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Any good toolkit books for the different genres of ttrpg out there?

Started by GiantToenail, July 10, 2023, 06:44:16 PM

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GiantToenail

July 10, 2023, 06:44:16 PM
Looking through my copy of mythras has got me thinking about modifiers, bonuses, roll percentages, and using the existing rules as creatively as possible, to the point where I want to look at other ttrpg systems in more depth and what I can scratch together from looking at other folk's takes at rpg systems. To this end I've found mythras, spycraft, and traveller5 to be encompassing toolkits of their respective genres with positive reviews to boot, I haven't found something similar for dicepool games yet and am looking for other rpg system genres that I've not heard of yet, as well. Age, setting, and apparent quality don't matter so much to me, I'd like this to be a list of books to dig into over time as I learn more about these systems!
I am the Retarded-Rube, seeking wisdom of yore.

I am the Retarded-Rube, striving to know so much more.

David Johansen

#1
July 10, 2023, 07:31:08 PM
The various GURPS Sourcebooks are excellent for just about any game.  Still it depends on whether you're looking for nuts and bolts or concepts and ideas, because the nuts and bolts parts of GURPS books are GURPS nuts and bolts.

My Galaxies In Shadow rpg is definitely an sf tool kit.  http://www.uncouthsavage.com
Fantasy Adventure Comic, games, and more http://www.uncouthsavage.com

S'mon

#2
July 10, 2023, 08:49:51 PM
For BRP, definitely check out Dragonbane, the Quickstart is free.
Shadowdark Wilderlands (Fridays 6pm UK/1pm EST)  https://smons.blogspot.com/2024/08/shadowdark.html

tenbones

#3
July 11, 2023, 11:46:30 AM
Savage Worlds

The Core rules are enough to run just about any kind of game you need across all major genres. That said, Savage Worlds currently has Pathfinder, and Palladium Rifts editions - all of which are compatible. They also have genre specific add-on books for Horror, Supers, Fantasy, and Sci-fi is coming.

The system is easy to learn, super-easy to modify (it's designed to be tweaked to your liking), and scales incredibly well.

Is it perfect? Nope. But it is intensely flexible to the point where those imperfections can be easily rectified. Very few rules absolute and the ones that are, remain pretty straight-forward. There is also a very robust community for support including tons of homebrew content that can fulfill nearly any need.

Svenhelgrim

#4
July 13, 2023, 03:01:46 PM
Stars Without Number by Sine Nomine has charts and tables for developing adventures and sci fi campaigns.  Stuff for generating worlds, factions, motivations of factions and/or NPC's, and even creatures and alien races. 

Then there's the infamous Tome of Adventure Design by Matthew Finch. Geared towards fanatasy games, it has hundreds of charts to spur your imagination.

Reckall

#5
July 15, 2023, 09:56:03 AM
The Wilderlands of High Fantasy were full of random tables and suggestions adaptable to other fantasy campaigns too.
For every idiot who denounces Ayn Rand as "intellectualism" there is an excellent DM who creates a "Bioshock" adventure.

jhkim

#6
July 16, 2023, 01:04:39 AM
Quote from: David Johansen on July 10, 2023, 07:31:08 PM
The various GURPS Sourcebooks are excellent for just about any game.  Still it depends on whether you're looking for nuts and bolts or concepts and ideas, because the nuts and bolts parts of GURPS books are GURPS nuts and bolts.

My Galaxies In Shadow rpg is definitely an sf tool kit.  http://www.uncouthsavage.com

Some GURPS genre books were much better than others, in my opinion. In 3rd edition, I think my favorites were GURPS Martial Arts and GURPS Cyberpunk. GURPS Fantasy had some good material, but it wasn't really a toolkit. By contrast, Fantasy HERO (4th ed) was a really good fantasy toolkit; Champions (4th ed) was an excellent superhero toolkit - plus Lands of Mystery for Lost World Romance genre. But some of the other HERO genre books were not very good.

I'd also recommend Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes (1986, Flying Buffalo) as a great toolkit for mysteries and espionage play.

From more modern RPGs, Spirit of the Century (2006) is a very good sourcebook on pulp, and I'd recommend Monster of the Week (2012) as a great sourcebook on the Buffy / Supernatural / etc. genre of episodic urban fantasy.
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