What is the Best Licensed RPG?

[aramis erak]

The Unisystem Buffy game was great, some really innovative minor mechanics that really nailed the feel of the show. Just don't run your campaign too long because it breaks down when PCs have too many XP. Alien looks excellent, but i haven't played it.

The worst I've seen is possibly Firefly, which just had a dysfunctional system in many many ways. (The original version at least, apparently there was a much later revision that fixed the worst of it). D20 Star Wars was right up (down?) there too.

Serenity was the first. Using Cortex Classic.
Firefly was the second game. Using Cortex Plus mechanics. I've found it to be excellent
Both from Margaret Wiess Productions.
There hasn't been a third.
At least not officially. Eden Studios Presents, I forget which issue gives a space western conversion for the Unisystem Light games (Buffy/Angel/Army of Darkness) to do Firefly, and it's a REALLY clear case of "We couldn't get the license, but are releasing it anyway" ... Giving a glimpse of what might have been had Eden gotten the license instead of Margaret Weiss Productions.

I agree Cortex Classic Serenity was a bit wonky. On the other hand, it's almost ratings compatible with the later Firefly game...

Firefly is one of my favorite hybrid games- rules to be used, leveraged, and not hidden, yet still easily fit to the story-state.
Having played FATE first, I see the kinship of Firefly to FATE, in both the nature of the the rules and the fit to the setting... but there just wasn't enough setting to really do it. At least, unlike early WEG Star Wars, the comics and novels weren't off limits. (But the Serenity movie was.)

10 great hours of TV, and 2 hours of a great movie... and two very different approaches to capturing its lightning in game form...

 

[humble minion]

erenity was the first. Using Cortex Classic.
Firefly was the second game. Using Cortex Plus mechanics. I've found it to be excellent
Both from Margaret Wiess Productions.

Serenity was the one i was thinking of. I co-GMed a game (mostly as an ideas sounding board rather than a GM at the table, fortunately for my sanity) and the mechanics were just disastrous. It's been many years now so the details are fuzzy, but it got to the point where we were posting on the official message boards asking for help and clarification and were hounded off with a tidal wave of abuse.

I heard it had later gotten improved in the revision, and I'm glad for that. Still too scarred to be going back though - Firefly/Serenity were more my co-GMs enthusiasms rather than mine, so it was her call and I was largely just along for the ride.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness

 

[aramis erak]

Serenity was the one i was thinking of. I co-GMed a game (mostly as an ideas sounding board rather than a GM at the table, fortunately for my sanity) and the mechanics were just disastrous. It's been many years now so the details are fuzzy, but it got to the point where we were posting on the official message boards asking for help and clarification and were hounded off with a tidal wave of abuse.

I heard it had later gotten improved in the revision, and I'm glad for that. Still too scarred to be going back though - Firefly/Serenity were more my co-GMs enthusiasms rather than mine, so it was her call and I was largely just along for the ride.

Not a revision, a total rewrite from scratch... and very worthy. But getting hard to find, and the electronic editions pulled by MWP, despite the approach of Fox to continue to extract income from old games post-license until someone else wants the license... Buffy, Angel, and Army of Darkness are still for sale at DTRPG, even tho' the licenses ended a decade ago.

Speaking of Buffy: it's brilliantly done, but my campaign required more prep time than play time. My players loved it. The mechanics are good. But given my work schedule, it was way too much prep.

 

[dyskami]

Amber Diceless RPG, based on Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber novel series. It wrote the book on narrative role-playing back in 1991 and launched several annual Ambercon conventions that are still ongoing today.

 

[johnmarron]

Alien is my favorite licensed RPG. The stress mechanic is so elegant, and really captures the feel of being in a horror movie.

 

[Parmandur]

Call of Cthulu, became the default Horror RPG and still one of the most popular RPGs in general after 40 years.

 

[payn]

Right now it's Bladerunner by Free League.

Im pretty excited to get my Cowboy Bebop from Mana Project Studio tho.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yeah, in my book WEG Star Wars hits that #1 spot, easily.

Honorable mention goes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness. I don't think it's the best, but as far as timing of its release and the TMNT craze of the late 80s, you can't do better.

Call of Cthulu, became the default Horror RPG and still one of the most popular RPGs in general after 40 years.

You know, there's something to that. It's outlasted just about every other licensed IP RPG that I can think of.

 

[Parmandur]

You know, there's something to that. It's outlasted just about every other licensed IP RPG that I can think of.

Shoot, Chaosium has outlasted approximately every other company thst made RPGs in the early 80's, let alone the games.