Don’t reinvent the wheel, being well versed in different RPGs

[Emerikol]

What ever they call the Free Leauge system

Gurps

TSR marvel super heroes

Hero system

Warhammer Fantasy Role-playing

I'm not recommending any of the above just ones I think you missed.l off the top of my head.

GURPS is a rock solid system and the game is more a toolkit. You might "design" a new game by learning GURPS and then constructing the type of game you want. If mechanics are not why you are designing but rather you want to bring a concept forward.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Oh, I'm going to add one more. It's not a "major" system, but it is extremely interesting.

Agon , and its SRD, Paragon

I think this one is worth studying / playing because of the interesting way in which it uses its dice pool + modifier die; and the interesting pull/push of the characters want to suffer "damage" in order to power up, yet don't want to suffer "damage" because, y'know, it's damage.

AGON: Forge your legend in the trials of glory.

Paragon SRD, direct link to .zip file

http://www.agon-rpg.com/Paragon_SRD.zip

 

[Dire Bare]

Other people you disagree with:

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” - -- Stephen King

“The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time.” -- Ursula K. Le Guin

“Read, read, read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.” -- William Faulkner

“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” -- Samuel Johnson

Okay. Shrug.

Although, none of that actually refutes my point.

Read. A lot. Yeah. Like I said, most writers are avid readers all ready.

Do you need to read the "important" works? Nah.

 

[Aldarc]

Okay. Shrug.

Although, none of that actually refutes my point.

Read. A lot. Yeah. Like I said, most writers are avid readers all ready.

Do you need to read the "important" works? Nah.

One of the quotes is advocating for reading good writing and another is explicitly mentioning reading classics. The important works are generally considered "good writing" that are considered "classics."

 

[hawkeyefan]

One of the quotes is advocating for reading good writing and another is explicitly mentioning reading classics. The important works are generally considered "good writing" that are considered "classics."

Alan Moore suggests also reading really crappy books, too. He days it helps for two reasons. First, if you read something that’s been published and you know you can do better, that should help boost your confidence. Second, you can learn about what not to do.

 

[_Michael_]

GURPS is great for resource mining. Their Space book, for instance, has real world mathematics in it (and the tables based on it) for creating entire solar systems.

3.5e is probably the most versatile in terms of sheer mass of third party stuff. Not all of it is great, but there is a skewed ratio to good material. Books like Masterwork Maps: Inns and Taverns (it's B&W unfortunately, but someone with a set of PrismaColor Verithins could lightly touch it up and turn it into a masterpiece), or Tournaments, Fairs and Taverns found here. There's others, too, like Mongoose Publishing's Ultimate Game Designer's Companion, which has rules for things like aerial combat, naval combat, chariot racing, and doing things with panache to earn reputation, as well as nitty-gritty combat that is much more lethal and new skills and feats as well as new uses for old skills. Absolutely gorgeous book that I cannot recommend highly enough. There's are literally thousands of books and publications online for 3.5, not to mention all the things like Dragon magazine, or it's companion publication, Dungeon. So much goodness in those, too.

Now, if you really want detail (and are a secret masochist for the cerebral), check out the old school system Friday Night Firefight/Interlok that was the basis for the old Cyberpunk. All kinds of random cool things I wish they'd have ported over to 3.5e. There's sandbagging effects from high strength, for instance, that offers you DR. The body hit charts and DR system are far superior to armor class in that there is no armor class. Armor only makes you more durable against certain damage types. Only your high dexterity gives you a sort of "AC" as you are able to react faster. But there's also cool points you can spend on certain checks, and everything is a skill. Everything. Fire a gun? Skill. Want to jump up in the air, flip 720, and land on a nearby passing car, and you're blowing cool points on it like a scene straight out of Big Trouble In Little China? That's a skill. lol Plus, there's an attempt point system and the higher your skill the greater your mastery. It's very lethal and unforgiving to the foolish.

There's also a lot of other resource books and whatnot, too, that can all be had--for free--off DriveThruRPG.

 

[overgeeked]

GURPS is great for resource mining. Their Space book, for instance, has real world mathematics in it (and the tables based on it) for creating entire solar systems.

Absolutely. It has a giant stack of great resources for various genres. Something Monte Cook is starting to do. He’s put out a few with apparently no end in sight.

 

[_Michael_]

The details, for me, are what makes the background come alive. The more that can be blended in seamlessly, the better.

 

[dragoner]

I use details a lot, I think they are great.

 

[Aldarc]

Alan Moore suggests also reading really crappy books, too. He days it helps for two reasons. First, if you read something that’s been published and you know you can do better, that should help boost your confidence. Second, you can learn about what not to do.

I am only addressing the point about not having to read important works.