Core Rule Books Only - What system would you play?

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

The same system that's my favorite anyway, 3E.

I would think that peoples preferences of systems would probably be predicated upon their enjoyment of the systems core. I think that would probably mean peoples favorite systems wouldn't change if limited to only core books.

Actually, this isn't true for me. While I enjoy 4E, I'd never want to play it under the restrictions I provided above. I feel the same about the WoD books. Mage, Werewolf, Vampire all add a lot to the setting and game.

 

[Korgoth]

Od&d (1974).

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Pathfinder. (Setting: Golarion.)

Runner-Up: Mutants & Masterminds. (Setting: Freedom City.)

Second Runner-Up: Shadowrun 4E. (Setting: Seattle 2072.)

 

[Meek]

I would play D&D 4e or GURPS 4e. I rarely use supplements in D&D 4e, as I feel the game works quite respectably with just the first three books. GURPS 4e is an incredible system right out of the box if you're a creative person.

 

[Greg K]

Assuming no home brewed material, my list includes:
Mutants and Masterminds 2e
GURPS 3e or 4e
Champions/ Hero System 4e
d20 Modern (w/o the fx rules)

Edit: D&D 3e is my favorite edition, but I need Unearthed Arcana and some third party company material to want to run or play it.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Any system I would play with supplements.

 

[Corsair]

Definitely something point based. Mutants and Masterminds being my favorite point based system, I'll pick that.

But rather than PHB/DMG (since the Mastermind's Manual is more of just alternate rules), I'd go 2E core book + Ultimate Power.

 

[Tallifer]

I played most roleplaying games when they were fresh in their first edition: old Runequest, Pendragon, Arms Law and Spell Law (before they became Rolemaster), Dragon Quest, Powers and Perils, Call of Cthulhu, Werewolf, Warhammer, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, so I have plenty of experience playing with core rules only.

However, in most cases I always prefer using added material if the game is good. The only game I would enjoy playing stripped to its basics more than complete would be original Pendragon. Original Pendragon was just knights errants: no races, no casters, no rogues. That and its faithful recreation of Arthurian legend made it unique and the best roleplaying game in the history of mankind.

But nowadays I prefer 4th edition where everything is core.

 

[maddman75]

Pretty much anything. I don't play D&D much, and the games I do play we don't tend to be very suppliment heavy. We have 5-6 books we use in my Hunter game, and its already annoying me with rules spread too far out. But they're so awesome!