Can you suggest a RPG system.

[oni no won]

I second True20. It uses the d20 system so it will feel familiar if you played D&D3.x. It streamlined chargen and combat and uses a wound system. It is GM friendly (meaning easy to prep for) and can handle multiple genre.

Another rpg you may want to take a look at is FantasyCraft. While it is fantasy oriented, it is part of the MasterCraft family which is the underlying system that will be used in future settings across multiple genre (not to be confused for it being a generic system). This system is very GM friendly without having to sacrifice the cool factor for the players.

 

[Set]

Echoing recommendations for;

GURPS (I find 3rd edition best for me, but coming in cold, 4th edition will probably be better for a new person).

True 20.

Mutants & Masterminds 2e. (Various supplements suggest ways to make it work in fantasy, etc. but they are completely unecessary. You can do it all with the main book.)

HERO games is supposedly good too, but I've got almost no experience with it (a few games at GenCon and Origins, at most) and, IMO, GURPS 4e leans a little too much in it's direction, with every single power being customized from the ground up in painstakingly fidgety detail. GURPS 3e (or M&M 2e) are 'easier' for me, since they kinda spoon-feed me prebuilt powers that I can tweak to my tastes. I'm too lazy for HERO or GURPS 4e.

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The decker thing, IMO, crops up in psionics games where one character can astral project or dream travel, in fantasy games where one character is aquatic or can fly, in warwolf the porklips games where one can umbral travel, in superhero games where one can super-speed ahead of the group and get somewhere way before everyone else, or in pretty much any game where that broody loner with uber-stealth skills insists on 'scouting ahead' in Chateau Von Zarovich and gets ganked and comes back and tries to eat the party, etc, etc, etc.

Any game mechanic or special ability or cyber-environment that encourages (or even requires!) one player to be separated from the rest of the party and run his own little solo adventure ends up kinda sucking for the rest of the party, who end up standing around holding their cheese (and, in the cases of games with CR appropriate challenges, WILL get the solo dude killed, eventually, since the encounters are designed to put the hurt on him *and* all of his friends, not just him swimming / astral walking / flying / shadow jumping / speed-forcing, etc. off on his own).

 

[KronikAlkoholik]

This brings up a point that I think is worth mentioning to the OP:

A fantastic way to try on a lot of different game systems is to attend local or national conventions or even some of the Game Days organized through ENWorld.

I can't even count the number of systems (Savage Worlds among them) that excellent GMs have demoed for me at our NC Game Days and GenCon. In fact there are a few GMs in particular who seem to really shine best at showing off a system to others. Nearly every new system I've played in the last 8 years has been presented to me in this manner.

I live in Iceland so that's not gonna happen. Living in such a huge country obviously has it's upsides.

 

[Rel]

I live in Iceland so that's not gonna happen. Living in such a huge country obviously has it's upsides.

I missed that. Bummer.

Well you're on the right track asking around here. Lots of experienced gamers!

 

[Glyfair]

HERO games is supposedly good too, but I've got almost no experience with it (a few games at GenCon and Origins, at most) and, IMO, GURPS 4e leans a little too much in it's direction, with every single power being customized from the ground up in painstakingly fidgety detail. GURPS 3e (or M&M 2e) are 'easier' for me, since they kinda spoon-feed me prebuilt powers that I can tweak to my tastes. I'm too lazy for HERO or GURPS 4e.

I've been a long-time HERO veteran (although I haven't touched it since the mid-90s). HERO is not a system for someone concerned with "invest time making battlemaps and stats for every single enemy."

My initial recommendation would be Heroquest, which is very good for multiple genres. They haven't explored much in print, but I am considering using it for my next James Bond game. The big issue is that it is a very narrativist game and the OP considered Savage Worlds to be "too abstract." Heroquest is very abstract and flexible, which is why it is so good for so many genres.

In my experience most games that meet his needs for flexibility and simplicity do so by becoming more abstract. I expect there is a very narrow sweet spot for what he is looking for, but I am not sure what it is (mostly because I don't consider Savage Worlds that abstract.

 

[scourger]

Yep, Savage Worlds, for all the reasons mentioned upthread. When I first ran it, it reduced my prep time by about 90%.

The only other suggestion I have is to try a D&D minis skirmish campaign. It will give you what you seek as a DM. But, it doesn't really have the options and skills that the palyers want.

 

[Wightbred]

I'll put in another plug for Apocalypse World / Dungeon World. It meets many of your criteria, except as mentioned not bein generic. However, I've found it a very simple sustem with all of the rules on a couple of pages, and from this people are making a number of excellent free hacks that give more options under the same ruleset. Recent ones I've downloaded include Saga of the Icelanders (Beta) and Conan. Not everyones cup of tea, but worth a look through the Dungeon World rules to see if it yours.

 

[pjrake]

How about Dragon Age? It is rules-light, has an innovative stunt system, and easy to prep.

I went from Savage Worlds, to D&D Essentials, to Dragon Age. Still love SW but having fun with DA now.

-PJ

 

[KronikAlkoholik]

Ok I've summarised quickly over some games mentioned here and I'm thinking about taking a closer look at FATE. I like it's dice mechanic over that of SW and I'm curious about the idea of aspects.

Any reason SW is better then FATE ?

 

[Rel]

Ok I've summarised quickly over some games mentioned here and I'm thinking about taking a closer look at FATE. I like it's dice mechanic over that of SW and I'm curious about the idea of aspects.

Any reason SW is better then FATE ?

I've never played FATE but I've heard lots of good things about it.

My impression is that FATE is a bit more toward the fluff/roleplay end of the spectrum than Savage Worlds is but I may be off base there.