noman, I wanted to add that the Cypher System's got both Numenera and The Strange as stand-alone settings which are both tied extremely well to the system. I mention them because, if you're interested (in the system and Gods of the Fall), they made cheap PDFs (around two bucks) that give cool advice on mixing things together. I've mined gear, Foci, creatures and setting pieces from my entire collection and have tons of great bits that are both cool and remarkably easy to use.

Quote from: Simlasa;908100Superman seems pretty much god-like to me... short of creating the universe and planets... and straight up magical stuff like turning water into wine. I can't say I've encountered a game where Superman would be the 'low end', except maybe some 'god game' like Nobilis or Amber.

I seem to keep tripping over your posts, Sim.  I'm sorry.

You're right.  Supes is a bad example.  Wonder Woman or Green Lantern would have been a better example.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to this thread.  

Quote from: Christopher Brady;908121Uh, isn't that like the entire list of them?

I don't believe so, no.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;908121Maybe a better question I should ask, what do you define as a 'universal' system, then?

From my OP:

Quote from: noman;907420It's a true universal system, meaning there's a core rulebook for it that's independent of any setting.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;908121Because to me, although you can make as many settings for it as you can, Savage Worlds isn't very 'generic' it promotes a pretty pulpy style, best suited for not quite superheroic level of comic fun.  (Which is not a bash on it, I love the system, personally, it's my go to when I do an Eberron game, and I've got a hit Pirates of The Spanish Main series, which blows my little mind.)

"Generic" or "Universal", in this context, would refer to a game system's mechanical ability to handle a variety different types of settings.  For example, film-noir, high-fantasy, space opera, etc.  SW seems to be able to do that, so it falls under my definition of "universal".

I can't speak to the pulp element of the game, as I'm not experienced enough to judge.  As pulp is more a style of storytelling than anything else, I consider it a moot point.  My only concern is if it can mechanically do the job.  If by "pulpy" what is actaully meant is "Best for low-level characters" then that's another matter.  However, I've so far seen no evidence that SW can't handle high-level characters well, based only from my own reading of the rules (and not on extensive experience).

Another sincere thanks to everyone who's posted.  I'm reading up on everything everyone suggested.

I'll let this thread run for a few more days before calling it quits.  I'll write a final post to summarize my conclusions, so that anybody else who has a similar question can read both what's been suggested so far as well as my own decisions on the matter.

Another thing that you might give some thought to is if you find the perfect system that you like, you might take a look at setting books written for other systems to mine for ideas and/or simply convert.  There are a good number of conversion guides out on the web for a fair number of the major systems mentioned in this thread.  A not small number of people out there have Gurps settings books in their game library even if they have never played Gurps.  That also applies to many other settings books for other systems.

Quote from: noman;908078I know BRP gets a lot of love at this forum, all of it deserved, but I'm that rare creature who's disliked every COC game he's ever been in.

I liked one CoC game that I played in and disliked all the others, so I am with you there.

Quote from: Simlasa;908071Can you give an example of something 'high level' from one of your games? I think there's some context to what 'high level' means that varies from person to person... like, our Superworld games were generally low-powered stuff... pulp era heroes and such... but I did play in a one-off with cosmic types flying between worlds and battling asteroid golems and such, and that seemed to go just fine.

If you have every played RQ you might follow the examples.

Our RQ2 game had Rune Lords/Priests with between 150% and 250% skills, between 20 and 50 points of Rune Magic, one of my PCs had 300 points of POW Storage, we had special abilities that stacked with spells so that we were running with 20 APs when tooled up, which meant that most normal NPCs couldn't touch us, we had a recurring dream dragon NPC and after several encounters the GM had to tool him up so that he remained a challenge.

Our follow-up RQ3 campaign had the PCs going into Dorastor where they slowly cleaned it out. If you have ever seen the Dorastor Pack then you would know how difficult this is.

In our current campaign, the PCs have awakened dead deities, ventured into the Eternal Battle and Chaos Voids and survived, have fought giants 100 feet tall, have defeated dragons and have killed the Crimson Bat in such a way that it is unlikely to return in its previous form, they have raised the Sky Boat, HeroQuested to Heaven and Hell, can manipulate the runes as though they were playthings and more.

Now, we use the basic RQ3 ruleset, with some additions from HeroQuest and a few odds and sods. Very few house rules are required to allow for high level play, in my opinion. More info can be found at http://www.soltakss.com.

I've run a bunch of Savage world's and it's a very good system. I'm not a fan of the Benny mechanic, I don't think the skills are granular enough, and players can quickly get to the point of auto succeeding.

Cypher system is cool but it's very coarse - your character only has a handful of special abilities / powers / skills

I'd love to use a D100 type system but there isn't really a currently supported finished generic system yet. BGB is not supported anymoreally. Mythras will hopefully become the basis of a generic system with genre packs but those dont exist yet.

CORPS!!!!

Which, um, may violate numba 2, possibly, and certainly violates numba tree.  And may even be a precursor to EABA, or at least vaguely related to it, but I just had to put it out there to revel in my vast library of rare and often unheralded games.


Now, for something a bit more honest? Try Unisystem.   Its got settings, from X-Files level weird mystery crap, to full on angel vs Cthulu Armageddon, to a setting fulla apes (never read it personally... seems fun), to a more legitimate x-files rip off bought from another studio, to eighty bazillion zombie settings.  Hell, it did Buffy the mudda fukken Vampire Slayer, and everyone and their cousin praised how that fucker ran high power and low power in the same game!  

Naturally I don't have a copy of Buffy.  Its too... mainstream.

Yeah, stick with CORPS.  You've never heard of it.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;908413I'm not a fan of the Benny mechanic, I don't think the skills are granular enough, and players can quickly get to the point of auto succeeding.

That was my experience of it when I played it... though I also blame the GM for much of the handwaving of danger and consequence... handing out too many Bennies.  

QuoteI'd love to use a D100 type system but there isn't really a currently supported finished generic system yet. BGB is not supported anymoreally.

Meh... there are still PDFs available and enough variety amongst BRP and its related systems that it covers most genres... westerns, scifi, horror, fantasy, post-apocalypse, espionage. Good fan-produced stuff on the forums. I've probably already got more than I'll ever use.

Is there anyone here that runs D100 / BRP as their go to
System?

I've always wanted to use Wild Talents but I would always be building everything myself

Fate is neat but declarations and aspect scope drive me nuts.

Quote from: Spike;908414CORPS!!!!

...
Yeah, stick with CORPS.  You've never heard of it.

One of my favorite systems. But one that's fallen off my list because I've only ever managed to convince one group to play it.  That was even 1st Ed, before it became a universal system.

Quote from: Spike;908414CORPS!!!!

Which, um, may violate numba 2, possibly, and certainly violates numba tree.  And may even be a precursor to EABA, or at least vaguely related to it, but I just had to put it out there to revel in my vast library of rare and often unheralded games.


Now, for something a bit more honest? Try Unisystem.   Its got settings, from X-Files level weird mystery crap, to full on angel vs Cthulu Armageddon, to a setting fulla apes (never read it personally... seems fun), to a more legitimate x-files rip off bought from another studio, to eighty bazillion zombie settings.  Hell, it did Buffy the mudda fukken Vampire Slayer, and everyone and their cousin praised how that fucker ran high power and low power in the same game!  

Naturally I don't have a copy of Buffy.  Its too... mainstream.

I literally LOL'd at this.  Thank you.  I've played a bit with Witchcraft, and did not like.  I'll take another look at Unisystem in general.

Quote from: Spike;908414Yeah, stick with CORPS.  You've never heard of it.

I own it.  

And EABA.  All of it.  I mean, All Of It.

Except to BTRC's latest supplement, which I can't get right now becuase I've got to spend that money on whatever the crap I end up deciding to go with.

I plan on plugging EABA in my final post on this topic.

Quote from: PencilBoy99;908424Is there anyone here that runs D100 / BRP as their go to
System?

Me... I run a game Magic World game online and play a PC in another one. Not at ultra-high power levels though, more like Warhammer-esque.

Quote from: noman;908221"Generic" or "Universal", in this context, would refer to a game system's mechanical ability to handle a variety different types of settings.  For example, film-noir, high-fantasy, space opera, etc.  SW seems to be able to do that, so it falls under my definition of "universal".

So if that's the case, then yeah, Savage Words counts, as does M&M 3e (You can run other genres in it, because superheroes covers a whole range of genres within itself, and there are fantasy and science fiction-y settings that can be superheroic, but have none of the tropes), Basic Roleplaying system.