Do you mean by "goto game" the one you can run with little more than 30 minutes prep, and new characters for everyone?

If so that rules out stuff like GURPS and pretty much anything D20 for me, as character creation alone kills the prep-time, plus the NPC's are a pain to write up.

My goto is either Feng Shui (templates and no plot required) or Cybergeneration (which character creation is actually part of the game). I can run either just by grabbing the book off the shelf.

If you give me a week to prepare then probably D&D using published adventures.

Give me longer and it would be anything BUT D&D because I really don't like fantasy but running published adventures is easy to do when you are short on prep time.

If by "goto game" you mean what is my favourite to run, then unfortunately that changes week by week.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten.  Want to run a game at a moment's notice?  Just copy off some archetypes, throw them in a city, and have zombies start running after them.  You can be playing in under ten minutes.

Quote from: Andy kHey Silverlion, I was wondering what your reservations on Savage Worlds were (just curious, not out to "fix you" or anything)?

Couple of things: 1) Its combat heavy--that is the edges, powers, etc are primarily concerned with combat and/or combat effects--very little consideration is given to broader uses in non-combat ways. That may be ok for some people but I like consistency and equal treatment to things beyond combat.. I find the combat emphasis will likely encourage more combat solutions, which is not  something I'm looking for in a "goto game" (I prefer non-emphasis.)
Ex: 26 or so combat edges, 14 professional edges, 4 social edges--not counting Legendary Edges.


2) Something about the way skills and attributes work bugs me--I can't be more specific than that as I've not yet run it. It just doesn't fully 'click' yet with me. It may be the relative limited number of skills on "average" (average for SW) PC's--I realize its supposed to be Pulpy and thus most skills are a bit broader and less spread out. But until I play it I can't be sure.

Quote from: BagpussDo you mean by "goto game" the one you can run with little more than 30 minutes prep, and new characters for everyone?

Effectively "if I have to do something fast with no genre bias what will give me the most return, fastest and with least effort, reliably."
In short: my favorite game for doing things where I have no specific genre-biased/heavy influenced game to use. I keep going back to it to run stuff--not just one campaign, or even one genre, but repeatably returning to that rules set for a variety of different things.

Examples: Gurps: My popular "everyone dies" werewolf game I ran, my SF exploratory game, my first fantasy set in my setting Mourngyre: Kingdoms of Sorrow.  (The why can't they make Ravenloft: Fantasy, epic, and scary setting)


BESM:
Apocalypse Tide (Advanced Neo-Genetically Enhanced Life forms war with 4th-Dimensional men--that is Angels, war with D-men--D-men are humans with implanted quantum computers in there skulls, who try and free humanity from the oppression of their one-time servitor synthetics.),

Wildbreed (Genetically uplifted humanoid animals ala Justifiers, fight for freedom in an Armored Core inspired future, utilizing mecha to free their kind from human slavery, and go back to the apocalypse ravaged wilderness),

Majestic-Wing Excelsior (using Uresia setting) Gryphon-Knight trainees learn honor, respect, and gain knowledge of magic while going to "school" at a castle on a vernia (flying island),

Star Wars

The Black Storm of Chaos (alien parasitic mitochondria invades the world from prehistory, forcing evolution and rampant mutation) can nanite-enhanced supersoldiers hold the line?


and so on.


I want a game system that lets me keep going back to for whatever campaigns I wish. (mind you some settings like Mourngyre I've run under several systems: Gurps, BESM, M&M, and have finally started writing a custom system to focus on the despair aspect of the setting.)


edit: THERE vs Their I do no the difference stupid typing fingers.

I tend to prefer games with some sort of genre bias, I've never really used a generic system, I dabbled with using Hero for fantasy once, I would rather have my teeth pulled in future. If pushed

I'ld probably go with Unisystem or some form of D20. My main dislike of D20 is the fact npc's seem to be over detailed and it involves too much work for the GM. My main dislike with Unisystem is that combat is too abstract for my group which is use to the tactical options of D20. There is no "goto game" that fits your requirements for me.

This could well be just because I've not come across it yet, but I've played several systems in my time and just found the ones that cover more bases, end up seeming a more uniform grey, than stuff like Feng Shui that are written to support the genre they reflect.

Quote from: BagpussMy main dislike with Unisystem is that combat is too abstract for my group which is use to the tactical options of D20.

Have you tried using Classic with the combat maneauvers from Cinematic?  That might give them the tactical crunch that they're looking for.

Depends.

If we have 30 minutes to create characters, then ad&d 1st. Still a favourite at my groups' annual 24 hour roleplaying marathon.

If it's a real spur of the moment thing, then WFRP. 10 minutes and you have a party ready to go.

Quote from: SilverlionAnyway, so what's your goto game? Do you have one?

Unsuprisingly, GURPS is mine, although nWoD comes close. Unless the genre is supers; then Grubb's FASERIP Marvel System gets pulled out.

Quote from: BagpussI tend to prefer games with some sort of genre bias, I've never really used a generic system,

Yeah I do as well, in a perfect world I'd have customized optimized for the setting games for everything I can imagine. Unfortunatly I'm not in a perfect world so I make do (mind you I often write new systems customized to my settings if I can't find an acceptable "close enough' realm.)

Hence why I'm writing a mecha game--I love Mekton but I want something faster for a lot of mecha games I can imagine.

Quotethen Grubb's FASERIP Marvel System gets pulled out.

One of my top three supers games tied for second place. I have used it for fantasy and a friend used it for a Martial arts/high action game, both seemed well recieved. (Most supers games are inherently flexible genre wise)

Usually: LBBs
Recently: RC

Still D&D 3.5 for me.  I wanna run it again when my Exalted game ends.

You know, I don't really have one yet. Over 9 fairly steady years of play, I've played a variety of systems without settling down for a single one. I don't even know if I'll ever really have one. That is unless the my True20 house rules works out for the better. If not I'm just just make the RC my home.

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