What Licensed RPG Do You Wish Used A Different System?

[Aldarc]

Dallas: The Television Role-Playing Game
Oh, how the trajectory of the RPG hobby/industry might have changed if only "Dallas" had been a glossier product and used a system more amenable to its premise.

They should have used 5e D&D!

 

[Kannik]

I was going to say, that Modiphius' Star Trek could use a different underlying system. I think Cortex Prime would be a good option.

I second this! While I enjoyed the 2d20 version of Star Trek Adventures (also played LUG Trek back in the day) well enough, I think it could run with even more elan and thematic resonance under Cortex Prime.

I have several times thought of going to Cortex Prime, and seeing if I could cobble together something cogent around character generation, which I felt Marvel Heroic RP lacked.

There's a fan-produced mod titled "Giant Corporate Owned Comics Heroic Role-playing" that takes it MHR-style superhero playing into Cortex Prime.

 

[Kannik]

Unlikely to happen -- the persons who did it have all split up, Cortex Prime has changed hands to Fandom, who are letting it languish...

Cortex Prime is now owned by Dire Wolf Digital, and they've published the hardcover book for Tales of Xadia, complete with online tools. In addition, they're up to 13 setting Spotlights and have released the Cortex Codex. So fortunately it's not dead!

(But unless Dire Wolf chooses to try and license Firefly from Disney, or whomever owns Serenity, unlikely there'll be a new version of a Firefly game using Cortex Prime. But all the bits are there and it'd be an easyish update to do on one's own.)

 

[Kannik]

Add me to the list who would prefer a different system than the current one for the Star Wars RPG. Right now I'm running a SW campaign using a system of my own devising (the Aurora RPG Engine) and it's been working great, and also I think it would work well as a FitD or, yes, Cortex Prime game. (Paired with all the info given in the old WEG books.)

 

[Bill Zebub]

Add me to the list who would prefer a different system than the current one for the Star Wars RPG. Right now I'm running a SW campaign using a system of my own devising (the Aurora RPG Engine) and it's been working great, and also I think it would work well as a FitD or, yes, Cortex Prime game. (Paired with all the info given in the old WEG books.)

I keep trying to imagine what kind of Star Wars game I would want.

One thing I would really, really want that seems really hard to deliver is for a rich Jedi system that feels like playing a proper Jedi, but without eclipsing the non-Jedi PCs or trivializing encounters, and that seems like a hard problem to solve.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Add me to the list who would prefer a different system than the current one for the Star Wars RPG. Right now I'm running a SW campaign using a system of my own devising (the Aurora RPG Engine) and it's been working great, and also I think it would work well as a FitD or, yes, Cortex Prime game. (Paired with all the info given in the old WEG books.)

Is there a current system for Star Wars? They haven't produced any new material in quite a while at this point.

 

[schneeland]

Is there a current system for Star Wars? They haven't produced any new material in quite a while at this point.

I think Edge Studios still have the license and they are apparently reprinting some books, so it's not completely dead.

 

[cbwjm]

Anything from Modiphius using the 2d20 system. It’s just way too much. Even the “light” versions are too heavy. And of course Star Wars.

I came in here to say the same thing. They've had some of my favourite IPs, but their system is just not for me.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

They should have used 5e D&D!

B/X clone with the standard abilities replaced with:

• Power
• Persuasion
• Coercion
• Seduction
• Investigation
• Chance

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Add me to the list who would prefer a different system than the current one for the Star Wars RPG. Right now I'm running a SW campaign using a system of my own devising (the Aurora RPG Engine) and it's been working great, and also I think it would work well as a FitD or, yes, Cortex Prime game. (Paired with all the info given in the old WEG books.)

Yeah I’ve been poking at hacking the 5e SRD and the SW Saga Edition books (especially the equipment, vehicles, etc),

• making some familiarity changes like adding skill training for higher Int
• changing some stuff for quality of life, like making crusts a group resource with mechanics for how much you generally have at the start of a job or whatever, quick ways to get more, traits that boost those figures (nobles set a higher floor and ceiling) and traits to modify cost (scoundrels and soldiers decrease cost modifiers for restricted, illegal, and military, goods) to make the effect of gear a little less ineffable.
• Probably completely ditch spells, run force powers and expanded mundane manuevers off Force Points that refresh more often than in saga
• adds several skills, like Use Computers, Sense, Alter, Control, Tactics, and replace Arcana, Nature, and Religion with Technology, Life Science, and Lore (combining galactic lore and social sciences)
• List new "tools" which include types of systems like Astrogation systems, as well as splitting up vehicles more and making it very clear that most vehicles don't need proficiency to just move around, you only need to roll when doing something special/dangerous/with a chance of meaningful failure.
• Using the Monk to build a Force Adept class, and subclasses for other classes6

Hurdles include:

• building the Noble from cobbled together bits of Saga features, the 5e Bard, and a coat of paint.
• Doing the math to get the credits number ranges right using existing gear costs.
• Creating a table or something for converting Saga NPCs to bounded accuracy, health, and damage ranges by NPC level (ie, a giiven NPC level might have pb 3, health range 45-95, and damage range 3 to 4 d6)
• Give the allowed 5e classes a makeover and some subclasses

It's a big project to really do it justice, and I could probably run a Star Wars without all that work, because I already improvise all the time, but my buddy who is the other DM in the group really wants a system to look to and focuses better on the story when he has that

I don't know if that would be more or less work than a cypher system hack or a fitd/scum and villainy + force users hack.