Sounds like Savage Worlds

Quote from: noman;9074201. It's a true universal system, meaning there's a core rulebook for it that's independent of any setting.

2. It dosen't suck*.

3. It's got settings for it, preferably a lot of settings...preferably a lot of awesome settings.

4. The system is capable of handling character power levels ranging from low-level dudes to almost-but-not-quite godlike.  This is the key point for my criteria.

5. Point (4) supersedes point (3).  If I can find a system that can handle very high power levels, but no settings, I'll consider it.

Hero systems fits all of these.  The corebook has no setting.  There is a ton of setting and genre stuff available for it.  It can handle a wide range of power levels.  It was originally a super hero system.

I think both EABA2 and Savage Worlds would deal with it, though arguably. Both have the issue that even fights between very powerful beings would be quite lethal, and it's even more a matter of outsmarting the opposition.
In the end, I think it depends on how much crunch you want, since EABA2 is slightly higher.

Here's me harping on about my favourite game again: go for Mythras, the recently renamed RuneQuest 6 iteration of BRP. Mythras Imperative, the 32 page quickstart, is available for free download to try it out. It's specifically system neutral, dealing with everything from Stone Age to far future. There are tons of good settings from The Design Mechanism, but conversion for any of the myriad other BRP settings is a breeze. Luther Arkwright, a supplement from TDM, specifically addressed genre-bending, reality-hopping play. The core system which is about to be rereleased as Mythras includes magic systems to model pretty much any fantasy you want. There are free firearms and vehicles rules.
The system is at its best I would say modelling fairly gritty human-level stuff, but I think it can play high powered characters as well. Particularly useful are the Mysticism rules to model characters with superhuman abilities in a way that makes sense. Luther Arkwright adds psionics.
Honestly, brilliant system if you like a bit of crunch, and lends itself to deep RPing and detailed backgrounds, characters developing as distinct individuals rather than class-bound.

Quote from: markfitz;907551Here's me harping on about my favourite game again: go for Mythras, the recently renamed RuneQuest 6 iteration of BRP. Mythras Imperative, the 32 page quickstart, is available for free download to try it out. It's specifically system neutral, dealing with everything from Stone Age to far future. There are tons of good settings from The Design Mechanism, but conversion for any of the myriad other BRP settings is a breeze. Luther Arkwright, a supplement from TDM, specifically addressed genre-bending, reality-hopping play. The core system which is about to be rereleased as Mythras includes magic systems to model pretty much any fantasy you want. There are free firearms and vehicles rules.
The system is at its best I would say modelling fairly gritty human-level stuff, but I think it can play high powered characters as well. Particularly useful are the Mysticism rules to model characters with superhuman abilities in a way that makes sense. Luther Arkwright adds psionics.
Honestly, brilliant system if you like a bit of crunch, and lends itself to deep RPing and detailed backgrounds, characters developing as distinct individuals rather than class-bound.

Didn't the OP specify no d100? Oh wait, it was no GURPS.

Then indeed - Mythras would be my suggestion as well!

Quote from: markfitz;907551Here's me harping on about my favourite game again: go for Mythras, the recently renamed RuneQuest 6 iteration of BRP. Mythras Imperative, the 32 page quickstart, is available for free download to try it out. It's specifically system neutral, dealing with everything from Stone Age to far future. There are tons of good settings from The Design Mechanism, but conversion for any of the myriad other BRP settings is a breeze. Luther Arkwright, a supplement from TDM, specifically addressed genre-bending, reality-hopping play. The core system which is about to be rereleased as Mythras includes magic systems to model pretty much any fantasy you want. There are free firearms and vehicles rules.
The system is at its best I would say modelling fairly gritty human-level stuff, but I think it can play high powered characters as well. Particularly useful are the Mysticism rules to model characters with superhuman abilities in a way that makes sense. Luther Arkwright adds psionics.
Honestly, brilliant system if you like a bit of crunch, and lends itself to deep RPing and detailed backgrounds, characters developing as distinct individuals rather than class-bound.

It is also very compatible with Legend, reasonably compatible with RuneQuest, BRP and OpenQuest and quite compatible with games such as Stormbringer, Hawkmoon and Ringworld, so supplements for those games can be used fairly easily with Mythras, which greatly expands the number of settings.

I love RQ and I think it handles hyper competency really well but I haven't seen an add on for hyper powered. (It does a good bastman/daredevil but Gandolf/Flash is weak.)

Quote from: yosemitemike;907504Hero systems fits all of these.  The corebook has no setting.  There is a ton of setting and genre stuff available for it.  It can handle a wide range of power levels.  It was originally a super hero system.

I'm unaware of any settings for Hero save for Champions.  A quick search didn't turn up anything.  Would you be willing to point me towards these settings you mentioned?  I'd be willing to consider using hero if it has a lot of settings.

Quote from: noman;907575I'm unaware of any settings for Hero save for Champions.  A quick search didn't turn up anything.  Would you be willing to point me towards these settings you mentioned?  I'd be willing to consider using hero if it has a lot of settings.

If you like Fantasy, Hero 5th had at least three settings: Turakian Age (fairly generic high fantasy), Valdorian Age (gritty, 'Swords & Sorcery') and Atlantean Age (magical war machines, archmages, basically good for people who liked Exalted but wanted less bookkeeping and micromanagement of combat).

JG

I just want to jot down a quick thanks to those who have replied so far.  I really appreciate you taking the time to help.

I'm looking at every suggestion that's been made, including those that don't perfectly meet my criteria.

I'm hoping for more input, if anyone happens to have anything else to add.

Question: is there an OSR style game that would handle high-power gameplay?*

* Note: Runequest derivatives have already been mentioned, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if it qualifies for OSR.

Quote from: noman;907577Question: is there an OSR style game that would handle high-power gameplay?*

Godbound. It's perfect for both high-power and VERY high-power gameplay since it supports both heroic mortals and actual cult-forming, world-changing demigod play. You can even check out a free PDF version here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185959/Godbound-A-Game-of-Divine-Heroes-Free-Edition

Quote from: noman;907575I'm unaware of any settings for Hero save for Champions.  A quick search didn't turn up anything.  Would you be willing to point me towards these settings you mentioned?  I'd be willing to consider using hero if it has a lot of settings.

There are several settings for both 5th and 6th edition.  Narosia is the current fantasy setting for 6th edition.  Star Hero has several settings in one book.  There's quite a bit of setting material available for 5th edition.  Click the genre titles on the left to see them.  Hero system is best known for its toolkit books but there are several published settings beyond the Champions universe.

To check out high powered SW, look no farther than:
Superpowers Companion (Supers, duh! But very adaptable)
Shaintar (Epic Fantasy)
Rifts (it's...err...Rifts? No seriously.)

There are probably other examples I'm not aware of. SW can definitely do high-powered. The trick is tooling the entire system upwards. That does make the tweaks less compatible with standard, low powered settings.

One thing I really like about SW is that it is FUN! You might look at all the fiddildy bits and wonder how, with its bennies and aces and wild dice and everything, but it all comes together in one damn good time for players and GMs alike. And that's the highest compliment I can give the game.

Quote from: James Gillen;907576If you like Fantasy, Hero 5th had at least three settings: Turakian Age (fairly generic high fantasy), Valdorian Age (gritty, 'Swords & Sorcery') and Atlantean Age (magical war machines, archmages, basically good for people who liked Exalted but wanted less bookkeeping and micromanagement of combat).

JG

  Also Tuala Morn, a quasi-Celtic setting. I'd note that Kenneth Hite's review of Turakian Age described it as "vanilla, but high-quality, well-crafted French vanilla."

  For science fiction, Hero 5th had two--Terran Empire, which seemed to have something of a 'Traveller/classic gaming sci-fi' vibe, and Alien Wars for straight-up 'bug hunting'. Pulp Hero and Dark Champions contained setting information in their supplements.

  Black Wyrm Games also did a whole bunch of third-party Star Hero settings, and you can get them in a bundle on DriveThruRPG.

Again, thanks to everyone who's replied.  

I'm going to dismiss BRP-related systems.  No expert by far, but a little reading has led me to believe it would break under the pressure of the sort of very high-power campaign ideas I'm playing around with.  Excellent system otherwise, though.

I had no idea about Godborn (despite the giant thread about it).  Looks exactly like what I'm looking for.  I've downloaded the free version and will read it when I get some time.  At the very least, I may use it to supplement a primary-use system.

I'm leaning towards Savage Worlds.  Savage Suzerian seems to mod Savage Worlds in such a way as to allow for the power levels I'm looking for.  I'm having some problem getting to it though.  I tried to download Suzerian Continum (the free version) and the damn thing won't load.  That, plus I have no idea where to begin to get started with this line.  Annoying.

Hero 6E.  Okay, I stand corrected; there are some pretty good-looking settings for this.  Hero is back on the table for consideration.  I have a major point of concern, however:

What's the status of the company itself?  I get that Hero is less popular, but is the system still active?  Is the company still strong?  I don't care if it's not as popular as, say, Savage Worlds or FATE.  That's actually a plus for me.  I'm concerned about the life-cycle of the game itself.  I don't want to start throwing my cash at them only to discover the system has reached its end of life.

I did my own research on this and came up with nothing of any use.  I'd welcome any feedback for someone who's more in the know.  More than likely, my concerns are based on ignorance, and I'd like that ignorance rebutted.