Non-Standard Settings?

[Crion]

Alternatively, if they're sorta policey, something riffing on Special Branch (which may be a UK thing, actually).

... no MC's brain Special Investigations has been used think of something else please.

Task Force [One/Three/Seven/Nine/other significant number], the Normalisation Division...

(I also though the Nonlinear Crimes Department, but that sounds like more of a time travel thing; I may just use it myself...)

And let's not forget Division (X) or Section (Y). You can also put a spin on the purpose of the organization, whether by playing up a more mundane side or by even stating what they are actually doing; for example, you can state you are a part of P.I. and the mundane will assume Private Investigators, when instead you mean Paranormal Investigators. Just putting that out there again.

--Crion

[MorkaisChosen]

Section 13 is sticking up in my head- has that been done?

[admiralducksauce]

And there's also Project (x), where x could be a name or number of what have you.  Project Stargate and Project Jedi were real US government programs.  Project (unassuming and off-kilter proper name) works as well.  Project Mallory or Project Tannhauser and so on.

You can go with the two-word-all-caps government codename type thing too, like the ones from SPECWEAPS, an homage/expansion of Charles Stross' A Colder War.  Such names are things like BENTHIC OUTREACH, VORPAL JULIET, and so on.  Very DELTA GREEN/MKULTRA.

Simple nonassociated words work well too.  Treadstone.  Blackbriar.

[MorkaisChosen]

Hrm, who are some miffic defenders...?

Praetorian might work- the Praetorian Division or some such. I like Project, too, and if they're doing a "supernatural things to fight the supernaturals" thing, Prometheus [Project/Division/Section] is very appropriate, as is Pandora [P/D/S].

[evileeyore]

Project Kitten Shield

[Crion]

Hrm, who are some miffic defenders...?

Praetorian might work- the Praetorian Division or some such. I like Project, too, and if they're doing a "supernatural things to fight the supernaturals" thing, Prometheus [Project/Division/Section] is very appropriate, as is Pandora [P/D/S].

Good call. You may also want to look at other "beginnings" or "sparks," or even pull a name of a warrior or defender from mythology/religious belief that you like the sound of.

Buddy of mine had a group of swordsmen that were part of "Project Volsung" in one of this games. Bunch of deadly people there. . .

Oh, and one that just crossed my mind: Foreign Languages. Even a simple word can be intimidating or mysterious. There was a Japanese animation called Knight Hunters in the states (Weiss Kreuz in Japan), and the names of the organizations for the protagonists and the antagonists were the German words for White and Black.

--Crion

[MorkaisChosen]

More words to attach Project, Division or Section to either side of!

Aspis (Greek shield)
Scutum (Roman shield, a little risky for mishearing)
Phalanx
Shieldwall
Huscarl (essentially Viking/Anglo-Saxon bodyguard types)
Hearthguard
Bulkhead
Heimdall (Norse God who guards the bridge between Asgard and Midgard, dunno why I didn't think of it before.)

[TheVengefulKoala]

On that last note, I originally called it "The Baldur Agency", whilst working under the erroneous belief that Baldur was said watchgod, not Heimdallr.

Hmm. Good suggestions, everyone. I'm still thinking on it.

[evileeyore]

On that last note, I originally called it "The Baldur Agency", whilst working under the erroneous belief that Baldur was said watchgod, not Heimdallr.

Baldr was the "Achilles" of the Norse you know... so I think The Baldr Agency is a dan apt name for supernatural hunters.

[TheVengefulKoala]

A possibility. But then again, both of those figures died.

Wouldn't be good for morale.

[Set Abominae]

If anyone is familiar with the old Chill RPG (one of my old favorites), it's setting might translate to Dresden pretty well, being that in some ways it's very similar.

Speaking of which, that game is a wealth of supernatural and horror genre lore. If you can find any of the old books on e-bay or some such, I'd recommend them. I still have my old collection (most of the material that was printed for it under Mayfair Games).

You can also get PDFs for the books at DriveThruRPG. (which I just might do myself)

[evileeyore]

A possibility. But then again, both of those figures died.

Wouldn't be good for morale.

But it's good for the irony.

Or it could be spun into a "Nothing Is Completely Immune" mindset.

[MorkaisChosen]

Also difficult to pull off a Norse god who doesn't die in Ragnarok.

[@BCrosswood]

I actually just started using the mechanics of The Dresden Files to power my game of Victoriana. Victoriana is a game now owned by Cubicle 7 Studios and is powered by the Heresy Gaming Engine. It is set in an alternate version of London in 1867. It carries some of the popular aspects of steampunk (airships, clockwork limbs, etc) with a heavy dose of fantasy (magic, fantasy races, etc). The core mechanics seemed clunky, and became rather bothersome, clunky and limiting for my players and I, especially when it came to the magical side of things.

That's awesome. I'm currently trying to meld Deadlands into the Dresdenverse. I'm hoping it will streamline things. Could you please provide a little more detail on some of the characters and locations you're using? I'd really love to adapt them to my setting if possible.

THANK YOU!

[MAK]

Historical settings are easy to adapt, I'm currently running a renaissance Venice campaign with very minor tweaks - think a mashup of Assassin's Creed, Solomon Kane and Van Helsing the movie (or Heirs of Alexandria books, if you happen to be familiar with the series).