One System To Rule Them All!

[Yair]

I've run a modern-era campaign using Ars 4th, actually - if you cut out Magi, you can run a compelling game in pretty much any genre using the rules for Companions and Grogs. Hmm... damn you! Now you've got me reconsidering my own criteria

A modern-era game? Fantasy or historical I can get, but a modern-era game renders so many of the virtues & flaws inappropriate that you need to do some extensive revisions. And the equipment... yikes...

I will run an ArM Fantasy game once, to check it out. Probably taking a string of D&D adventures, probably classic adventures, just to compare how they run in the ArM system.

 

[Stormborn]

Again, not really a generic system. Although there are several supplements that add genre-appropriate rules, it's focused completely on modern settings by default. I'm looking for something contained in a single book that is totally generic by deafult. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Well since you seem set against d20 M(although I would argue that while yes it focuses on modern by default, there is no reason a DM with just the core book couldn't do anything in the world he wanted with a few house rules, plus I don't really see the diff between buying d20 M supplements and buying GURPS supplements other than the GURPS books tend to have better research material.) then how about Grim Tales? It is pretty generic, all in one, and very adaptable.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Damn. Unfortunately, online orders are out of the question for me, right now

Well, if you can order things online again, give the site another look. IIRC, they plan to permanently sell these books at the lower prices. But it might happen that they run out of stock...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Well since you seem set against d20 M(although I would argue that while yes it focuses on modern by default, there is no reason a DM with just the core book couldn't do anything in the world he wanted with a few house rules, plus I don't really see the diff between buying d20 M supplements and buying GURPS supplements other than the GURPS books tend to have better research material.)

GURPS books, apart from the "equipment books", tend to have fewer rules, and more setting information. The fact alone that GURPS has no equivalent of advanced/prestige classes cuts out a lot of redundant information, since you can already build just about any character imaginable with the main book...

 

[jdrakeh]

... but a modern-era game renders so many of the virtues & flaws inappropriate that you need to do some extensive revisions.

Less than you might think.

And the equipment... yikes...

That was the only real concern, but it took all of about an hour to whip up a modern equipment list, given that equipment in Ars Magica isn't the tactical be all end all that it is in many games (instead serving largely as setting dressing).

I will run an ArM Fantasy game once, to check it out. Probably taking a string of D&D adventures, probably classic adventures, just to compare how they run in the ArM system.

Don't run Ars expecting D&D, of course - combat in Ars is far more lethal, magic far more... uhm... magical, and play structure far more epic (each player controls three characters at different times in a typical Ars campaign). Incidentally, I discovered all of these things by doing exactly what you propose

Some day I'll have to write-up my Isle of Dread Ars conversion (Isle of Dread is my 'control module' for testing different systems).

 

[SWBaxter]

Of the ones you list, I'd go with either Hero 5 or FUDGE, depending on where you fit on the crunch vs. rule-on-the-fly spectrum. But really, your choice should come down to finding a set of mechanics you like, all those games have their fans. Some others that may be worthy of consideration:

World of Darkness - has a generic core book and a pretty decent system that plays a lot faster than it reads. Oriented towards modern horror in the fiction pieces, but nothing to prevent you from using it for whatever else you like.

HeroQuest - has a generic version (QuestWorlds) coming out at some point. Narrative approach makes it easy to port to different genres, IMHO.

True20 - actually a pretty decent and reasonably generic system which has the advantage of working well with all the d20 stuff out there today.

 

[Desdichado]

d20 is generic enough for me, especially under it's d20 Modern aegis. The only problem with d20 is that it's not necessarily meant to be generic, and so there's no "This is generic d20" book out there--it's a little tricker to find out exactly what you need to have a complete d20 generic toolkit.

Of the ones you listed, though, I picked The Window. I've always liked that system. Seems it would only work for certain groups, though.

 

[jdrakeh]

there is no reason a DM with just the core book couldn't do anything in the world he wanted with a few house rules

If I have to house rule a game to cover other genres or time-periods, then it isn't arguably generic - it's specifically period and genre specific. That said, I have always felt that it was the closest thing to a generic reitteration of d20 that exists.

plus I don't really see the diff between buying d20 M supplements and buying GURPS supplements

The primary difference is that GURPS covers pretty much all time periods and genres to some extent in the core book - if you want extended genre coverage, you can buy supplements, but don't have to. d20 Modern, OTOH, covers only the modern time period and a handful of genres in the core book - if you want extended genre coverage, you must buy supplements (Past, Future, Apocalypse, Future, Grim Tales, etc).

Ultimately, it comes back to GURPS being a generic system, and d20 Modern not being a generic system - the difference between 'generic' and 'genre-focused' is readily apparent when you start looking at what you must buy to cover multiple genres in one system (d20 Modern), compared to what is contained in the core books of the other (GURPS).

Grim Tales? It is pretty generic, all in one, and very adaptable.

It's a d20 Modern supplement, by definition, so no. I do like it, have owned, it but - no. It doesn't meet my criteria as defined in the first post.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

d20 is generic enough for me, especially under it's d20 Modern aegis. The only problem with d20 is that it's not necessarily meant to be generic, and so there's no "This is generic d20" book out there--it's a little tricker to find out exactly what you need to have a complete d20 generic toolkit.

Yup. If you are trying to create PCs who are supers, uplifted dogs, or sapient software programs, then it is a bit difficult to do with d20 unless the GM is willing to fudge a lot. The level/class structure also limits you in certain ways - it is hard to create a character who is highly competent in one field (such as magic), but incompetent in combat, for example.

 

[jdrakeh]

Of the ones you listed, though, I picked The Window. I've always liked that system. Seems it would only work for certain groups, though.

Yeah, as I said, I usually default to The Window, but I pretty much am the setting and rule support for said system. Right now, I just want to play games and run them, leaving rule design and setting support to other people. But I know that I'll come back to The Window. I always do