One System To Rule Them All!

[Hand of Evil]

TORG for all the reasons stated by other posters before me.

 

[jdrakeh]

The only genres where GURPS requires extra material are high tech settings that are very gadget oriented. The equipment lists in GURPS are good, but even they can't cover all SF universes out there with just the main book.

And this is true of all generic RPGs. Someday, I hope to compile my Big Ass List of Equipment, which is basically an equipment list that covers several of gaming's most popular genres in several different systems. I'm sure that there is a way that it can be done without violating copyright, but I'd reather do it with official permissions.

 

[Vigilance]

I would go with GURPs.

I ran a time travel game using GURPs core and the time travel supplement (used mostly for the timeline) for like, um a decade.

Although I would occasionally buy an area supplement so I didnt have to do my own historical research (like GURPs Japan), I *never* needed any crunch other than the core book to handle anything, whether it was a chariot chase in ancient Egypt or a fight with lasers in the alleys behind Studio 54 in the 70's.

Although I am currently a d20M junkie, I still rate GURPs as the best*, most generic, most adaptable system ever designed.

*Hero is as adatable and generic, but GURPs is just more elegant and easier to use than Hero imo.

Chuck

 

[jdrakeh]

Okey dokey, folks - I've made a decision. Thank you everybody for your input. Obviously, the poll will be running for a few more days, so it will be interesting to see where the final results end up... and if I acted prematurely. Well, I'm off to grab some lunch and hit the FLGS. I'll let you know what I grabbed when I return (if they have it in stock).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm with JimAde.

HERO 5th was my choice. I've yet to encounter something it couldn't simulate right out of the box- and as I've posted elsewhere, I think its more generic and internally consistent than GURPS.

Its only flaw (IMHO) is its complexity (see below). You WILL be doing some math during PC creation, but nothing a little Casio calculator can't handle.

The only genres where GURPS requires extra material are high tech settings that are very gadget oriented. The equipment lists in GURPS are good, but even they can't cover all SF universes out there with just the main book.

And this is true of all generic RPGs

Not so with HERO- you just combine the powers and effects to get what you want- any tech level, andy genre. What the supplements do is just keep you from doing the work yourself.

One other one I'll note- Mutants and Masterminds[/B- currently my second favorite system, narrowly beating out D20. M&M is nearly a fusion of HERO and D20 (with a dose of the Marvel RPG thrown in). Its nearly as flexible as HERO, its nearly as familiar to the current environment as any other D20 based game, and it is simpler than most. I know of several posters on these boards who are using it for their Fantasy games instead of 3.5Ed.

 

[Desdichado]

And for the last time, both of you*, I'm not going to (re)buy Grim Tales. Again, thanks for your contributions thus far, but if you don't have anything else constructive to contribute, please quit the thread.

Ummm.... OK. :\

For the record, in my opinion Grim Tales does meet your criteria as stated even with your clarificiations. If you didn't want to discuss Grim Tales, you shouldn't have off-handedly made comments about it that were debatable, since of course, that only invites debate. Or you should have stated your criteria better.

 

[painandgreed]

If I was going to choose one generic game system and was such a stickler to limit it to one generic core book and nothing else, I would have to say "Somthing Else" because I'd just create a homebrew system. One generic core book and nothing else will never be enough for everything and probably isn't enough to do most things to my liking. I'd have to make up new rules and additional data and at that point, I might as well just write the entire system myself.

 

[Hjorimir]

You didn't read my clarification did you?

I did, which is why I continued with that line of thinking.

I don't doubt that, and have thanked you for suggesting it several times - what I did not welcome was the wildly defensive attitude that you copped when I said that it didn't meet my criteria (which I reiterrated just for you and Joshua) and the accompanying pot shots that you took at me afterwards.

Well, the original grammar of your starting post was vague as to what you wanted. Based on what was said there, I felt I was contributing. I guess the tenor of the original responses to my post seemed aggressive so I returned in kind.

Just so we're clear, I understand that this kind of thing happens on message boards, so I don't hold anything against you personally - but this running condemnation of why I am wrong for not adjusting my criteria to meet your expectations stops right here. Cool?

Yes, we're cool...and I never asked that you adjust your criteria.

 

[jdrakeh]

For the record, in my opinion Grim Tales does meet your criteria as stated even with your clarificiations.

Yes, you've made that abundantly clear. That said, I've respectfully asked you three times to not drag this thread further off-topic by trying to continue this debate. I have pointed out numerous times on the previous page of this thread that this is an off-topic subject that should be addressed elsewhere. I will say it one more time:

Grim Tales does not meet the criteria that I have since re-stated and clarified specifically for your benefit, for very specific reasons (stated multiple times now). And, given the purpose and conteext of this thread, that's that. Period. End of discussion.

Again, if you want to debate the merits of Grim Tales, please do so in a thread dedicated to that topic, rather than deliberately and repeatedly derailing this one by continuing to perpetuate an off-topic argument that you have been asked, several times now, politely, to cease. Thank you.

 

[Desdichado]

Yes, you've made that abundantly clear. That said, I've respectfully asked you three times to not drag this thread further off-topic by trying to continue this debate. I have pointed out numerous times on the previous page of this thread that this is an off-topic subject that should be addressed elsewhere.

A few things:
1) Based on the criteria mentioned above, Grim Tales, IMO, did qualify. I had no intention of debating any merits of Grim Tales, merely point out that it qualified. If you thought that it didn't, you either a) weren't familiar enough with Grim Tales to know that, in which case I was trying to help you, or b) didn't state your criteria, even when clarified, very well, in which case again I was trying to help you. I have no interest in debating the merits of Grim Tales one way or another.
2) You've already made your decision, according to your own post earlier. Any continued discussion of Grim Tales, or any other topic in this thread should be of no interest to you.
3) As I've said, IMO, the discussion was on topic, because Grim Tales does meet your criteria as you stated, and even as you clarified.
4) An answer you don't like is not off-topic.
5) I tried to avoid saying this, but since you continued to go on about it, and were even more strident in this last post than before, "topic police" is extremely rude. It would be one thing if I had interrupted to give a long account of my Grim Tales game (actually, I don't have one) but I didn't do that, I was answering your frikkin' question. My responses were not off-topic, despite the fact that you continually tried to label them as such. And turning around and telling me to leave your thread alone because you didn't like my answer does not make it off-topic.

That's what we call extremely rude in my neck of the woods. And it has been duly noted; next time I see one of your threads, no doubt my opinion of it will be colored by my experiences here.

And yes, I realize that this post at least is off-topic, and no, I do not apologize for it.