Just about everyone has a favorite system. Why do you like it so much? I don't care about the setting or how you feel when playing it. I want to know what it is specifically about the game that makes you come back to it. For example, if it's d20, is it because you can collect new feats for it left and right? If it's Dogs in the Vineyard, is it because you get a bonus for relationships?

Here's the deal: a) No long-winded answers - keep it to one paragraph; b) No talking about someone else's choice, only yours; and c) in the spirit of RPGPundit, no swine answers. Every time someone answers this question, there's some sort of intangible explanation. I want to read about something tangible. And no propaganda.

Bring it on...

I haven't got a favourite system....

My favorite system is D&D.

I like it because it involves fantastic characters taking part in spectacular battles against amazing monsters in weird places.

Quote from: droogI haven't got a favourite system....

Well...what do you get out of that?

!i!

Quote from: Abyssal MawMy favorite system is D&D.

I like it because it involves fantastic characters taking part in spectacular battles against amazing monsters in weird places.

That's not an answer. I can do that with any game. Why D&D specifically?

I like GURPS.

I got this weird sense of freedom when I first saw GURPS. I could build my characters the way I wanted them. The combat was full of tactical crunch that detailed combat unlike anything else I'd seen. There was advantages and disadvantages that put meat on character bones, and had real crunchy affects in the game.

I liked getting to know a system really well and then letting it drop to the background whatever genre me and my group wanted to play. I rarely mixed genres but when I did I loved being able to use rules that were meant for those other genres, the same rules we'd been using all along. In the future I plan on a LOT more genre mixing, and I like having rules meant to support that out of the box. Rules that support my love of crunch and fluff.

True20
1) really low prep time. I can stat an advasary in seconds, literally. I have school, kids, a long commute and a wife, low prep time is not just good- it is the difference betweenplaying and not playing.
2) flex- i've used it for a number of genres and it has been just swell. This is also good because I get bored easy and time contraints make learning another system impractical.
3) Damage track as a opposed to hit points. No logical reason here, I just prefer this particular abstraction to the other.
4) Easy to learn. My players and I picked it up without any real d20/ogl experience and learned thoroughly in a couple of sessions.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaWell...what do you get out of that?

A bit of variety.

Unknown Armies

It's fun. I don't know what else to say. I think it's when you roll some your percentile, there's so much that can happen on the roll. However it doesn't feel out of line, out of character, un-believable or
too random.
 Oh, and it's still simple.

I like Tristat. It lets me run some really wonky games with just the one book I have (Ex Machina) and a little internet support. I like it less for what it does and more for what it doesn't. Doesn't get in my way as much as GURPS would. Doesn't cost for a shitload of supplements like DnD would. Also a bigger focus on cool powers and neat tricks as opposed to numerical differentiation in characters.

While I like many systems, my favourite system is shown by my actions - I choose to play D20 more than any other system. Therefore, D20 is my favourite system.

I get the satisfaction of being skilled, and using and displaying that skill to benefit myself and others, and receiving the approval of myself and others for my skill at it. It's a very deep kind of satisfaction, and it's a kind I strive for in most everything that I care about.

Icar.

It's my favourite because I can make it how I want it to be and I can solve any problems that arise, I'm not bound to someone else's vision.

My favorite system is Heroquest. I don't get to play it nearly as often as i'd like. I like it because A) all traits have equal weight, from my Seven Dragons Sword Style to my Strong, Like the Reed that Does Not Bend to my Undying love for Wai Wei, the Empress' daughter. If I want the Loyalty of Sam to have a decisive effect on the story, then by God, it will! I also love it because B) I don't have to fear failure. I can suffer as many crippling failures as I have to in my struggle, and not be all nervous that an awesome crit is gonna wipe me out and I'll have to roll up a new character. Failure is just a setback (i.e. a good dramatic complication) unless we all agree that it's fitting to be the character's death or final defeat. Liberating! Which brings me to C) Hero Points. Since I can bump my successes up, I can usually avoid a really nasty failure if I wanna--and so, because of B) I can fearlessly choose when a conflict will be victory or defeat, based on what's coolest for the story.

Peace,
-Joel

My favourite system does not exist.

Quote from: pigames.netJust about everyone has a favorite system. Why do you like it so much? I don't care about the setting or how you feel when playing it. I want to know what it is specifically about the game that makes you come back to it. For example, if it's d20, is it because you can collect new feats for it left and right? If it's Dogs in the Vineyard, is it because you get a bonus for relationships?

I love RuneQuest because percentile systems are intuitive, and because its system is gritty, quick, and covers most situations. I like the four approaches to magic, as I find that can simulate pretty well most magic levels.