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<blockquote data-quote="haiiro" data-source="post: 624945" data-attributes="member: 1891"><p>Absolutely.</p><p></p><p>This is why so many games are also settings, and why a lot of people don't like "universal" systems. Tying a system to a world allows the designers to express aspects of that setting in mechanical terms -- rules for having another player run your Shadow in Wraith, gruesome critical hit tables in Warhammer FRP, the fragility of sanity in CoC, etc.</p><p></p><p>Systems that strive to be setting-free -- with GURPS being the most prominent example -- are good for switching genres without swtiching rules, but not very good at bringing out world elements through those rules. In some cases, by the time you've tweaked the ruleset to include mechanics specific to the setting you're playing in, you might as well be playing a different game specifically designed for that setting.</p><p></p><p>The underlying similarity between shared-rules games (D&D and d20 Modern, Werewolf and Vampire) lets players of one game apply much of their knowledge of its ruleset to another -- which is good. Where it falls short is in cases like D&D and d20 Call of Cthulhu. For the most part, the d20 rules are robust enough to represent a Lovecraftian world and worldview -- but the basis (D&D) is too heroic to really capture the feel. d20 CoC characters are all geared towards combat -- even those that aren't combat-oriented character types -- and this doesn't mesh with the cautious and investigative elements of the average CoC game.</p><p></p><p>I don't think there is a be-all-and-end-all system -- one that can perfectly represent every possible setting, worldview, etc. What WotC set out to do with d20 was create a system that would become ubiquitous because everyone knew the rules -- not necessarily because it was the "perfect" system.</p><p></p><p>All IMO, and just my .02. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="haiiro, post: 624945, member: 1891"] Absolutely. This is why so many games are also settings, and why a lot of people don't like "universal" systems. Tying a system to a world allows the designers to express aspects of that setting in mechanical terms -- rules for having another player run your Shadow in Wraith, gruesome critical hit tables in Warhammer FRP, the fragility of sanity in CoC, etc. Systems that strive to be setting-free -- with GURPS being the most prominent example -- are good for switching genres without swtiching rules, but not very good at bringing out world elements through those rules. In some cases, by the time you've tweaked the ruleset to include mechanics specific to the setting you're playing in, you might as well be playing a different game specifically designed for that setting. The underlying similarity between shared-rules games (D&D and d20 Modern, Werewolf and Vampire) lets players of one game apply much of their knowledge of its ruleset to another -- which is good. Where it falls short is in cases like D&D and d20 Call of Cthulhu. For the most part, the d20 rules are robust enough to represent a Lovecraftian world and worldview -- but the basis (D&D) is too heroic to really capture the feel. d20 CoC characters are all geared towards combat -- even those that aren't combat-oriented character types -- and this doesn't mesh with the cautious and investigative elements of the average CoC game. I don't think there is a be-all-and-end-all system -- one that can perfectly represent every possible setting, worldview, etc. What WotC set out to do with d20 was create a system that would become ubiquitous because everyone knew the rules -- not necessarily because it was the "perfect" system. All IMO, and just my .02. :) [/QUOTE]
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