Just looking for some system recommendations.  I know the group around here is pretty well played.

Our group has had Savage Worlds in the rotation for more than five years.  I like the engine, and play it mostly as written aside from an initiative tweak, but the shine has worn off it and I'd like to give something else a whirl.

My group has used it for Assassin's Creed, Pirates of the Spanish Main, Firefly, High Fantasy, Modern Occult (Dresden) and Sword and Sorcery.  Any alternative need not fill all those shoes for me; I tend to run low magic and pulpy games.  

My other criteria:

* Somewhere near Savage Worlds rules weight (I simply don't have the patience anymore for the concept of rules mastery, there are other things I'd like to do with my time).
* Skill Based character builds.
* Perhaps a broader scale of character power levels?  Savage Worlds characters tend to start out good and get... better.  I'm not really looking for Epic level play, but a little deeper granularity might be nice.

I had tried Fate as an alternative already, but find the system doesn't really work for me; I find it trickier to balance encounters than systems with more concretely-defined abilities.

If you have some thoughts; I would dig checking out something new.

The Cortex+ system is very similar to SW mechanically, and most iterations of it have some Fate-ness but it can be dialed down. Perhaps the biggest problem is that there's no generic Cortex+, just a bunch of licensed games only two of which you can still get legally (Firefly and Leverage).

Cortex. Not the crap Cortex+ stuff. Cortex, as in the Serenity RPG. Even better with the Big Damn Heroes Handbook for Serenity. Stay clear the fuck away from the Firefly RPG (it uses FATE-like Cortex+ nonsense) if you like Savage Worlds a lot.

I would offer Eden Studio's Unisystem, cinematic or otherwise, but I don't think their making any games anymore.

Cortex is basically Savage Worlds' long-lost cousin. I don't care for Cortex+ at all, but my group had a lot of fun running a short Battlestar Galactica campaign with Cortex. I prefer SW overall, but you may want to give it a look.

Another great option is Ubiquity. Sadly there isn't a generic book for system, but you can find all the rules for it in Hollow Earth Expedition, Desolation, or All for One: Regime Diabolique. Those are the 3 Ubiquity games I have, but there might be more I'm not remembering at the moment. It has some similarities to SW but you can play it with any dice as the normal way of rolling is to form a dice pool and just count all even results as successes. Attacks in combat are resolved with one roll, too, so I've found it actually can run a bit faster than SW's multiple rolls and exploding dice. Game Geeks has reviewed some of the games so you can check out those YouTube videos for more info, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK6MofTEJS4

Yet another possibility, if you're looking for something a bit different, would be Mini Six (or even traditional d6). Characters have attributes and skills and can buy Perks (basically Edges), and depending on the setting you want to run they may have access to other powers or abilities. It's very flexible and players roll a pool of d6 instead of usually two different dice like in Savage Worlds or Cortex. You can even check out the Mini Six PDF for free (it's a short, quick read) to see if it interests you. If it does, there are several settings out that build on the basic rules or you can draw on material from older d6 books without much effort.

I like Mini 6 a lot and that would be my recommendation too; it's a bit simpler than SW but you can always add bits from the (free) d6 System rulebooks if you want added complexity. I think d6 System does pulp extremely well, and I like its combat a good deal better than SW.

GURPS Lite might work for you or some of the narrative end miniatures games like Chaos in Cairo.  For that matter Tomorrow's War from Osprey has very similar mechanics.  The 2d20 system from Mutant Chronicles 3, Conan 9000, and Infinity would appeal if you like metagame stuff like bennies a whole bunch.  I really don't but I'll admit that my players seem to.  Mongoose Traveller might also appeal if you like science fiction.  D&D 5e might even fit your requirements though it seems unlikely that we'll see it applied to other genres any time soon.

I second both the Unisystem and D6 recommendations.

Both rulesets are solid cinematic RPG systems. Both have easy learning curves. Both fade into the background during play more than SW. And both have easy, fast chargen.

As for other suggestions, Warrior, Rogue & Mage might be an interesting (free) game for your group.
http://www.stargazergames.eu/games/warrior-rogue-mage/

Quote from: Spinachcat;892940I second both the Unisystem and D6 recommendations.

Both rulesets are solid cinematic RPG systems. Both have easy learning curves. Both fade into the background during play more than SW.

Yeah, very good point. SW really puts itself front & centre during play: "Look at MEEEE!!!!" - I found in combat this gets positively annoying. d6 & regular* Unisystem are both much more sim/immersion focused, designed to facilitate the play experience not BE the play experience. A bit like the difference between OD&D and 4e D&D, I guess.

*Leaving aside Buffy RPG Drama Points, the implementation of which I find really 4th-wall-breaking.

I'm good with Drama Points for certain genres. It works for Buffy and a great GM in LA use to run Star Trek with the Buffy rules and the Drama Points worked there too. In fact, that GM renamed them Melodrama Points which I felt was more accurate.

But I fully agree that Luck mechanics can cause immersion issues.

Quote from: Brand55;892910Another great option is Ubiquity. Sadly there isn't a generic book for system, but you can find all the rules for it in Hollow Earth Expedition, Desolation, or All for One: Regime Diabolique. Those are the 3 Ubiquity games I have, but there might be more I'm not remembering at the moment. It has some similarities to SW but you can play it with any dice as the normal way of rolling is to form a dice pool and just count all even results as successes. Attacks in combat are resolved with one roll, too, so I've found it actually can run a bit faster than SW's multiple rolls and exploding dice. Game Geeks has reviewed some of the games so you can check out those YouTube videos for more info, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK6MofTEJS4

Leagues of Adventure, Leagues of Gothic Horror, Space 1889 are all Ubiquity. It's a dice pool system. To me it's like the Storytelling system only simplified.

I like the books a lot, but Triple Ace games can't do anything wrong for me, so call me subjective. I just love the way they set up their books with all those different factions and regions and if they top it off with some sort of adventure generator then it makes my life as a GM a lot easier.

Openquest? It's pretty much BRP Lite.

Quote from: Angry_Douchebag;892888Just looking for some system recommendations.  I know the group around here is pretty well played.

Our group has had Savage Worlds in the rotation for more than five years.  I like the engine, and play it mostly as written aside from an initiative tweak, but the shine has worn off it and I'd like to give something else a whirl.

My group has used it for Assassin's Creed, Pirates of the Spanish Main, Firefly, High Fantasy, Modern Occult (Dresden) and Sword and Sorcery.  Any alternative need not fill all those shoes for me; I tend to run low magic and pulpy games.  

My other criteria:

* Somewhere near Savage Worlds rules weight (I simply don't have the patience anymore for the concept of rules mastery, there are other things I'd like to do with my time).
* Skill Based character builds.
* Perhaps a broader scale of character power levels?  Savage Worlds characters tend to start out good and get... better.  I'm not really looking for Epic level play, but a little deeper granularity might be nice.

I had tried Fate as an alternative already, but find the system doesn't really work for me; I find it trickier to balance encounters than systems with more concretely-defined abilities.

If you have some thoughts; I would dig checking out something new.

Me and Bill made a little game called Slayer a fews ago that had a Savage World's type vibe but for stuff like Conan. It is a little lean because it was a short book (I think it clocks it at roughly 50 pages). It might be worth checking out. Another company has the rights and publishes it, so I don't get money or anything from sales: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/111923/Slayer

Quote from: Spinachcat;892940I second both the Unisystem and D6 recommendations.

I'll third, fourth, or whatever that.
My first impulse (as usual) was some lighter form of BRP... but I think D6 and Unisystem are more readily applied to doing what the OP is asking.

Quote from: Spinachcat;892948But I fully agree that Luck mechanics can cause immersion issues.

I don't mind them if I can make some in-game connection. Such as 'Luck' being a tangible force in the setting or 'Hero Points' representing extra effort/focus put into an important act.
All the better if there's some consequence to using them... like Spellburn in DCC that adds points to spell checks but comes off your base stats till you take time to rest. Meaning they're limited and you don't end up using them for every casual thing that comes along.