Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789271Nice, it does seem that Savage Worlds is well supported with a lot of published material for varied setting and campaigns.  Is it safe to say that Savage Worlds is the new GURPS in a sense.

There are certainly a lot of source books covering genres for it, including basic books like Superheros, Sci Fiction, Fantasy, and more specific settings like Pirates of the Spanish Main, Rotted Capes and of course, Deadlands Reloaded.

QuoteHave you had any issues running or playing Savage Worlds?

I have not run it much, the core maths of the system is a bit wonky due to the fact you re-roll dice that roll maximum, and me and my groups could never get past that. Also not it uses playing cards, that I know some people dislike.

Finally I have seen feedback that it breaks down at cosmic (Silver Surfer, Green Lantern) power levels. Although I suspect its no worse at that level than most other games.


There are no perfect systems.

Silhouette System used for Tribe 8, Heavy Gear etc.
Interlock System used for CyberPunk 2020, Mekton, Jovian Chronicles etc.
FFG's 40k system handles all of 40k, plus can be hacked for WFRP.

Of course the real answer is Rifts.

Or, take a look at the Pay-What-You-Want version of RuneQuest 6, the free RQ Firearms supplement, the free supplement from a galaxy far far away that shall not be named, and add in Sci-Fi BRP to taste.

Savage Worlds is ass on dry toast.

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789271Is it safe to say that Savage Worlds is the new GURPS in a sense.

I'd never say that. The games have a whole different mindset IMO.
In play GURPS is fairly simple and mostly gets out of the way... Savage Worlds likes to keep reminding you that you're playing Savage Worlds... at least that's how it felt to me.

Mind you, many of the GURPS sourcebooks are of great use for whatever system you end up using.

Quote from: CRKrueger;789294Or, take a look at the Pay-What-You-Want version of RuneQuest 6, the free RQ Firearms supplement, the free supplement from a galaxy far far away that shall not be named, and add in Sci-Fi BRP to taste.

Yeah, RQ6 (or Openquest) would unlock most all the other BRP goodness as well.

Quote from: CRKrueger;789294Silhouette System used for Tribe 8, Heavy Gear etc.
Interlock System used for CyberPunk 2020, Mekton, Jovian Chronicles etc.
FFG's 40k system handles all of 40k, plus can be hacked for WFRP.

Of course the real answer is Rifts.

Or, take a look at the Pay-What-You-Want version of RuneQuest 6, the free RQ Firearms supplement, the free supplement from a galaxy far far away that shall not be named, and add in Sci-Fi BRP to taste.

Savage Worlds is ass on dry toast.

I'm not familiar with Silhouette or 40k.  Can you explain the dice mechanics of it?  Does it have attributes?  Seems like some games don't nowadays.

Interlock seems a possibility.  Cyberpunk is a street level game with cybernetics and tech added on and Mekton is a mecha high power game iirc.  Can a high power Mekton be added to a Cyberpunk game with no issues?

I might have to check out RuneQuest but isn't RuneQuest similar to early 80s games in that they have a lot of detail like Hero System?

And I know I'm asking you a lot of questions but I have one more.

Why is Savage Worlds ass on dry toast?

thanks

Quote from: CRKrueger;789294Of course the real answer is Rifts.

 

Ah!  How fondly I remember Rifts.  I don't think I can ever go back to any Palladium games anymore though.  

Quote from: Simlasa;789299I'd never say that. The games have a whole different mindset IMO.
In play GURPS is fairly simple and mostly gets out of the way... Savage Worlds likes to keep reminding you that you're playing Savage Worlds... at least that's how it felt to me.

Mind you, many of the GURPS sourcebooks are of great use for whatever system you end up using.

 

Is it because Savage Worlds have cards and re-rolls as another poster mentioned?

And I agree the sourcebooks would be great source material for whatever system.  My feeling is that the system just doesn't do it for me.  But whichever system I do decide to choose from these posts and suggestions I'm sure I'll end up picking up a GURPS book or two.

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789262Plus I'm more Planet of the Apes than The Walking Dead.

In that case, you want: http://edenstudios.net/terraprimate.html

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789314I might have to check out RuneQuest but isn't RuneQuest similar to early 80s games in that they have a lot of detail like Hero System?

I doubt Runequest 6 is anywhere near Hero in density but it probably does have the most crunch of the current crop of BRP games.
BRP core is more of a toolkit, with a lot of switches that can be turned on or off... such as hit locations vs. general wounds... Fate Points, etc... and Openquest (and CoC) is lighter still. They all share enough similarities that it's easy to mix and match stuff written for any of them.

Quote from: Ladybird;789277iirc, the differences are large enough to make that not a trivial thing, but I've long since got rid of my copy of Buffy. You'd probably want one of each type of corebook to start with.

If you want more Unisystem for free, Witchcraft is a modern-day urban horror / magic game using the system.



The Apocalypse engine is pretty cool, but it's one of the recent systems that's a reaction to games design crawling up it's own ass. It's highly archetypal / class-based; each game with the system is very customized to a particular thing, so there's a game about D&D-esque fantasy, post-apocalyptic scavenging, being soldiers, teenage romance, cyberpunk mercs, blaxploitation movies...
The dice system is 2d6+mods against target numbers of 7 (Partial success, it'll cost you something) or 10 (Actual success), but most of the time it tries to avoid dice at all, with explicit encouragements to talk about situations and follow the natural consequences of actions rather than roll dice.

Dungeon World can be read for free, online - here's a link to the SRD, which is like 99% of what's in the book you can buy - and it's probably the most widely-known and accessible of the games. Bits may seem ludicrously basic, but it's a good intro game as well as a reaction to the rules-obsessive nature of modern D&D's.

Hmm, thinking about it, "single core system pre-customised for the needs of a particular genre" is a much more common thing nowadays than "generic system for the GM to adapt".

For games Powered by the Apocalypse in a strange way, the playbooks, classes, are both more and less restrictive.  They serve to say what role your character fills and really focus them in a social sense at the start of the game. Games like Monster Hearts (Teen Supernatural Romance) define the playbook by the creature you play, Vampire, Werewolf, but this doesn't change that guiding concept of social role as each of these playbooks interact with other characters in very different ways.

Because each playbook can only be selected once it's a kind of niche protection. There will never be two Fighters in Dungeon World or two Brainers in Apocalypse World. These playbooks give you a list of specialized Moves, special abilities, that are part of what defines who they are. Such as the Gun Lugger's Not to be Fucked With which lets them act as a small gang all by themselves. (I mention this because I just like saying "Not to be fucked with")

However, once you're  out of the gate and earning experience the game allows you to branch out. Although, by the time you are selecting moves from other playbooks as an advancement option there is usually a solid party dynamic in place.

To the other core point. The core system remains constant, each game tweaks it in different ways often around how relationships between characters play out and what playbooks look like. The Spirit of 77 Kickstarter is about to wrap if you want to see how the game looks in the seventies there is a demo. It looks like they have come up with an interesting way of defining the character that really fits the genre. This of course seems to really be one of the strengths of the engine. Each setting book I've seen uses virtually everything they can to push the flavor and feel of that setting.

Quote from: Simlasa;789341I doubt Runequest 6 is anywhere near Hero in density but it probably does have the most crunch of the current crop of BRP games.
BRP core is more of a toolkit, with a lot of switches that can be turned on or off... such as hit locations vs. general wounds... Fate Points, etc... and Openquest (and CoC) is lighter still. They all share enough similarities that it's easy to mix and match stuff written for any of them.

Runequest 6 is another really good option. If you strip out the core setting, the rules can be adapted to virtually anything very easily.

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789271Have you had any issues running or playing Savage Worlds?

The only trouble I've had in Savage Worlds games has been with players coming in from D&D, and trying to play D&D (trying to make attacks every round instead of swinging off chandeliers or bluffing their opponents for instance), and getting frustrated when the output from that doesn't match their expectations.  And its not all players by any means, just a subset.

That shouldn't be a problem if you never got into D&D in the first place, but it'd be something to watch out for in new players.  Too, I think its worst when you're powering a fantasy game with Savage Worlds.  It should be less of a problem if you're talking about supers and mecha.

Something to be aware of is Savage Worlds is a universal toolkit system, but not a universal generic system in the fullest sense of throwing the core book alone out on the table across several genres.  If you look at the published and even the home-brewed settings, the good ones take some core book options off the table, expand on other options from core, and add new options entirely.

Well, before I read his needs for a universal-do-it-all system I was gonna suggest Traveller, because I almost always (these days) suggest Traveller.

But seeing that he wants a universal system that isn't GURPS, I think I've only got to suggestions that haven't been mentioned yet:

The Hero system generally seen as "Champions", but as I understand it started life as a swords and sorcery game, then added ninjas, until they just went superhero with it.  Clearly, however, it can be used to create a specific type of game/setting with only a little work, since all the peices are in place.

The other, tossed out because I'm an elitist snob of a gamer who has to do the hipster thing and mention a game no one else has, and probably can no longer find... CORPS, or failing that move back a step and get TimeLords, from teh same people.










For the record I don't actually endorse CORPS as a universal system. I like it just fine, but I think its about as Universal as the D20 system...

Quote from: Saladman;789371Something to be aware of is Savage Worlds is a universal toolkit system, but not a universal generic system in the fullest sense of throwing the core book alone out on the table across several genres.  If you look at the published and even the home-brewed settings, the good ones take some core book options off the table, expand on other options from core, and add new options entirely.

Yeah, you've put it better than I did but that's exactly what I am looking for.  A universal toolkit system.

I'm assuming that unisystem will be considered as a universal toolkit system as well.

Quote from: Spike;789372Well, before I read his needs for a universal-do-it-all system I was gonna suggest Traveller, because I almost always (these days) suggest Traveller.

But seeing that he wants a universal system that isn't GURPS, I think I've only got to suggestions that haven't been mentioned yet:

For the record I don't actually endorse CORPS as a universal system. I like it just fine, but I think its about as Universal as the D20 system...

Well as another poster has said better than I did. I am looking for a universal toolkit system not a universal system.

Will Traveller allow for that?
Will CORPS?

I am looking for one game system where I can master and my three new players can at least familiarize themselves with so that we can run different campaigns and settings as we see fit.

player characters being just normal humans in one setting/campaign to Green Lantern/Superman superheroes to Giant Mecha fighting Godzillas.

Understanding that house rules or different toolkits (not real sure what this means) might be needed but as I've just said earlier, looking for a nice rule-set/dice mechanic.

Quote from: Ladybird;789277iirc, the differences are large enough to make that not a trivial thing, but I've long since got rid of my copy of Buffy. You'd probably want one of each type of corebook to start with.

If you want more Unisystem for free, Witchcraft is a modern-day urban horror / magic game using the system.

Cinematic Unisystem is basically Classic with Drama Points, no Mana and a limited skill list. I think they're compatible-ish. Classic is closer to GURPS in that it's more neutrally flavoured/less geared for cinematic adventure.

That said, I really rate Ghosts of Albion which is Cinematic. Forget the Victoriana, it's a nice refinement of previous iterations of magic system together with methods for making supernaturals -- I wouldn't be surprised if Beyond Human is more similar than different, if it ever sees daylight