By "best" I think I would emphasize "most fun" or "most likely to be repeated". Only people who have tried at least a few different systems need apply

For myself, I have GM'd way too little the last 10 years, but I always think fondly of the time I ran a Sword & Sorcery game, loosely based on R E Howard's style, and rules loosely based on the Stormbringer system. I.e. combat was a slightly simplified version of Runequest, no hit locations but with an added critical hit table. It was a blast!

Rolemaster (using my trademark post-it notes in books to keep track of tables) also worked surprisingly well, although I always prefer to have a calculator nearby when I do this. 

So, which one do you prefer?

Friday Night Firefight of Cyberpunk 2020 is my favorite.  It's not perfect but it's solid and always exciting.  I actually had fun using them as a skirmish minis rules set.

I never really had fun playing combat in RPGs until I started using a grid and miniatures. So I'm going to have to utter the heresy of saying 4th Edition D&D.
Now, I think the non-combat part of 4th is hot garbage, and the combat side gets cumbersome and cantakerous as characters level up, so it's not a ringing endorsement as a whole RPG.

Agree that 4E's powers with something like "shift a square, do 2d10 damage, teleport 4 squares away and knock all adjacent creatures prone" are considerably more entertaining than the melee options from 3rd.  I was fairly enamored with my toolbox of nasty tricks with my Warlock back in the day.

 4e is the best combat system in ttrpgs and it's not particularly close. And it's by far the best edition of DnD, grognards be damned.

GURPS of course.

I like immersion when I game, so the combat systems I find the most fun are ones that emulate their genre. WEG d6 Star Wars is my standard to beat for Star Wars games because it does a good job of the fast and slightly chaotic fights found there. Mekton is really good at the anime mecha genre with their quick move and counter-move weapon capabilities in play. Traveller does an exceptional job of representing the sheer lethality of literary science fiction stories. It doesn't hurt that all three combat systems are scaleable so that you can have personal combat with artillery or even ortillery support. I have the most fun with these three combat systems.

Quote from: DocJones on July 17, 2024, 07:00:33 PMGURPS of course.

I do really love GURPS combat.  The critical hit tables are bit dull but less likely to produce commical statistical outcomes than those found in linear systems.

I actually quite like Mutant Chronicles Resurrection combat, especially that a range penalty is also applied for using a weapon closer than its optimum range.  Really, they did a pretty good job of it but I think they tried too hard to work in the funky damage dice when d6s mostly would have worked as well or better.

Twilight 2000 / Dark Conspiracy is very good.  I always appreciate when there's some reason to use something other than the biggest possible weapon.

Rolemaster maps to D&D better than GURPS and is easier for people to pick up.  It's not complex, just chart heavy, and combats tend to last fewer rounds.

I'd say Galaxies In Shadow if I was ever quite satisfied with it.

Played with no house rules, I'd have to pick either RuneQuest 1 or 2.  Enough options to be interesting, but not so many to overwhelm.  Possible to survive a fight, but risky every time you get into one.

For me i think i like Dungeon Crawl Classic's combat most but that might just be because i love the DCC fighter.

Wow, that is so hard to measure.  One of my favorites is Wushu: Black Belt Edition since it is super narrative and cinematic.  Of course, that might be a huge negative if you're hard core simulationist.

Quote from: David Johansen on July 17, 2024, 07:23:57 PM

Quote from: DocJones on July 17, 2024, 07:00:33 PMGURPS of course.

I do really love GURPS combat.  The critical hit tables are bit dull but less likely to produce commical statistical outcomes than those found in linear systems.

I actually quite like Mutant Chronicles Resurrection combat, especially that a range penalty is also applied for using a weapon closer than its optimum range.  Really, they did a pretty good job of it but I think they tried too hard to work in the funky damage dice when d6s mostly would have worked as well or better.

Twilight 2000 / Dark Conspiracy is very good.  I always appreciate when there's some reason to use something other than the biggest possible weapon.

Rolemaster maps to D&D better than GURPS and is easier for people to pick up.  It's not complex, just chart heavy, and combats tend to last fewer rounds.

I'd say Galaxies In Shadow if I was ever quite satisfied with it.

Rolemaster would be my 2nd choice for its critical hit flavorings.

I really like GURPS combat for several reasons.

- It isn't a grind through HP slog. One good blow could end a fight.

- There are a lot more options than just rolling to hit

- Tactics and defense matter


Having said that, the type of game you are playing and the role of combat in that game matter too. I also like OD&D combat. It is fast paced and meant to be resolved quickly. It does that.

For verisimilitude and grittiness, it's HarnMaster.

For a middle ground, it's RuneQuest. Unlike Trond, I use hit locations. I could never get my group into the critical hit chart for major wounds.

For it's fucking wild, it's older D&D and clones. At a certain point, the sheer amount of HP bugs me to death.

I actually have a counter to this.

A couple games I own have multiple combat systems.  Each one covers a different kind of combat.

Palladium RoboTech has their normal combat system, but also has very different rules for vehicle fights (lots of pilot skill checks to pull off maneuvers like jinking, tailing, hairpin turns), and even has a third combat system for warships/starships (volley fire, glancing blows instead of full dodging, splitting health into front, center, rear sections).

Another game with two (or three) systems is Mini-Six Bare Bones.  There is the original combat system from the D6 Star Wars series, the Static Defense system to simplify and speed up gameplay, and a third and little know system from Gryphon Publishing called Dueling Blades for epic 1-vs-1 sword duels. 

I tried the Dueling Blades system for lightsaber combat, and I was SOLD!  It works extremely well for that, and is very different than regular combat.  Quick description; it's based on an opposed roll, margin of success determines 1 of 4 types of result, and movement is a major factor resulting in "kills" by forcing an opponent out an airlock or over a balcony.

But the main point here is that different fights can be better if the game treats them separately with bespoke rules for that type of fighting.