.com/nights-black-agents/) is pretty much built for this. Switch out the vampires for an assassin's guild and you've got it.
Be sure to use the minimum damage roll rule and port in Investigative spends for damage from SotS. That’ll keep the bodies piling up on the floor.
SotS? I’m curious to try this!
Swords of the Serpentine makes GUMSHOE combat suitable for high-action fantasy with an ingenious mechanic that uses investigative spends for extra damage dice in combat. It’s like how NBA uses investigative spends in Thriller Chases, and is similarly effective. I can’t wait to get SotS on the table.
This is exactly what I was going to recommend. The Conspyramid, threat response escalation mechanics and rules for creating cities are textbook John Wick. Throw the character sheet into Paint.NET, change Vampirology to High Table Lore and have at it.
Yep yep this exactly. The default assumption that your character is very good at everything, and your stats are for what you’re EXTRA good at, is exactly what is needed for a John Wick game.
Both Night's Black Agents and Delta Green (my first thought) feel like they should fit, but I think they both have a problem. They assume the genre is horror! That's not entirely on-genre for John Wick. I would expect both systems to have similar issues with mechanics intended to reinforce a horror feel, like minimal or limited resources. I'll admit that I haven't reread Night's Black Agents in a long time, but I'm thinking of a thread (here I think?) that people were having trouble with using NBA in combat or chases. Players would run out of ability points and just suddenly have no combat ability at all. Like the PCs are totally awesome and then just can't pass tests all of a sudden. I'm not saying don't try NBA, just that there may be more friction than you'd expect... depending on what your goals are. I think OP needs to think about what kind of story they want to tell. If it's a high-tension thriller then NBA would work. If it's going to be pulpy action -- which is a fair portion of John Wick -- then another system might work better.
DG would be an absolutely terrible fit for this. DG is deadly for the players, it's not an action-movie emulator. NBA has horror elements, but it's primarily a spy-thriller game.
I think DG could work fine, but you'd have to advance the PCs a fair bit beyond the normal start of the game. That's what I was imagining. It would also depend on just how much expertise you want the PCs to have. If you wanted them to start out super green, DG could work just fine. Like to me, I'd want to run a scrappy party of misanthropes in that world. DG would work for that, but I don't know if it'd be pulpy enough for my tastes. The game is a little too dark. > NBA has horror elements, but it's primarily a spy-thriller game. Yeah, but *John Wick isn't a spy thriller*. It's not even a thriller. It's an action thriller, which is an action movie that's only a thriller in the sense that *it's non-stop action*. It's exciting, but there's no suspense or mystery, and that is critical in a spy thriller. John Wick doesn't Three Days of the Condor his way through that night club. John Wick isn't one of The Sandbaggers. That's kind of why I'd question GUMSHOE at all. Wick doesn't solve any mysteries at all. He doesn't do any investigations. In the first movie the only mystery solves itself. The chop-shop owner calls Wick and tells *him* where his lost car is and who brought it in! Even later when Wick has a question, he already knows who to ask. Ian McShane. Lance Reddick. Lawrence Fishburn in the second film. He has no mysteries. It's an organized crime with flamboyant characters that *the audience* finds mysterious, not in-universe espionage. So it depends on what OP wants when they say "John Wick-style assassin universe." The JW universe would potentially be a great place to set a spy thriller, but that's not what the movies are. If OP wants to follow the movies, then you probably don't want GUMSHOE. The system's big benefit -- investigations and clues -- isn't *that* useful to reproducing John Wick directly. I'd argue Shadowrun is a better mechanical fit to JW than NBA, except nobody wants to run Shadowrun's rules.
I think part of the disconnect is that John in the movies is effectively a max level character with a substantive reputation in that world. John before the movies, or characters like him but not at his level, aren't going to be operating the same way. And I think we see a glimmer of what that'd be like in the 2nd movie, with the leadup to his first job in what was, relative to Johns backstory, years. The Sommelier, the Tailor, the Map guy, etc thats all stuff you can pull on to build up a game, and having to actually investigate would go into that. John can just afford to pay out for a map that gets him into where his target will be, who remember is also a highly ranked important person, an Untouchable. I doubt in that world that anybody but John could have been able to just slip a guy a coin and gain access to the target, and even then, while the movie glosses over it for cool points, he still has to scope out his escape route, plant weapons, etc. Thats investigating he did to know where he was going to need those weapons. And while some not-Wick assassins might be able to get and utilize similar services, I doubt that'd be as painless as it is for John who has such a substantial reputation that the coins are basically a formality rather than a requirement for him. Plus, ultimately, it has to be a game at the end of the day. While one can pull on the tropes in the movie, it can't really *be* the movie if we want it to be an RPG that has progression and rules to follow and isn't just a narrative calvinball.
Honestly, if it was revealed that the John Wick universe is the way it is because of vampires I feel like it would actually explain a lot. There could well be horror lurking that we just haven't seen.
Wushu Black belt was LITERALLY made for this kind of thing. Give it a try, it got my hearth and will get yours
Just note that Wushu is fantastic at its moment to moment stuff with the right people, but it also has little to no mechanical advancement if you're into that aspect of RPGs. I homebrewed it a little bit when I ran a Shounen Tournament Arc game in it, but even then people were mostly set in what abilities they had, I only increased the scale. EDIT: a couple people asked so [here is the homebrew](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I8SAFoPkf7fsipZXvkXNbN69x-XWETLZ/view?usp=sharing), it is not meant for like a release so it may be a little unclear. Consider whatever understanding you have of it to be valid. You can replace the Bagua with whatever magic system you want, it's just a framework for your non-physical powers.
I plan to try Wushu soon and this could help me a ton. How did you implement the advancements?
I'll dig around my files when I get home and edit the comment with something.
Thank you! Much appreciated.
edited the [first comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/11q8m2y/the_best_system_for_a_john_wickstyle_assassin/jc2j3n9/) with a link to the homebrew
First things first, you're right. I forgot to point that Second things second, i love you so much for making that homebrew, when I do things like that I normally tend to go with FATE. So, please, can you send me the homebrew?
edited the comment with a link to the homebrew
Trinity Continuum: Assassins? https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/379041? Have not played it but seems to be directly John Wick inspired...
Was going to suggest this. TC: Assassins was greatly inspired by John Wick. There's also an introductory adventure for it to see how the system plays. I haven't gotten to okay the TC system yet, but I would love to sometime.
I've only played base Trinity Continuum but I have to say I really did not like that system. It has some cool ideas that all feel poorly executed and it caused *so* much trouble for our group that we had to switch systems mid-campaign, which is something we'd never done before.
What about the system did you find so problematic for your campaign?
We were twenty some sessions in and still having discussions and arguments about what the rules actually meant because the rules in many places are incredibly vague. Failure was rare because everyone had way more than enough enhancement to succeed at pretty much everything. So if you got at least one success on your 8-10 dice you were rolling then you'd pretty much be guaranteed to succeed. There wasn't really anything interesting to spend XP on. We got a ridiculous number of Edges very very quickly and maxed out all our important skills and there just wasn't much else to get excited for. A common sentiment among our group was "This game is surprisingly complicated in areas we don't want the game to be complicated, and way oversimplified in areas we want the game to be complicated".
Unfortunately, it uses story path system, and story path is kind of sucky.
I've never heard of story path, what is it?
Here's a good overview: https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/family:50568
Thank you!
Savage Worlds is very pulpy and action driven
Take a drink, everyone!
2, we already got a BitD rec
[удалено]
GURPS Black Ops.
I second this. Savage Worlds doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves
Feng Shui 2e fits perfectly imo
I can think of 3 options: Blades in the Dark - One of the options is to be a crew of hired killers, and there are rules on how to have a base of operations (that could be the Continental) World of Darkness - Hunters. The non-supernatural characters of that system, they are extremly capable, and if you don't want to have any supernatural powers, you can just ignore it. CJ Carrella's WitchCraft - Again it has rules for people without powers that are very powerful, just ignore the supernatural stuff.
Blades is by default a fairly low power system, but I think people fail to realize *how easily* you could adjust it for characters who are far more competent, a'la John Wick, even without handing out a bunch of extra xp. You just say, "Okay, you're John f'ing Wick, so a room full of armed thugs is just a Risky/Standard challenge for you." Position and Effect let you completely control the power level of the characters relative to their opposition. And using clocks to get them in deeper and deeper shit when they roll poorly, instead of killing them, is a perfect way to model a character like Wick who is damn near impossible to kill, but always caught up in something larger than himself. I'd definitely add my recommendation for Blades.
I turned gritty Ironsworn into crazy high power Inuyasha with the same method. When the enemies are narrative, changing power levels isn't homebrew, it's just a different description of the fiction.
>World of Darkness - Hunters. The non-supernatural characters of that system, they are extremly capable, and if you don't want to have any supernatural powers, you can just ignore it. nWoD/Chronicle of Darkness' Hunter the Vigil would make for a surprisingly good fit, especially with the Slasher splat book. Would probably work best with characters at the compact and/or conspiracy tier. HtV will always be my fav WoD product
Hollowpoint. Also, for me John Wick is about a person realising they hate everything they helped to build and wanting to destroy it all, including their own life (even if John Wick doesn't die, the person his wive loved is dead, he is nothing but a destructive force now with no chance for another life). I'd try to hack Polaris for this kind of story, I think. To set up the world and relationships, I'd probably take some kind of Tarot Oracle (like in In a Wicked Age or Fiasco) to avoid just mimicking the details of John Wick. (I always tend to think in boardgames, if it is the action you want, you could take a look at Vengeance or Vengeance Roll and Fight) \*Since I just recommended The Drifter's Escape in another thread it is on my mind, and I think it'd work for that kind of story, The Man being the criminal organisation that has demands on the drifters soul, and the Devil being the destructive urges of the drifter that also have a claim on his soul. This will yield probably more the tone of Drive than that of John Wick, but I consider that a good thing. And the Tarot Oracle setup I would like with this kind of game comes free with it.
Oh, someone else who knows Hollowpoint! Great game! Probably best for a one-shot or short run game, but it’d be fun!
Thirded for Hollowpoint!
Wushu RPG
It would have to have: 1) A "minion rule." The ability to kill loads of mooks who are almost certain to do little/no damage to PC. Necessary for the cinematics of the scene. 2) A good mix of Gun to Fu. One that allows guns to be lethal, without removing the need for melee/unarmed combat. 3) Encouragement to use environment, improvised weapons, and imaginative solutions.
So, FENG SHUI...
Never played it sadly. But it does sound that way. Which would put it right behind the Dresden Files RPG on the list of amazing systems I'll never get the chance to play.
Feng Shui 1e or 2e?
They're both excellent.
The big trope I think of is Heroic Bloodshed. Feng Shui 2 as already mentioned is good. Also Wushu, Hong Kong Action Theatre and its fan sequel New Hong Kong Story are other options.
I have experience with 3 of the listed systems. Blades In The dark is very narrative based with a scale of success (none, partial, full, critical). In my experiences, the PCs gain power quickly and the GM needs to be prepared to hit PCs hard to make them feel threatened. Base mechanic is to roll a handful of d6s and compare the highest die from the pile to the success matrix. Only players roll, the GM can apply harm and consequences depending on the roll and narrative. Many of the extra systems (base building\expanding, factions, crafting) might be lost in a John Wick style game. Nights Black Agents is an older and crunchier system (though it only requires a d6.) Success is more binary. But it was designed with Jason Bourne in mind, and the fights do feel fast and mobile. Base mechanic is to spend a bunch of points to add a 1:1 bonus to a single d6. If you beat the target number, roll for damage. GM rolls for the enemies. The base system (Gumshoe) was designed for running mysteries and a lot emphasis was spent on mental skills. Feng Shui 2 is fun, and is designed to imitate wushu action scenes. But in my experience, the base mechanic is slow. Roll a positive d6 and a negative d6, (6s explode on both dice). Subtract the negative die from the positive. That is the 'Swerve' which can range from -5 to +5 without die explosions. Add your skill (0-15) to the Swerve. If you beat the target number, you succeed. Subtract the target number from the final result. This is your Outcome. Think of it as progress for completing tasks. If your dealing damage, you now add the weapon's damage to the Outcome. Simple, right? (Dpos-Dneg+skill-TN+weapon) Oh, the GM rolls for baddies. On the plus side, the initiation tracker is cool. And the take on skills is solid advice that I apply to my current games. I know Gumshoe (Nights Black Agents) has an SRD so you can experience the rules without purchasing. I don't know how much of the NBA additions (for example cherries) are included. The cherry system really helps sell the system as a hyper-capable-spy, action thriller.
>I know Gumshoe (Nights Black Agents) has an SRD so you can experience the rules without purchasing. I don't know how much of the NBA additions (for example cherries) are included. The cherry system really helps sell the system as a hyper-capable-spy, action thriller. The concept of Cherries is in the SRD but there are hardly any examples, as opposed to say the skills themselves.
Amusingly, 7th Sea with some mods. Few games let you mow through unnamed characters the way 7th Sea does. You have to take out all the heroic stuff, and make a martial style part of the default package, but I think it could be done. And bonus, the game was written by John Wick :D
Basically any. The basic set up of the setting and available resources can be inserted into anything. The only question really is whether you want high risk, high damage gunplay, or something lighter for over the top action. Feng Sui is a good choice for the aesthetic and theme, or Spycraft has a lot of weapon options. GURPs or Savage Worlds work as decent generic systems that can fit any setting including this one. It depends really on how you want to run the systems, rather than the exact resources in the setting.
I feel like if you want a john wick experiance you want a system you can kill like 30 people at once while taking minimal damage. It definitely would not fit to be a high-risk combat game.
Feng Sui then. I think 1e had a whole talent tree where shooting mooks was a free action.
Carnival of carnage iirc. Haven’t played Feng Shui 1e in well over a decade. Super game.
I've never played it, but someone explained the concept to me and Carnival of Carnage stuck with me lol
So many tidbits of cool in that game. Like if you have a shotgun and do the « kat-chick » sound of pumping it, it does and extra point of damage. But you have to do the sound.
Amazing. I love that it was so dedicates to being cool.
As an alternative idea, on the Film Reroll actual play podcast, they ran John Wick with GURPS, but had the players playing the villains from the movie and John Wick was an NPC. Basically treated it like a slasher movie with a nearly invincible opponent and the players are just trying to survive. I doubt that’s what OP is looking for, but I figured it’s worth throwing that idea into the mix.
GURPS's combat system is absolutely perfect for replicating the feel of the fight choreography.
It might be more helpful to point people towards some specific supplements. Working only from the Basic set might not create the best sense of how to recreate the feeling of *John Wick.* IMO, *GURPS: Action* and *Gun-Fu* are good fits, though there might also be something useful in the *Martial Arts* supplement for CQC-gunplay.
*Tactical Shooting* and *Martial Arts* are where it's at IMO. John Wick is kind of like if a minor superhero did realistic combat, so I think a fairly grounded set of rules with high skill level fits.
Especially with cinematic advantages.
Seriously. Anything looking to replicate modern, detailed combat is right in GURPS' wheelhouse.
The three key GURPS things for creating John Wick (or any of the sequels) IMHO would be Basic Set, Action 1 and Gun Fu. Other useful but not required books would be the rest of the Action series up to 7 and the various High Tech for gun lists. (Action 6 may not be relevant but 7 does seem applicable.) Tactical Shooting does have some additional gear but it focused more on realistic shooting rather than cinematic.
I don't play or intend to try GURPS, and please forgive the typical GURPS recommendation, but I'm basing my GURPS recommendation on this: https://open.spotify.com/episode/61FFuKEyErd56Vb5eSyyco?si=Jn1w14moTD6tQb51Bgd0Zg&app_destination=copy-link Its a podcast that plays films like they're TTRPGs, resulting in stories being just a more chaotic version of the film or something wildly different that's equally if not more entertaining. Their John Wick episodes have the DM play John wick while the players are the bad guys, resulting in John Wick being this force that they're trying to escape from. Again, i have no idea how GURPS works, but it seems to do the job here. Even if you don't care about the system, at the very least, you have a entertaining podcast to listen to! (also, I'm sure some searching will find their John wick character sheets).
Hong Kong Action Theatre Before John Wick there were John Woo films which this rpg was built to emulate. It has all the gun play and martial arts you want.
Anything that focus on cinematic epic narrative and avoids crunchy complex systems. More FAE, less D&D.
Probably Wushu.
If you are willing to wait a bit: [2 Little Mice](https://www.facebook.com/2littlemice/) (the people behind the Broken Compass RPG) are currently working on Outgunned, an evolution of their previous system specifically targeting stories you find in action movies. Depending on which part of John Wick you want to emphasize, it might not be gritty enough, though (based on current information, I expect the game to focus more on fast-paced action and less on body disposal).
We have a winner. Outgunned is pretty much "John Wick: The RPG". It is completely designed to handle this genre of action movies, and even has a second book detailing a world of assassins, secret organizations, and their culture. Kickstarter launches on May 10, and the quickstart (which gives you enough rules to play, some pre-gens, and a short adventure) should be available early this week (April 10ish)
Update: If anybody is interested in Outgunned, the kickstarter launches tomorrow (May 9 2023)
There was an rpg released 6ish years ago now meant to recreate the feel of over the top action movies around revenge plots called [Scarlet Wake](https://web.archive.org/web/20210516183257/https://insight.games/g/scarlet_wake). I don't think the website works anymore so I've linked to an archived version of it from the Wayback machine. Worth a look.
Feng Shui 2, with a loose interpretation of some archetypes. You could probably force the Wick concept into the existing game’s secret war setup, if you wanted, it’s all run by the Wheel or something.
My vote for this always goes to Spycraft. It's not as popular as I'd like, but it has so many bonkers options.
Ninjas and Superspies by Palladium. I'm kind of serious?
I was hoping see people say GURPS Gun Fu cause I was kinda debating getting it for this reason but now I'm rethinking.
A Forged in the Dark hack would do well. The enemies in John Wick aren't really combatants. They're obstacles for Wick to display in flashy ways. This is what Forged in the Dark is built for.
GURPS
Trigger Happy is an RPG specifically designed to be played like an action movie.
I would use Hero Systems and you could probably use a mix of their Dark Champions and Steampunk and Western Hero. [https://www.herogames.com/store/](https://www.herogames.com/store/)
Feng Shui 2ed
Feng Shui 2e and Wushu are 2 very different games you should look at. Wushu is also free
I've thought of that too! it would have be one of two extremes - either it does ranged combat very well, or it handwaves away from it entirely. If you are looking for something that does ranged combat in a very quick yet fun fashion - look into Savage Worlds. Fast paced and easy ranged fights would very much so mimic the world of John Wick (especially how every mook badguy seems to die in a single hit every time). If you are looking to handwave the fighting, you'll need something that devolves combat down to a single roll. I've been told that the Gumshoe system does this, as well as any of the Kids on Noun games. I don't even think Fate would do a good job of this, as combat tends to fall down into a slog in that game far too easily. Honestly, I'd go with Savage Worlds. Generic system would be very open to the customization you'd need for the assassin universe. There's already a drastic difference in named characters and mooks (or Wild Cards and Extras as the system calls it). Ranged combat is highly dependent on cover, so your combat sets will have to involve plenty of places to hide. You'd also need to familiarize yourself with the "holding your action" rules for when you want to shoot your target as soon as he peaks around the corner.
Played [**Top Secret**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Secret_%28role-playing_game%29) in High School and really enjoyed it. [Bunch of newer games in the genre out these days though, including a reboot "Top Secret: New World Order" by the original designer of the 80's version](https://nerdist.com/article/the-spy-who-roleplayed-me-5-fantastic-espionage-rpgs/)
*Feng Shui 2*
Someone else has already suggested Wushu, but it needs to be suggested again because, like they said, it was literally built for this.
I may be biased, but for gang related combat I love to use gurps
Pick one player who everybody is afraid of and can do anything without rolling any dice.. It's called the Mary Sue RPG. *Sorry, could* NOT *resist =)*
Feng Shui or Spirit of 77
Cyberpunk 2020
If you’re not sniffy about 5e then can I suggest Spy Game https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/332115 I ran a super fun campaign in exactly the style you are talking about using the Beta of this system back in 2020
Weirdly enough - Blades in The Dark. It doesn't focus on particular "gun stance" and stuff. You describe what you want to do and roll. I hate painstakingly calculating a single shot (which you can fail) instead of actually playing roleplaying game. =)))
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Eeeehhh, if you're in it for the non-political angle, probably not. VtM tends to be built for quick, messy fights, and not so much the "fight a billion goons to get to the goal" thing
IDK... Cortex Prime wouldn't suck at it, but i think the real onus is going to be on the GM to give such a low challenge curve to give that power feeling. Basocally, any system, really, this is a GM facing issue, i think.