What are your favorite genres of RPG? Do they use the same mechanics?

[Hyper-Man]

Are the genre and setting of your favorite games married to the mechanics of those games?

 

[Eoris]

My favourite rpg genres are definitely science fantasy and classic fantasy.

 

[Eoris]

Likewise the system is usually strictly married to the world itself. So, no they do not use the same mechanics, but they do use the same principles that govern the mechanics.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Not really on either count. To me, D&D is a creative medium, not a setting or a genre.

 

[Eoris]

True. I agree entirely. Or at least I did when I was a young boy and new nothing but the rules. Once I got to see the vast world of D&D, including the multiple dimensions I assigned, in my mind" the status of "actual setting".

 

[amerigoV]

After I started playing Savage Worlds, I became much more open to other genres. Fantasy is still numero uno - including 50 Fathoms in that category. Second is probably their Weird War settings. Really so much is open to me now that I cannot say what are truly favorites anymore.

So obviously, the same mechanics are used with minor customization on the builds to align with the genre, with anything Super's related having special build options. But overall the play "at the table" uses the same mechanics across the genres. For most genres, Savage Worlds can be played out of the box without a lot of customization if one just wants to get to slinging dice.

 

[Eoris]

What you say is also true to me. I feel that getting into pprpgs is more or less like entering a broad gaming dynamic in which the mechanics are simply there to satisfy the need, but the actual game happens within, with your characters. As you evolve within the pprpg game genre, you also develop a fancy for certain things. Game mechanics and settings become relevant and you start to select the things that matter. In general I would have to say that a broad, open game mechanic is always to good, so long as you can mould it to suit other interests in similar setting genres.

 

[Jhaelen]

Are the genre and setting of your favorite games married to the mechanics of those games?

Yes! I much prefer using the right tools for a job. Generic mechanics can never work equally well for all kinds of settings.

 

[Eoris]

The thing, I find, is that system mechanics explain, entail and give insight into the key premise of the game. If the game is about using high-powered, giant robots, the system must be focused on providing these rules in a fun an entertaining way. If the game lacks the mechanic that suits the specific "soul" of the setting, then playing that game in particular as opposed to another seems a bit futile. Note that I say a "bit" futile, because imagination is capable of expanding on whatever the system did not provide.

 

[Umbran]

Are the genre and setting of your favorite games married to the mechanics of those games?

I would say that my favorite games are not "generic". In each case, they have mechanics specifically designed to support their fictional genres.

I would not say that the genre is "married" to the mechanics. There's more than one way to approach supporting genre, and you can easily have two games that both support genre in different ways successfully.