What system for...

[jdrakeh]

Night's Black Agents will probably be my go to solution for action-packed weird conspiracy games going forward (everything from the default vampires to Fringe). It simply has a lot of good design packed into it and it's malleable enough to be used for multiple settings/campaigns.

For specific scenarios, I have a deep desire to run a fantasy sky pirates campaign. I want to say that I'd use only the Rules Cyclopedia to run this, but Skycrawl by Aaron Read is such a great resource for this, I'd be remiss not to use it, too. In fact, I'm not certain I've ever seen a better resource for this kind of campaign, except maybe Lady Blackbird (which is laser focused).

 

[MGibster]

Yeah, this sounds like a Mothership adventure. There are a fair number of "you wake up out of cryosleep and things are bad" adventures already. Cannibals are almost a welcome relief from some of the stuff waiting in space to kill you.

I'm working on a similar scenario for Death in Space. I fully admit to being inspired by Pandorum.

 

[dbm]

What system would you use for this?
Ellie-Mae Patterson is the powerful and respected matriarch of the Patterson dynasty.

Another vote for Cortex Prime, because it has good mechanisms for handling character relationships, including animosity, in a constructive way (as shown in Smallville originally).

Alternatively, a system with a strong focus on relationships is Hillfolk by Robin Laws. That focuses on petitioning for what you want in a scene, seeking to influence others. It also sounds like a good fit for the kind of (usually social) conflicts that arise in media like this.

PS - inspire by the Beverley Hillbillies?

 

[dbm]

The problem with toolbox systems is, of course, that you can do anything with them. Every time someone raises a scenario, toolboxes will fit.

These are the kinds of ‘problems’ I like, personally. As @Thomas Shey comments there are different flavours and strengths and weaknesses built into flexible systems so the are not equally applicable to all scenarios. So talking about flexible systems and how they may apply to these more niche game concepts is perhaps useful to people who aren’t experienced with using such games.

Starting with a near-fit flexible game and getting familiar with the ways of using it could be very empowering for people who would really like to play a wide range of different game concepts, but they might not be sure where to begin.

 

[Tonguez]

Another vote for Cortex Prime, because it has good mechanisms for handling character relationships, include animosity, in a constructive way (as shown in Smallville originally).

Alternatively, a system with a strong focus on relationships is Hillfolk by Robin Laws. That focuses on petitioning for what you want in a scene, seeking to influence others. It also sounds like a good fit for the kind of (usually social) conflicts that arise in media like this.

PS - inspire by the Beverley Hillbillies?

Absolutely, I was watching the show one day - many years ago- after Ellie-Mae got involved in the movies and gets a few suitors which got me thinking about the next generation...

I can certainly see the Smallville RPG being used as a base, not familiar with Hillfolk or Agon, but will look them up

 

[Joshua Randall]

This adventure must be completely self contained, rule wise. It is meant to be opened by the GM and for play to start immediately. Characters will be generated or revealed during play, as players assigns stats and skills and define who their survivor was (as their memoires slowly return).

Apocalypse World. Given you fill out the playbook at the start already. Just don't fill it out until instructed.

Agon. (Paragon is the open game version.) Again, don't fill out the stats until instructed. Instead of items or assets, you have mutations.

I think your proposed options are all too heavyweight for a self-contained game. You don't want the heaviness of a D&D-alike. You want a storygame, yes?

I would also take a look at the weird 4e D&D offshoot that is Gamma World 7th edition. ("7" being a meaningless number really.) It's not open, but it has lots of fun mutations for inspiration.

 

[Reynard]

These are the kinds of ‘problems’ I like, personally. As @Thomas Shey comments there are different flavours and strengths and weaknesses built into flexible systems so the are not equally applicable to all scenarios. So talking about flexible systems and how they may apply to these more niche game concepts is perhaps useful to people who aren’t experienced with using such games.

Starting with a near-fit flexible game and getting familiar with the ways of using it could be very empowering for people who would really like to play a wide range of different game concepts, but they might not be sure where to begin.

Toolbox systems can often be difficult to jump into, though, and I generally don't think they are good for answer the question "What system for this idea I have?" if the person asking isn't familiar with the toolkit system. I couldn't pick up Cortex and make anything useful out of it, and I am a pretty experienced GM who has played 1000 systems. I could do it with Hero or GURPS or Fate, but not Cortex.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Toolbox systems can often be difficult to jump into, though, and I generally don't think they are good for answer the question "What system for this idea I have?" if the person asking isn't familiar with the toolkit system. I couldn't pick up Cortex and make anything useful out of it, and I am a pretty experienced GM who has played 1000 systems. I could do it with Hero or GURPS or Fate, but not Cortex.

Its a legitimate objection, but that's liable to be a problem with any sufficiently off-the-beaten-path campaign idea. Unless someone has either custom built something for a campaign concept very close to what you're trying for, or at least has done a hack of one of the generic systems for it, you're just going to have to do some heavy lifting. Even if they're aiming at something in the same general direction there's a good chance you'll need to do that.

 

[Reynard]

Its a legitimate objection, but that's liable to be a problem with any sufficiently off-the-beaten-path campaign idea. Unless someone has either custom built something for a campaign concept very close to what you're trying for, or at least has done a hack of one of the generic systems for it, you're just going to have to do some heavy lifting. Even if they're aiming at something in the same general direction there's a good chance you'll need to do that.

I'm saying I could not use Cortex (or any toolkit system I am not familiar with to build a regular fantasy campaign. The difference is that a toolkit system asks you to pick and choose pieces and/or turn dials. that is a LOT harder in a system you have never used than simply reading a system and trying to grok it.

For example, if I said I wanted to run a game about cowboys fighting aliens, you could tell me to use Cortex, or Deadlands. Deadlands does not have aliens, but it does have cowboys and weird stuff. You con't have to build anything in Deadlands, just curate the possible options a little. But to use Cortex, you would have to build that game.

Again, I am not bagging on Cortex or toolkit games in general. I am just saying that unless the particular game happens to be very easy to understand, toolkit games ask a lot more of the GM than other types of games do -- and for good reason. If you DO know the toolkit game, you can use it for a lot of possible games/campaigns.

I use SWADE a lot for these random weirdo ideas I have. SWADE is what I would call half of a toolkit. it isn't really "build your own game" like HERO or presumable Cortex (only going off what I have read), but you can curate options and use subsystems to get the game you are aiming for. But even that isn't as easy as finding a game that really embraces whatever nonsense you came up with.

 

[dbm]

Cortex is similar to Fudge in my opinion - it’s closer to a collection of mechanics and suggestions on how to use them than it is a game you could just sit down and run. It does require a lot more pre-work to get to the table than a genre flexible system such as Savage Worlds but it has some really good worked examples for how to handle things which other games can struggle with.

Relationship maps is a great example of something Cortex can handle well, though other games could do that too. I can see how you might do it in Fate or Fudge but those are also (IMO) toolkits rather than genre flexible systems. (I often think of Fate as a ’core system’ which is kind of half way between a genre flexible system and a toolkit system).