Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 9305736" data-attributes="member: 467">One aspect of TTRPG design that interests me is the choice between creating a bespoke system for a particular theme/setting/milieu/whatever, versus applying a generic system -- and the continuum between the two.Being an 80s kid, I grew up with D&D but also GURPS and Hero, both of which promised to be "universal" and succeeded and failed in varying degrees depending on what theme you applied them to. Then the 90s arrived and (usually convoluted, because 90s) bespoke systems became all the rage. From Shadowrun to Vampire to Deadlands and less known titles, designers went whole hog on creating unique mechanics for their games. Some of them even worked.Then d20 appeared in the form of D&D 3E and it seemed like everyone jumped on that bandwagon. Not only did many existing games create d20 versions of their rules (almost universally to the detriment of the game; I can't think of one in which the d20 version was an improvement) but new (often licensed) games appeared with d20 as a foundation. D&D 3.5 mostly killed that trend dead in its infancy, but some games held on for a while. Ultimately, though, the mid 00s and 2010s were a time of innovation again.5E hasn't had quite the same deep impact on the whole design space as d20 did, but there are still plenty of examples of games that were made 5E for no discernable reason other than "it's popular." In addition, House Systems have picked up steam again, with the likes of the Year Zero Engine and 2d20 each comprising a large number of different games, with those systems tweaked to better fir the specific theme and milieu of the specific game. The same can be said for Powered by the Apocalypse game -- except it is essentially the inversion of a House System. that is, many different houses use that system as a foundation, creating a huge amount of variation within its loosely defined borders. OSR games currently reside in a similar space.There are of course new games with well defined bespoke system still coming out, even if they are sometimes hard to recognized in the sea of PbtA, FitD, OSR and 5E games."Universal" systems are less common these days. While GURPS and Hero still exist, the only intentionally universal system I can think of with any traction is Savage Worlds (currently in the form of Savage Worlds Adventure Edition aka SWDE). I really like SWADE and use it often. I create and run specific themed convention campaigns meant to go for 3 to 5 sessions all in one weekend, and SWADE has worked great for 80% of those. I don't like it very much for supers or horror, though, so not everything fits.How do you feel about bespoke systems versus House Systems versus "universal/generic" systems. Are there certain types of games where you prefer one over the other? What about the proliferation of one system, be it something like 5E or something like PbtA, that eats up a lot of design space in the hobby? When you decide you want to run something, how do you decide on the system?Thanks.</blockquote>

Verification