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Help me pick a new system

Started by TheNextDoctor, September 29, 2014, 03:53:48 PM

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TheNextDoctor

Is RuneQuest 6 level based?

I recall hearing about RuneQuest back in the day when I used to play and feel that it'll be very rules heavy, am I wrong in this assumption?

I've heard Champions is great because you can do everything but it seemed very intimidating when I took a look at it a long time ago with a bunch of charts and lots of "info" as early 80s game seems to be.

Also read online that character generation is a chore.  

One of my purchases since I've decided to get back into RPGs was DC Adventures (M&M) and while I don't find the dice mechanic difficult, character generation took a long time.

That's something I kind of want to avoid with 3 new RPG players and with me being familiar with a few games from when I used to play in years past.

smiorgan

Quote from: CRKrueger;789294FFG's 40k system handles all of 40k, plus can be hacked for WFRP.
Or you could do what we did back in the 80s and hack WFRP 1e to run 40K: Rogue Trader as RPG...

TheNextDoctor

Quote from: smiorgan;789375I wouldn't be surprised if Beyond Human is more similar than different, if it ever sees daylight

That's disappointing.
Both that Beyond Human might never be published and that Beyond Human won't be what I expect.

Of the books I've recently bought.  Unisystem as shown in Terra Primate seemed like the best system with the dice mechanic, ease of character generation, and from what I've read online and in this thread, the "toolkits" with different genre rules and the "power scale" going from normal humans all the way up to Armageddon level characters (which I imagine is high according to reviews)

Doctor Who and DC Adventures looks good to though but I'm no RPG specialist.

TheNextDoctor

Quote from: Herne's Son;789338In that case, you want: http://edenstudios.net/terraprimate.html

Yup, that's why I bought this instead of the All Flesh Must Be Eaten first.

smiorgan

I don't think anyone's mentioned D6 system yet. It's generic and it's free.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/468/West-End-Games

Downside is it's no longer supported AFAIK, so if you want mainstream support that's a problem. But there are variants like mini-Six and OpenD6.

TheNextDoctor

Quote from: smiorgan;789380I don't think anyone's mentioned D6 system yet. It's generic and it's free.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/468/West-End-Games

Downside is it's no longer supported AFAIK, so if you want mainstream support that's a problem. But there are variants like mini-Six and OpenD6.

Downloading it now.

Will check it out.

Thanks

smiorgan

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789378That's disappointing.
Both that Beyond Human might never be published and that Beyond Human won't be what I expect.
OTOH Ghosts of Albion is in print right now, and may actually have what you want if you file the Victoriana serial numbers off. I wouldn't buy the pdf though (unless you were planning to print it) so laying down 30 quid on the hardback is a gamble.

QuoteOf the books I've recently bought.  Unisystem as shown in Terra Primate seemed like the best system with the dice mechanic, ease of character generation, and from what I've read online and in this thread, the "toolkits" with different genre rules and the "power scale" going from normal humans all the way up to Armageddon level characters (which I imagine is high according to reviews)

The Classic Unisystem books integrate well to the extent that (IIRC) the psionics rules for Terra Primate are identical to the ones for Conspiracy X 2.0.

Also, don't think of AFMBE as a zombie game; think of it as a generic game where the supplements' titles are puns on zombie genre. All zombies are in AFMBE are monsters constructed from a toolkit. I reckon you could completely ignore the zombie aspects.

I did a sort of run-down of Unisystem supplements I owned at the time:

http://www.departmentv.net/2012/07/unisystem-round-up/

I also have Dungeons and Zombies, All Tomorrow's Zombies and Enter The Zombie, and they all serve the different genres well -- if you can get past the punning supplement titles.

Soylent Green

Taking into account the systems you already excluded (Gurps, Hero, BRP) the most popular and well supported toolkit systems at present are Savage Worlds and Fate. They each have their own distinctive flavour but they are highly customisable games with tons of resources to draw from. You can get a hold of Fate and the Test Drive rules for Savage Worlds for free to give you an idea. I quick search through Google will also show just how many resources are available for both games.

One system that I don't think has not been mentioned yet is D6. You can now download legally for free the Fantasy, Adventure and Space versions of the system (and assorted resources) http://www.polgarusgames.com/download-page or get the streamlined MiniSix (http://www.antipaladingames.com/p/mini-six.html). There are a few commercial D6 rules for superheroes as well.
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Simlasa

#38
Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789376Is RuneQuest 6 level based?

I recall hearing about RuneQuest back in the day when I used to play and feel that it'll be very rules heavy, am I wrong in this assumption?
Nope, no levels, no classes.
Like I said, RQ6 is the probably the heaviest incarnation of BRP at the moment... but the BRP book from Chaosium is a toolkit and can be tuned to be much lighter... easily as light as Savage Worlds but with fewer gimmicks. There's a free quickstart: BRP Quickstart

3rik

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789379Yup, that's why I bought this instead of the All Flesh Must Be Eaten first.
Terra Primate was my first Unisystem game as well, and is among my all time favourite games. But I ended up getting AFMBE, the complete Conspiracy X 2.0 line, Angel, Ghosts of Albion, Army of Darkness and Eldritch Skies (now OOP for Unisystem). Mixing and matching all these games gives you pretty much the equivalent of a generic system toolkit.

That said, I'll repeat GenreDiversion, as you seem to have missed my suggestion for it earlier on in the thread. (Either that, or you have me on ignore. :teehee:)
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Skyrock

Quote from: TheNextDoctor;789271Have you had any issues running or playing Savage Worlds?
Not issues per se, but things that can catch players on the wrong foot.

For one thing, SW runs best if run with maps and minis. It was built for that, and employs a lot of shortcuts relying on those accessories.
For example, Extras have only three health statuses: They are either OK, Shaken or Out of Action. When you use minis, you will have no bookkeeping as GM - you can just lay down the Extra mini to show to everyone that it is Shaken, and take it from the map when it is Out of Action. Play without a map, and you will miss this and other shortcuts that are what gives SW its qualities.

Also, combat can be deadly for the uninitiated. You need to be aware of the maneuvres, use them and do teamwork to make a stand in combat. The combat survival guide is a great aid to dampen this effect, but most gamers will probably still need a few sessions of easy combats and not-so-easy combats with PC death until they get a grip on it.
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elfandghost

Quote from: Certified;789347Runequest 6 is another really good option. If you strip out the core setting, the rules can be adapted to virtually anything very easily.

RQ6 doesn't have an core setting!

QuoteOP:In a sense I am looking for a system where in one campaign I can do street level heroes and in the next campaign I can do giant mecha or supermen being gods in a futuristic earth, or a mixture of both or whatever.

BRP Gold Book is this!

I would sugget you buy both RQ6 and BRP Gold book. There may even be some hack for RQ6 set in space, far away, long ago. There are firearms rules for free at their website along with free basic rules.
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trechriron

Here's a conversion of a Savage Worlds setting to the Mongoose Legends system (RuneQuest 6) called Mercenary Breed. I'm sure you could tune up RQ6 with rules from it.
Trentin C Bergeron (trechriron)
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Certified

Looks like I made a silly mistake.

Here's the Runescape Rule set I was referring to, which is totally not Runescape at all. (Well, maybe a little...)

The Three Rivers Academy, a Metahumans Rising Actual Play  

House Dok Productions

Download Fractured Kingdom, a game of mysticism and conspiracy at DriveThruRPG

Metahumans Rising Kickstarter

TheNextDoctor

Quote from: 3rik;789397I'll repeat GenreDiversion, as you seem to have missed my suggestion for it earlier on in the thread. (Either that, or you have me on ignore. :teehee:)

Sorry, it seems that I did miss your earlier suggestion and never ignore.  I'll looked up GenreDiversion and it sounds pretty good in the review that I read and the price isn't too bad.  I don't know if I will give it a chance.

The review made by someone in this site talks about it being good for lower power-level campaigns but is not suitable for epic sci-fi and I assume higher power level games and I will be like to be able to do this.

So I think it might not be what I am looking for