Both and neither, I guess?!
The setting has to appeal to me or I won't be interested regardless of the system.
But the inverse is also true: E.g. if there was announcement that they'd release a Star Wars RPG (a setting that interests me) based on D&D 5th edition rules, I'd pass.
An actual example would be 'Adventures in Middle-earth'. There's simply no way this can be better than using 'The One Ring' RPG,
a system that has been created specifically to support the kind of stories that evoke a 'Tolkinesque' feeling.
There are a few instances where I got curious how a system was adapted to the setting. An example for this is 'Ashen Stars'.
I already knew and really liked 'Trail of Cthulhu' and wanted to see how the Gumshoe system worked in a Sci-Fi setting.
But mostly I prefer systems that have been created specifically for a given setting. Generic or setting-agnostic systems usually don't have much appeal for me.
The setting has to appeal to me or I won't be interested regardless of the system.
But the inverse is also true: E.g. if there was announcement that they'd release a Star Wars RPG (a setting that interests me) based on D&D 5th edition rules, I'd pass.
An actual example would be 'Adventures in Middle-earth'. There's simply no way this can be better than using 'The One Ring' RPG,
a system that has been created specifically to support the kind of stories that evoke a 'Tolkinesque' feeling.
There are a few instances where I got curious how a system was adapted to the setting. An example for this is 'Ashen Stars'.
I already knew and really liked 'Trail of Cthulhu' and wanted to see how the Gumshoe system worked in a Sci-Fi setting.
But mostly I prefer systems that have been created specifically for a given setting. Generic or setting-agnostic systems usually don't have much appeal for me.