The Quest for the "One True System" Is It a Myth or Something More?

[dm4hire]

I was reading the latest thread about Savage Worlds when I saw reference to the “One True System” by the original poster. This got me thinking about my own quest for said mythic legend. I find it interesting that eventually almost every gamer seems to start down this path, looking for one system that will meet all their gaming needs. I’m not sure if this is a subconscious desire to recapture the essence of our early days in gaming or if it is just the desire to settle down with just one game and no longer compile a huge library of books. For me the quest was more trying to find the perfect game in one book. The closest I’ve come is Dungeons and Dragons Rules Cyclopedia, however I don’t like basic because it had races as classes.

So what does make the “One True System” for a gamer?
In my opinion it has to have the following in one book:
Core rules
Character information
Monsters
Basic setting info or enough detail to generate a setting on the fly
There are a few other core books I think meet most of those conditions. These are games such as Basic Roleplaying, Numenera, Savage Words Deluxe, and several OSRs just to name a few.

So what elements do you think belong in the “One True System” and why do you think gamers pursue this mythic quest? Can one system really capture everything?

 

[Morrus]

There's obviously no universal system that could meet that ideal, since every gamer wants different things. But, as with any area of life, an individual gamer can desire better and better stuff ("better" partly meaning "tailored to them").

But there's nothing the world which can't be improved, so perfection will always be just over the horizon.

 

[dm4hire]

I agree. It is definitely the gamer version of utopia. Not to mention any game to actually attempt to completely cover every player desire would be an extremely large book indeed. Very much a vision quest if anything since in the end it comes down to personal desire as you mention.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For me, HERO is as close as I've found. But even I will admit that a system designed from the start to support a particular setting or playstyle will do it better than HERO can. I wouldn't want to run a standard Paranoia-type game using HERO, for instance.

 

[Morrus]

Not to mention any game to actually attempt to completely cover every player desire would be an extremely large book indeed.

Which doesn't help when the player desires a small book!

 

[Serendipity]

Not I. I enjoy having a multiplicity of systems and being able to play them all. Sure i have favorite systems, but they change over time. Which is not to say I've not encountered other 'pilgrims on the path' as it were just that I've never been one of them. Why just play one game forever?

 

[Jack Daniel]

I would love to find a single go-to system that hits the sweet spot for the sorts of campaigns that I typically want to play. But I've never found a game that hits the right level of simplicity vs. complexity while maintaining any kind of mechanical elegance.

Thence come the heartbreakers, and the quest to design​ the one true system.

 

[Yora]

For class based systems, I go with Castles & Crusades, which is far closer to anything else in regard to being a perfect version of D&D. If just the editing wasn't so abysmally bad. But the system itself is close to perfect.
For classless games, I think Fate Core covers everything perfectly well.

 

[fireinthedust]

There's two things in this that I think are important:

1) the search for user-friendly systems

2) the search for a good simulation of X

3) the one game you can get your group to actually do.


In short:

1) Playing a game requires a certain flexibility for players. You need to have some kind of "game" that is fun for all players plus GM as frequently as possible. Cut down on lag time in turns (so simple rolls) is good, but so is having "stuff" they can use (ie: new items or powers, or even just a precious length of rope or a torch when needed), and so is having more than just "yet another" roll dX against target Y repetition. That's one aspect of the Utopia of RPGs. Find one that works really well and lets you do what you want to do. You can re-skin a lot of stuff so long as everyone has as much fun as everyone else, and things run smoothly.


2) The Simulation of X is an ongoing struggle: how do you represent how Judge Dredd feels with dice/Cards/Jenga? Vs. how to simulate Doctor Who? James Bond? X-Men? Each setting requires different, well, conceits. You can't expect one system to have the same flavour or style of play. Heck, each story type may need a different mechanic: horror, cinematic action, etc.

3) I'm finding that it doesn't matter the system so much as my players insisting on playing D&D. it's obnoxious that some folks refuse to try supers, or cyberpunk, but this seems to be the utopia system. Sadly.

 

[amerigoV]

3) I'm finding that it doesn't matter the system so much as my players insisting on playing D&D. it's obnoxious that some folks refuse to try supers, or cyberpunk, but this seems to be the utopia system. Sadly.

I'll chime in from my own experience. I used to be like your players. I thought I only like D&D/fantasy. What it turned out to be was I am a system mastery guy. 3.x (and I presume 4th) has a lot of material. I found that I did not want to stray from that "Investment", be it knowledge and monetary. While some wanted d20 to be universal, it really ported poorly to other genres - other than "roll a d20 + bonus vs. Target", the rest of the system tended to have to be revamped (wound/vitality, how do guns work in, etc). So I would not even like playing another genre using the d20 "system."

Eventually, 3.x dragged me down to where I did not want to GM it anymore. Savage Worlds quickly won out as my go-to system (and I would say my One True System). Now I can master the system and then apply it to other genres. It also made me realize that there are a number of other systems do not have the heavy crunch side like D&D. I am more willing to give them a whirl at a Con than I would have been in the past.

For my group, Savage Worlds was a group saver. D&D just did not fit what the broad group really could handle (be it 3.x, Monte's Arcana Unearthed, or 4e). The group was always fighting against the system. The system mastery aspect of 3.x really created a huge gap between some of the players. Now we can play any genre without the group struggle through new rules. This is very important to my group as we are an older group - kids, work travel, etc - so there is not much time between sessions for most to invest time. SW struck that balance that its crunchy enough for system mastery guys like me, flexible as hell to GM, and light enough for those with less time to attain a level of competence such that they enjoy the game as well. So for my group, searching out the One True System was worth the effort.