Best toolbox RPG to start with?

[Reynard]

Eg D&D d20's, level grind etc., it's the whole osr. However, the definition of toolbox is vague enough to be meaningless, I have seen it argued over T5, and Cepheus Engine. Mostly I have found in 45 years of playing is that most people play a setting, not mechanics, and there are going to be intrinsic styles of play. Class roles? Characters as individuals?

I think the intent of the thread is to talk about games specifically designed to be toolkits, like FUDGE and Cortex and perhaps (depending on where one draws the line) GURPS, Hero and Savage Worlds.

 

[dragoner]

I think the intent of the thread is to talk about games specifically designed to be toolkits, like FUDGE and Cortex and perhaps (depending on where one draws the line) GURPS, Hero and Savage Worlds.

I think GURPS is the most "toolbox" of them, if in that limited set of games, Savage Worlds have more players though. More than what are said about games, there needs to be asked exactly what is someone trying to do?

 

[thullgrim]

Different toolboxes for different outcomes. GURPS is my go to for simulationist, or gritty, grounded games.

Savage Worlds is my go to for action, pulp, and most adventure games.

If I were looking for a narratives toolbox I’d grab FATE. I can’t grok Cortex but some folks like it.

I’m also a huge fan of Genesys as a toolbox but I don’t hate custom dice.

 

[rhythmsoundmotion]

I am finding that as someone with experience in tabletop RPGs with very defined settings (DCC, Zombie World, Cyberpunk Red, Fabula Ultima, and Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition) that I tend to impose limits on what I imagine a tabletop RPG can do.
I don’t know if becoming familiar with toolbox RPGs would remove some of those limits or not.
I do see a lot of discussion of rules as supporting ideas but warning also of rules limiting ideas.

 

[dragoner]

Not sure if a toolbox is going to remove the limits, it might be better to look at it from the perspective of what you want to do, and go from there.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

There are generic systems meant to be used with any genre and any setting - Hero, GURPS, FATE, Cortex, Savage Worlds, Genesys and probably others I am forgetting. Each of those still has a very different feel to it even though it is generic.

There are toolbox games aimed at a particular genre but with no particular setting attached to them - The Without Number games, early Traveller, many superhero games, early D&D, many OSR games, d20 Modern, Outgunned, Toon, and many more. These give a basic system with some built-in assumptions tied to the genre but are pretty flexible within that genre.

I would ask "what kind of game are you thinking about running?" and then you will see more specific advice.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I wouldn't classify Without Number games as toolkits. They each have specific uses, with a lot of support for that specific genre and style of play.

But all of them have amazing GM support for the sandbox style that is both mostly identical to each other at its core (and is certainly compatible) and largely system-neutral. If you don't like their mechanics (I do) you can still use the GM-side material for just about anything. And most of it is free to boot.

 

[dragoner]

"For newcomers" is another aspect.

 

[rhythmsoundmotion]

Ideas.
Your group is going to be payed a very large some of money to transport a not very important sleeping vampire across a high fantasy world.
-Using magic to disguise the vampire is not ideal as various interested parties can detect magic (but not detect vampires.)
-The campaign leans into wacky high jinks.
-The campaign is designed to create awkward situations and obstacles to overcome.

Your party is fugitives from the future and your goal is to prevent a mad inventor from dooming the planet. The goal is to make the angsty inventor more reasonable, compassionate, and accepted.
-The party has all kinds of knowledge predicting events, but has to pass their actions as luck and good guessing.
-The party can un kill people with time travel, but have to make it seem reasonable somehow.

 

[Reynard]

But all of them have amazing GM support for the sandbox style that is both mostly identical to each other at its core (and is certainly compatible) and largely system-neutral. If you don't like their mechanics (I do) you can still use the GM-side material for just about anything. And most of it is free to boot.

Right, but we are using a specific meaning of "toolkit" here -- a system designed to be assembled by the GM or group to create the game you want to play. It isn't meant to be "a game that has tools useful in other games" if I understand the OP correctly.