In one sentence...

[RangerWickett]

I would like the system to have nice incentives (or penalties for not) for PC to purchase stuff other than adventuring gear (a house, for example).

I'm brainstorming for this. Working title: "What is Best in Life?"

I wish there was a game with a more interesting system of magic. I'd like to see something where magic follows certain consistent rules, which in turns mean you could customize spells on the fly. I don't want to cast fireball by saying "I cast fireball," I want to combine spell elements to create a sphere of fire which is hurled at target X.

ETA: It's possible that there is a game that does this! My knowledge of RPGs is far from comprehensive.​

I know we're not supposed to mention existing systems to start a fight, but you might be interested in this.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'm brainstorming for this. Working title: "What is Best in Life?"

Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and hear the lamentation of their women. What else?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I know I already did one, and it kind of caught on, but here is another I thought of...

I want a game that allows combat styles to have both advantages and disadvantages, with more then a rock/paper/scissors results...

 

[Neonchameleon]

OK. I'm putting together a list of recommendations on this thread. You might already know them in which case my apologies - but if not, here are some recommendations.

I want duels to have a give and take, and for characters to be encouraged to use different fighting styles in different circumstances, like for instance The Chatty Duelists in Princess Bride.

Fate, Mouse Guard, Dogs in the Vineyard. It depends on what exactly you mean.

I wish a role playing game could be highly descriptive without being rules heavy. Not just in combat/dueling - but in all manner of random interactions (npc initial responses, shop contents, you name it).

Fate, Cortex Plus family (Smallville, Leverage, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Firefly), Apocalypse World Family (Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Monsterhearts, Monster of the Week, Saga of the Icelanders, etc.)

I want to play an RPG version of Calvinball.

Wushu Open? Calvinball as high action ridiculous martial arts where you literally can get extra dice (to a scene cap) by declaring you're dodging through a hail of bullets.

I want an RPG that makes exploration/chases/vehicular combat/mass combat more tense and engaging than what I could get by free-forming it.

Apocalypse World and, to a lesser extent, Dungeon World and Monster of the Week. AW is designed on a freeform model where you roll only at points where you'd hand over in freeform RP (and still hand over so the flow is minimally disrupted) - and every single roll adds tension and interest you wouldn't get with pure freeform. (Dungeon World and MotW are of course based on Apocalypse World)

Fractal complexity. Let me either handle a situation in a simple way or apply a more complex, rules-oriented approach, and all with the same characters. Add on the possibility to switch complexity while running a given situation. Let the PCs first wade through simple minion-like enemies with very few rolls and switch to the detailled combat system for all when the boss appears.

The Fate Fractal tries to do this. I don't know if it's what you want but it's worth a look.

I want an rpg that seamlessly and logically extends to mass combat with miniatures and kingdom management.

I believe that Adventurer, Conqueror, King tries to do this.

I wish systems had a way to simulate the 'give up at gun point' instead of calculating that the gun/bow only does 1 hit and it takes multi hits to drop them...

Fate, Smallville, Firefly, and Dogs in the Vineyard all have systems that encourage you to give in rather than take the bullet even if you won't die.

I also want standoff rules, too often it doesn't matter if you are unarmed, you stand a good chance if you just rush a gunman.

Fate, Leverage, and Firefly here. You declare the gun either as an aspect or an asset.

A constructive world generation system which results in descriptions more poetic than prosaic thereby opening up that kind of verbal composition as a part of the player game too.

Have a look at Dresden Files (and its city generation), and Apocalypse World. Also if you're looking for games to bolt onto other games, Microscope or Kingdom are possibles.

I would like the system to have nice incentives (or penalties for not) for PC to purchase stuff other than adventuring gear (a house, for example).

oD&D, Arneson's rules. Where you didn't get the XP from GP unless you spent it on non-adventuring equipment. GURPS social status rules.

... combined with a way to knock people out like in the old crime noir movies so that I could play a Garrett P.I. game.

Fate, Leverage, Firefly are all possibles here.

Give me a game where combat is highly tactical and balanced, but does not involve much math. Bonus points if a major conflict may be resolved in 30min.

Iron Kingdoms RPG might well be what you are after. The wargame came before the new Iron Kingdoms RPG and is highly tactical and balanced and 30mm and I believe cross-compatable (disclaimer: I've played Warmahordes but never the IKRPG).

Give me a game where belief dynamics of big groups of people (political preferences, religions, advertising) are modelled by solid mechanics.

Fate's the best I've got here.

Give me a fantasy or sci-fi game that uses other "races"/species to help explore humanity, instead of treating humans as a boring, "flexible" default.

Monsterhearts. It's all about this - but the PCs are the monsters.

I would like to see a game that handles damage in combat realistically. A person can be killed just as easily by a knife as by a sword, for example - the distance between the two people is what makes the difference. Bigger, heavier, longer, etc. only give a weapon an edge if you are standing a certain distance from the other character.

For this we want to go back to the 80s. Rolemaster, Runequest, GURPS.

I want a game where monsters/NPCs can be defined in 2-3 lines of space so I can run them without looking stuff up or needing more notes.

I think you're looking for Dungeon World. Other games that do this are Fate, Leverage, Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts.

I know I already did one, and it kind of caught on, but here is another I thought of...

I want a game that allows combat styles to have both advantages and disadvantages, with more then a rock/paper/scissors results...

Burning Wheel or Mouseguard I believe do this.

 

[Janx]

... describe what you wish an RPG did for you which no RPG currently does to your satisfaction. You get to name just one thing, one sentence.

Difficulty: you cannot name or reference an existing RPG. It's not the "I like the way X handles Z" promotional thread, it's the "I wish Z was handled better, but I haven't seen it yet" thread.

As you've been busy asking a lot of RPG design questions lately, I am wondering if the point is more to whether you can make an RPG that satisfies most of these "wants" more than identifying what RPG satisfies which desire?

I've seen a lot of items in the list that don't seem contrary (ex. more wombats vs. less wombats!)

 

[Morrus]

As you've been busy asking a lot of RPG design questions lately, I am wondering if the point is more to whether you can make an RPG that satisfies most of these "wants" more than identifying what RPG satisfies which desire?

Oh, not really. I know what I want out of my game; it's just that the process makes "design" a subject you want to chat about a lot. It's a subject very much on my mind at the moment. Occasionally some specific questions might be related, but in general it's just me chewing the fat.

 

[dd.stevenson]

Apocalypse World and, to a lesser extent, Dungeon World and Monster of the Week. AW is designed on a freeform model where you roll only at points where you'd hand over in freeform RP (and still hand over so the flow is minimally disrupted) - and every single roll adds tension and interest you wouldn't get with pure freeform. (Dungeon World and MotW are of course based on Apocalypse World)

These systems are definitely more tense than freeform, but the people who matter most (i.e., me and my players) generally don't find the resolution mechanic engaging. (However, I've stolen the "choose 1" aesthetic for my old school exploration skills--see my sig.)

 

[delericho]

Starship combat, or more specifically cinematic starfighter combat.

In most if not all RPGs I've seen, when the PCs climb into a vehicle, they get given a whole new set of stats for the vehicle, which are often slightly modified by the character's capabilities. The net effect is that it is the vehicle that is the important part of the whole, with the character being much less important.

Conversely, if we look at the Battle of Yavin, we have a dozen or so members of Red Squadron, all in effectively identical ships. But Luke Skywalker gets hit twice in the battle and yet survives to complete his run, while Porkins' just blows up for no great reason. (Other Reds die with one hit, while Wedge survives a hit with damage, and Red Leader survives one hit and dies on a second.)

Model that in SWSE, though, and you find that the difference between Luke's ship and Porkins' is marginal - there's maybe a point of Reflex defence in it, and a change of BAB, but that's about all. The rules presented just don't match the fiction we see.

So, what I would like to see is a system where when the character climbs into the vehicle, the character's stats are modified slightly to allow for the characteristics of the ship, rather than the other way around. And proceed from there.

(Of course, that only works for small one-man fighters. As soon as you get a second PC in a ship, the model becomes screwy. That's why I would like a professional to solve those problems for me. )

 

[Balesir]

I wish an rpg could intelligibly describe what it's like to get injured, wounded, traumatized, and otherwise hurt.

I wish systems had a way to simulate the 'give up at gun point' instead of calculating that the gun/bow only does 1 hit and it takes multi hits to drop them...

HârnMaster wounds system does all of these better than any other system I've seen. A single shot won't neccesarily kill you - but assuming it hits it'll leave you in a world of hurt.

(Of course, that only works for small one-man fighters. As soon as you get a second PC in a ship, the model becomes screwy. That's why I would like a professional to solve those problems for me. )

Not entirely - the "hit points" of a big ship is definitely close to the sum of the hit points of the characters on board*!

*: Until they make it to a life raft - at which point the ship may blow up just through losing their HPs from its total!

And, my actual answer to the OP:

A system that offers interesting choices for a character facing any variety of conflict, and generates clear and interesting outcomes from the resolution of those choices.​

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

Starship combat, or more specifically cinematic starfighter combat.

In most if not all RPGs I've seen, when the PCs climb into a vehicle, they get given a whole new set of stats for the vehicle, which are often slightly modified by the character's capabilities. The net effect is that it is the vehicle that is the important part of the whole, with the character being much less important.

Conversely, if we look at the Battle of Yavin, we have a dozen or so members of Red Squadron, all in effectively identical ships. But Luke Skywalker gets hit twice in the battle and yet survives to complete his run, while Porkins' just blows up for no great reason. (Other Reds die with one hit, while Wedge survives a hit with damage, and Red Leader survives one hit and dies on a second.)

Model that in SWSE, though, and you find that the difference between Luke's ship and Porkins' is marginal - there's maybe a point of Reflex defence in it, and a change of BAB, but that's about all. The rules presented just don't match the fiction we see.

So, what I would like to see is a system where when the character climbs into the vehicle, the character's stats are modified slightly to allow for the characteristics of the ship, rather than the other way around. And proceed from there.

(Of course, that only works for small one-man fighters. As soon as you get a second PC in a ship, the model becomes screwy. That's why I would like a professional to solve those problems for me. )

Easy: Make the ship more like a multilevel magic item.

For example:

Cygnus Light Attack Fighter
AC: 10+Pilot Reflex Save Base+Pilot Dex Bonus
BAB: +5 + Pilot Dex Bonus + Piloting Skill + Cybernetic/Genetweak Enhancement Bonuses
Deflection: DR150/-
HP: 250+Pilot HP+ 10xPilot Skill
Manueverability: +10 to Piloting Checks for Manuevers

Then add equipment bonuses for stuff crammed in the ship.

Makes it fun and easy, and I've playtested it to Hell and back.

Not entirely - the "hit points" of a big ship is definitely close to the sum of the hit points of the characters on board!

Depends on the game and the ship generation rules.

Nova Wars? Not even close. A super-capital ship has HP in the 100,000's or millions, shields in the 10,000's or 100,000's.

As for what I'd like to see?

Decent cybernetics and genetic modification rules that don't make me roll my eyes.

And actual benefits to roleplaying that are a reason to not min-max all the time.

 

[delericho]

Easy: Make the ship more like a multilevel magic item.

For example:

Cygnus Light Attack Fighter
AC: 10+Pilot Reflex Save Base+Pilot Dex Bonus
BAB: +5 + Pilot Dex Bonus + Piloting Skill + Cybernetic/Genetweak Enhancement Bonuses
Deflection: DR150/-
HP: 250+Pilot HP+ 10xPilot Skill
Manueverability: +10 to Piloting Checks for Manuevers

Then add equipment bonuses for stuff crammed in the ship.

Makes it fun and easy, and I've playtested it to Hell and back.

Yep, that's essentially what I'm looking for.

Depends on the game and the ship generation rules.

Nova Wars? Not even close. A super-capital ship has HP in the 100,000's or millions, shields in the 10,000's or 100,000's.

For really big ships, the current system is probably about right - the ship becomes the base with the PCs influencing particular aspects of its operation. It's those medium vessels, like the Millennium Falcon, that are difficult. Those are the ones where the PCs remain the important part (with the ship secondary), but the operation does need to be based on multiple PCs.

(And, in particular, your suggested "+10xPilot Skill" for hit points would be problematic here, as the PCs may well switch rolls mid-encounter.)

But I certainly don't think this is all an insurmountable issue.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I want a holodeck.

 

[Lwaxy]

Play Star Trek.

 

[The Hound]

More interesting non combat encounters

I'd like to see a system that makes non-combat conflict as interesting as combat. Something that could cover things like negotiation of all kinds, debate, seeking information, etc. Maybe something that formalizes the "wing it" roleplaying that is usually attempted in these situations without destroying the roleplaying aspect.

 

[The Hound]

RPG basaed on romance novels

Here's one from a former girlfriend, who never got into roleplaying games:

She said she could get interested in an RPG that was based on the romance novel genre. I suppose that swashbucklers come close.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I wish an rpg could intelligibly describe what it's like to get injured, wounded, traumatized, and otherwise hurt.

Mainly this. Also, I'd like a combat system with a realistic handling of reach.

I'll offer a few suggestions below ...

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Here's one from a former girlfriend, who never got into roleplaying games:

She said she could get interested in an RPG that was based on the romance novel genre. I suppose that swashbucklers come close.

I've heard Blue Rose does romance, not so sure about romance novel.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I wish there was a game with a more interesting system of magic. I'd like to see something where magic follows certain consistent rules, which in turns mean you could customize spells on the fly. I don't want to cast fireball by saying "I cast fireball," I want to combine spell elements to create a sphere of fire which is hurled at target X.

ETA: It's possible that there is a game that does this! My knowledge of RPGs is far from comprehensive.​

Ars Magica may work for this

 

[Raduin711]

Starship combat, or more specifically cinematic starfighter combat.

In most if not all RPGs I've seen, when the PCs climb into a vehicle, they get given a whole new set of stats for the vehicle, which are often slightly modified by the character's capabilities. The net effect is that it is the vehicle that is the important part of the whole, with the character being much less important.

Conversely, if we look at the Battle of Yavin, we have a dozen or so members of Red Squadron, all in effectively identical ships. But Luke Skywalker gets hit twice in the battle and yet survives to complete his run, while Porkins' just blows up for no great reason. (Other Reds die with one hit, while Wedge survives a hit with damage, and Red Leader survives one hit and dies on a second.)

Model that in SWSE, though, and you find that the difference between Luke's ship and Porkins' is marginal - there's maybe a point of Reflex defence in it, and a change of BAB, but that's about all. The rules presented just don't match the fiction we see.

So, what I would like to see is a system where when the character climbs into the vehicle, the character's stats are modified slightly to allow for the characteristics of the ship, rather than the other way around. And proceed from there.

(Of course, that only works for small one-man fighters. As soon as you get a second PC in a ship, the model becomes screwy. That's why I would like a professional to solve those problems for me. )

I would like to see that as well... particularly a system that can handle both starfighter-style dogfights as well as Starship bridge simulation where all of our non-pilot PC's can offer a meaningful contribution, with meaningful choices and decisions, without making the system a headache for GM's to run.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I'd like to see a system that makes non-combat conflict as interesting as combat. Something that could cover things like negotiation of all kinds, debate, seeking information, etc. Maybe something that formalizes the "wing it" roleplaying that is usually attempted in these situations without destroying the roleplaying aspect.

Orthodox answers: Fate Core or Smallville. Unorthodox but valid answer: Monsterhearts.

Here's one from a former girlfriend, who never got into roleplaying games:

She said she could get interested in an RPG that was based on the romance novel genre. I suppose that swashbucklers come close.

If she's still interested try her on Monsterhearts. It started life as a joke game attempt to play Twilight using the Apocalypse World rules. It ended up as a deconstruction-and-reconstruction* of pretty much the entire teen horror/romance/drama genre.

* Deconstructing it down to an analysis of tropes, motivations, and expected courses of actions, and then reconstructing it so that it guides you to follow the genre pretty closely as effective play.

Edit: I believe Firefly's trying to get the bits of starships many other games miss. Not sure though - the preview rules for races weren't as good as the non-starship rules.