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Generic RPG System

Started by Roman, October 05, 2007, 11:03:29 AM

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Roman

#30
October 06, 2007, 08:02:36 PM
Good points, all. You know, I've loved BESM through each of its incarnations, faults and all, and I should have listed it too.

Thanks!

Quote from: KrakaJakI like BESM 3rd.

It's got all the fussiness of GURPS, removes the ridicolously detailed combat and is very fun to play!
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Roman

#31
October 06, 2007, 08:04:02 PM
Damn! Another good one that I forgot to mention. I've used D6 to good effect in several campaigns. Thanks!

Quote from: PremierMight sound counterintuitive, but 1st edition D6 Star Wars. Yes, generic. I found I can adapt it to any genre within an hour by changing the skill and equipment lists.
"Comics are the last place where an unfiltered literature of ideas can be produced for a mass audience."
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Roman

#32
October 06, 2007, 08:06:20 PM
It was indeed, although I felt a bit annoyed that they made 3 different genre books (Adventure, Fantasy, and Space) rather than one single core rulebook. A lot of the rules were replicated in each book, and IMO there wasn't enough material distinct to each genre in each book to justify 3 separate rule books.




Quote from: Ian AbsentiaThe D6 system was marketed as a "generic", multi-genre system some years back, wasn't it?

!i!
"Comics are the last place where an unfiltered literature of ideas can be produced for a mass audience."
~ Warren Ellis

Roman

#33
October 06, 2007, 08:09:55 PM
While the only correct answer to you questions may be "yes," there are currently 4 "generic" rulebooks for the BRP system. See for yourself!


http://catalog.chaosium.com/index.php?cPath=37


Quote from: walkerpIs there a generic version of BRP or is it something you rip screaming from Cthulu or whatever?
"Comics are the last place where an unfiltered literature of ideas can be produced for a mass audience."
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walkerp

#34
October 07, 2007, 12:28:51 AM
Hmmm.  I've had absolutely zero experience with BRP in any of it's forms, except that I one an Elric book at a con and it was quite cool (the one about the seas of Melniborne with that awesome ship with Cthulu on the front).  I'll keep my eyes open for it.
"The difference between being fascinated with RPGs and being fascinated with the RPG industry is akin to the difference between being fascinated with sex and being fascinated with masturbation. Not that there\'s anything wrong with jerking off, but don\'t fool yourself into thinking you\'re getting laid." —Aos

J Arcane

#35
October 07, 2007, 01:15:02 AM
Quote from: darI've refrained from posting here because my favorite is quite obvious. My second is BRP and I can't wait for the deluxe book.



I like 3rd... well... before it became 3.5 with the compendiums. I like 4th better.

However your comment strikes me as absurd. Combat in 4th is modular, so much so that there are 4 different chapters on it with increasing complexity and detail. 'Combat Lite' in the 'Characters' book, 'Combat', 'Tactical Combat' and 'Special Combat Situations' in the 'Campaigns' book. Each of which you can pretty much take pieces and parts from.
Dude, they like tripled the number of damage types in the game.  And that's just one tiny example.

And the parts of the system are far, far more inter-related than the previous edition.  

They didnt' even do a proper, standalone, Lite this time, because they couldn't.  It just doesn't pare down as well as 3e, across the board.

I was excited about 4e at first, because I hoped it would just be core + compendiums in one book, with maybe a few mechanical tweaks.  What I got instead was HERO, right down to the wierd new effects-based approach to the Ads & Disads.  

It's still a decent game, but it's a far more complicated GURPS than I care for, and seems to be aimed squarely at the hardcore gearheads.
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Tom B

#36
October 07, 2007, 01:28:45 AM
My favorite generic system would be EABA, by BTRC.  It's flexible, especially with the way powers work.  It manages to combine versimillitude and relatively simple mechanics in a very elegant way.  It has some nifty mechanical touches, as well.  A sort of reverse-death-spiral, where injuries actually reduce the effects of subsequent injuries (breaking your arm the second time isn't as debilitating as the first break.)

EABA has only recently edged out CORPS (also by BTRC) for my favorite generic system.  CORPS is much more on the gritty side than EABA, which leans more toward the cinematic.

I'm about to try Spirit of the Century for a fantasy game, and it also looks promising as a generic system, although much less crunchy.
Tom B.

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Ronin

#37
October 07, 2007, 01:38:28 AM
Quote from: J ArcaneGURPS 3rd combat isn't "ridiculously detailed" at all, if you actualyl, you know, read that part where it says that Advanced Combat is optional and take it to heart.

Now, 4th on the other hand, I cannot say the same thing for.  Therefore, I dislike it, because I liked Basic Combat, and 4th is pretty much Advanced Combat with the only part left optional being the actual hex grid.

This is part of why GURPS 3rd Edition is my favorite generic system.
Wow I totally agree with you. Besides I'm pretty invested in 3rd, I'll be damned if I obsolete all my 3rd to start buy/playing 4th. Beside rules are made to be ignored for the sake of fun/the game. I'll be damned if a game steal my fun by design.
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David Johansen

#38
October 07, 2007, 03:51:13 AM
GURPS first edition was best before they messed it up with Space, Aliens, and Supers.

Sadly it wasn't very generic at that point.

Fourth is one of my favourite games, though I can't imagine anyone (including hardend RMSS fans) looking at a super's stat block with anything other than fear and horror.

Power modifiers should be there to make minor tweaks and adjustments to existing advantages.  They're over used in fourth.

Really, I love Fourth as a substructure and hate it as a book my players will ever touch.

Also, fourth is a blatantly overpriced cash grab based on the assumption that nothing SJG can do will ever grow their customer base.

Doesn't make third any less ass.
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Ian Absentia

#39
October 07, 2007, 11:52:23 AM
Has anyone mentioned FUDGE yet?  I should, because I've always been enamored with the idea. I like the theory behind it, but I've found that, in actual execution, it plays a little flat.

I've taken a look at earlier iterations of the FATE rules (itself derived from FUDGE), but they didn't do a whole lot for me.

!i!

walkerp

#40
October 07, 2007, 12:13:45 PM
I think Fudge has been mentioned once or twice in this thread.  I love Fudge dice and I find the Fudge mechanic very satisfying.  I played a con game of Terra Incognita that was quite fun as well.  I think it is true that Fudge is more of a toolkit, unless you have a very tight, relaxed group, at which point it's cool to "fudge" a lot of it.
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John Morrow

#41
October 07, 2007, 12:33:20 PM
Quote from: Ian AbsentiaHas anyone mentioned FUDGE yet?  I should, because I've always been enamored with the idea. I like the theory behind it, but I've found that, in actual execution, it plays a little flat.

I mentioned Fudge earlier.  Can you provide a bit more detail about what you mean by "flat"?  I'm curious what your problem was.
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dar

#42
October 07, 2007, 01:41:55 PM
Quote from: J ArcaneIt's still a decent game, but it's a far more complicated GURPS than I care for, and seems to be aimed squarely at the hardcore gearheads.

I pretty much have to take that on, hard core gearhead is me.

J Arcane

#43
October 07, 2007, 02:41:22 PM
Quote from: Ian AbsentiaHas anyone mentioned FUDGE yet?  I should, because I've always been enamored with the idea. I like the theory behind it, but I've found that, in actual execution, it plays a little flat.

I've taken a look at earlier iterations of the FATE rules (itself derived from FUDGE), but they didn't do a whole lot for me.

!i!
I always sort of felt like I was wasting my time with FUDGE, because it really isn't a complete, playable game.  It's a basic framework, some core mechanics, and a lot of advice.  It's more like a primer course in game design, than a game itself.

Top that off with the irritating special dice, and I never got much use for it.
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KrakaJak

#44
October 09, 2007, 03:25:57 PM
Quote from: J ArcaneGURPS 3rd combat isn't "ridiculously detailed" at all, if you actualyl, you know, read that part where it says that Advanced Combat is optional and take it to heart.

Now, 4th on the other hand, I cannot say the same thing for.  Therefore, I dislike it, because I liked Basic Combat, and 4th is pretty much Advanced Combat with the only part left optional being the actual hex grid.

This is part of why GURPS 3rd Edition is my favorite generic system.
Combat rounds still last one second, still (in my opinion) need a hex grid and still have weapons you can only use every other round (which is a tracking headache if you have any more than one person with heavy weapons) and is hard to convert into anything that's not "realistic"(ever thown a fireball?).
-Jak
 
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