3catcircus
Adventurer
Where do I begin...
For a quick and easy game, I like d6 (and it is free!) rules - fantasy, sci-fi, all there. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to build your own system using the d6 rules.
For super-heroic (but not supers) gaming, my preferred system is TORG. I managed to purchase a copy of every single supplement about 10 years ago during a fire sale and have yet to find anyone willing to play. Great system (it scales well) and the drama deck is still the best implementation I've seen of using cards in an rpg. The magic system is one of the best I've seen, using a pseudo-para-scientific approach to defining how magic works (and how spells can be built). The best part is the GM can mold his campaign by deciding which supplements he'll allow.
My all-time favorite, though, is Twilight:2000 (I can take or leave the V1 rules, like the V2.2 rules, and prefer the V3 Reflex System rules).
Using the V3 rules, I think it is a well-done life-path system (no making a PC whose last selections result in death, like in Traveller), fairly-well implemented team integration rules (sorta-like-but-better-than the Team Feats in D&D 3.x), and the combat system is detailed enough (likely too detailed for some people) to allow you to "feel" like getting shot at is dangerous, like it is supposed to be. It models both the sense of being scared shitless via a "Coolness Under Fire" attribute as well as the fact that better-trained troops and those who've seen more combat are able to react more quickly than civilians or new guys.
I like the initiative system, which is encumbrance-based (carrying more stuff? You can't do as many things as quickly as someone who isn't) so it encourages people to do like they do in real-life and dump their pack at the first sign of combat.
The "hit point thresholds/wounds" system works really well - each hit does a certain amount of "damage" which, when compared to various hit point thresholds, causes different levels of wounding - from a scratch all the way up to instant death. It is like a condition track, but makes more sense.
Some things that could be improved: the "Tick System" is similar to the Fallout 1/2 system where each action costs a certain amount of time and once you use up all your actions in the round, it is someone else's turn, but it is a bit unwieldy unless you've got a cheat sheet with all the actions and their costs. Combat can get a bit fiddly because of all the variables, but I've found that "weapon cards" that contain all the relevant information works well at a glance.
Additionally, the campaign can get really tedious for players who don't like resource management as part of their gameplay - foraging, wear/maintenance, and keeping track of your bullets is important in this game, but some players don't like the idea of "gotta keep the jeep running, so I have to barter some farmer for a starter motor, which means I've gotta bring him some alcohol in trade; but I need the alcohol to run the jeep - how much can I give him and still get the part? If I gotta give him all my hooch, I've gotta go and distill more, which means I've gotta go find more potatoes/corn/whatever can be turned into alcohol. Which means I'm stuck here for another growing season. F*&K!!!!" being used as the premise of a campaign arc.
Basically - Twilight:2000/2013 requires lots of loving attention from both the GM and the players, whereas some other more accessible games require minimal effort on the part of the players to still make for a fun game.
For a quick and easy game, I like d6 (and it is free!) rules - fantasy, sci-fi, all there. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to build your own system using the d6 rules.
For super-heroic (but not supers) gaming, my preferred system is TORG. I managed to purchase a copy of every single supplement about 10 years ago during a fire sale and have yet to find anyone willing to play. Great system (it scales well) and the drama deck is still the best implementation I've seen of using cards in an rpg. The magic system is one of the best I've seen, using a pseudo-para-scientific approach to defining how magic works (and how spells can be built). The best part is the GM can mold his campaign by deciding which supplements he'll allow.
My all-time favorite, though, is Twilight:2000 (I can take or leave the V1 rules, like the V2.2 rules, and prefer the V3 Reflex System rules).
Using the V3 rules, I think it is a well-done life-path system (no making a PC whose last selections result in death, like in Traveller), fairly-well implemented team integration rules (sorta-like-but-better-than the Team Feats in D&D 3.x), and the combat system is detailed enough (likely too detailed for some people) to allow you to "feel" like getting shot at is dangerous, like it is supposed to be. It models both the sense of being scared shitless via a "Coolness Under Fire" attribute as well as the fact that better-trained troops and those who've seen more combat are able to react more quickly than civilians or new guys.
I like the initiative system, which is encumbrance-based (carrying more stuff? You can't do as many things as quickly as someone who isn't) so it encourages people to do like they do in real-life and dump their pack at the first sign of combat.
The "hit point thresholds/wounds" system works really well - each hit does a certain amount of "damage" which, when compared to various hit point thresholds, causes different levels of wounding - from a scratch all the way up to instant death. It is like a condition track, but makes more sense.
Some things that could be improved: the "Tick System" is similar to the Fallout 1/2 system where each action costs a certain amount of time and once you use up all your actions in the round, it is someone else's turn, but it is a bit unwieldy unless you've got a cheat sheet with all the actions and their costs. Combat can get a bit fiddly because of all the variables, but I've found that "weapon cards" that contain all the relevant information works well at a glance.
Additionally, the campaign can get really tedious for players who don't like resource management as part of their gameplay - foraging, wear/maintenance, and keeping track of your bullets is important in this game, but some players don't like the idea of "gotta keep the jeep running, so I have to barter some farmer for a starter motor, which means I've gotta bring him some alcohol in trade; but I need the alcohol to run the jeep - how much can I give him and still get the part? If I gotta give him all my hooch, I've gotta go and distill more, which means I've gotta go find more potatoes/corn/whatever can be turned into alcohol. Which means I'm stuck here for another growing season. F*&K!!!!" being used as the premise of a campaign arc.
Basically - Twilight:2000/2013 requires lots of loving attention from both the GM and the players, whereas some other more accessible games require minimal effort on the part of the players to still make for a fun game.