Should I or Shouldn't I?

[Chuck Lang]

Well, I have to say that I'd recommend buying it. There may be missing portions, but I've found so far that the information provided is by far enough to run an effective campaign, and a campaign that provides a new perspective on the horror genre as well as enjoyable adventures.

The system is versatile enough to incorporate your own style and deleting or adding rules to suit your style is a piece of cake. Monsters are easy enough to create; I typically use my own creations in Palladium Books games anyway.

Also, when the next books come out it can be presented as a new challenge for the players rather than "the old standard you've had from the beginning" for the system. This will breath life into your campaign through the introduction of new rules and challenges.

I don't contribute/post to the boards that often (as can be seen by my post count and the length of time I've been a member of the boards--forums are time consuming and I work a lot; my new job allows a few more posting opportunities though), but this thread gave me a reason to post and express my opinion.

Give BtS2 a chance.

[Sureshot]

I would say wait, unless you feel like doing a LOT of extra work.

Pretty much agree with GS. Wait for the two missing books unless you feel in the mood to do it yourself or you have a freind with a Rifts collection.

[jedi078]

I asked for the book as part of a grab bag (I was curious) so in effect got it for 50% off.

Be a cheap way of getting the book.

[Sir Neil]

Ok you guys have scared me out of buying BTS 2. From what I've read, there is no magic, simple basic creatures, and no victim rules at all, should I just wait till the supplements come out in 08 or 9 and buy all three then, or is it worth getting the book now?

Get the book now. Even if the supplements don't make it out, the profession system of picking skills can be ported to Palladium's other games.

[J. Lionheart]

I rather enjoy BTS2, though I'll be the first to admit it isn't a complete book by itself (one needs, if nothing else, experience from playing another modern setting). The profession system is an excellent way of handling skills, and really emphasizes the "ordinary world, extraordinary people" part of it that I like so much.

I don't especially miss the magic - I can improvise what I need as far as magic items, and I don't play casters much in modern settings - but I would love to have the other official monsters.

A good, solid, investigative campaign is entirely playable with the current resources - the only additional book my group is actually using at the moment is the Compendium of Contemporary Weaponry for armaments. The profession system has lent itself to some interesting combinations, and allows a new level of role-playing that was hard to find in previous modern settings. We've got two BTS2 games going of late that take it majorly in to account:

A) In the game I'm running, the group successfully posed as a landscaping company (one of the players is a professional landscaper with his own business) in order to get by neighborly and police suspicion about their presence at a haunted house. That character actually used his knowledge of such things to determine about how long there hadn't been activity at the house from the normal residents, based on the shagginess of what was clearly a usually well-manicured lawn. Our Medium was a professional psychic, whose knowledge of the local metaphysical community came in useful for finding information, locating certain necessary items, and understanding the background of the situation.

B) In the game a friend is running, one of our teammates is a Diviner doctor, who has been able to use his credentials and connections to pay a visit to the morgue to check on a recent homicide victim, where he received valuable psychic clues. I myself am playing a Ghost Hunter who is a travelling revival preacher (use the huckster/con man), and am having a blast railing against the local Wiccan organization for what I am convinced must be their Satanic involvement in the troubles we're investigating. Those who are familiar with me know that me playing a fundamentalist preacher is about as far out of my comfort zone as it comes. I'm loving it!

BTS2 has a lot of opportunities for play, even in its current partial form. I guess it mostly depends on what your personal play style is, whether it's worth it to you or not.

[J. Lionheart]

Now that sounds cool. I have experience with playing modern systems (TMNT, Recon, Ninjas and Superspies, BTS, etc...) So they have changed the skill selection system again?

The skills are the same, the division of skills (OCC, Elective, Secondary) is the same, but the manner of determining what skills you have is slightly different.

Rather than roll on a table that simply provides items from "highschool drop-out, select 1 skill program" to "doctorate, select four skill programs" you roll (or choose) from a table with a bunch of occupations that might be appropriate for a BTS campaign. Each occupation provides the skills that make sense for doing that job in the character's daily life (the OCC Skills), and provides a selection of elective and secondary skills for you to customize your character with. I would say it's probably closest in style to the N&SS system, where skill programs were based on OCC, but in this case it goes by individual skills, rather than programs.

Along with the skills, the occupation also provides suggestions for how that type of character is involved with the supernatural, specific fields within that occupation, salary ranges for your character, and useful real-life reminders to keep in mind in a verisimilar world like BTS2 (for example, a doctor may be on call even while investigating, or a cop might get in serious trouble with the department if caught breaking and entering).

[sHaka]

Buy it! - there's plenty of material for some great horror sessions.

...Plus, Palladium needs the help!

[dark brandon]

I'd only get it if you want to do extra work. it is playable of course, but it still feels like a partial system.

[Chuck Lang]

Thanks all, btw, I had nightbane, didn't care for it at all.

To be honest I don't really care for Nightbane either; I have nearly all the books and I plan on getting the rest, but I use them for supplemental material. I think that Nightbane is a bit too specific of a campaign setting/system. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a cool game, but it's hard to get players to take interest (at least where I live).

BtS2 is, in my opinion, is a more flexible setting.

Although, I have to say I started thinking about Nightbane more after I saw Nightwatch.