Which gaming system has the best mechanics and why?

[Queer Venger]

Which gaming system has the best mechanics and why?

I particularly want to know which d20 system has the best mechanics over all, conducive for theater of the mind and robust for balance. - But also interested in alternative systems like 3d6 in AGE, d100 in Eclipse Phase or differently the d100 in Marvel, and other kinds of systems.

For mechanics who has the best?

Wow, this question is still getting asked??

5e. Need a reason? Google-fu reviews and you'll see why.

 

[overgeeked]

Do you want to emulate TV shows in general? Primetime Adventures is the best game.

Do you want to emulate Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Files, and the like? Monster of the Week is the best game.

Do you want to do freewheeling adventure fantasy? Dungeon World is the best game.

Do you want to do superheroes? Then either M&M, MSH (FASERIP), or MHR are the best games. (And I say that despite MHR getting one fundamental aspect of superheroes dead wrong.)

Do you want to do Cthulhu? Cthulhu Dark or Trail of Cthulhu are the best games.

Do you want to...

I disagree with the poster above's complaints against rules-light games. I think some of them are far superior to the clunky tomes of the '80s and '90s. Give me a slick, well-focused game system any day. Or better yet, give me a slick, rules-light generic system that's no more than say 50 pages in total and I'm a happy guy. The shorter the better.

Sorry, but d20 doesn't do much well at all, other than either making the dice matter more than the character (low modifiers to the roll) or making the dice irrelevant to the game (high modifiers to the roll).

 

[Umbran]

What has been suggested by some other responses, I will make more clear:

Whenever you ask, "Which is the best X?" there is an implicit extension, "at doing Y." A game that's good at high fantasy will probably be bad at doing gritty science fiction, for example. And neither of those will do Saturday Morning Cartoons well. The question requires that we know, in some detail, what you want to get out of the system.

Now, the OP does touch on this: Theater of the Mind and robust balance are called for. But we don't know the genre or style beyond that, so we can't usefully answer the question.

 

[nomotog]

The apocalypse world system (from apocalypse world, monster hearts, dungeon world, ect.) is rather neat. The roll mechanic where you can succeed/fail with different modifiers gives a lot of results to each action outside of pass fail. Then the character sheets just drip flavor and choices right on the sheet no looking up in the book. If I understood it, then it would be my favorite system.

 

[Tony Vargas]

As far as Tony Vargas' claim that the "best" system has to be universal......I don't know how I feel about that.

I hope I made it clear that I was talking about a specific, personal, definition of 'best,' for the sake of trying to answer the question.

The reasoning is on several levels: for one, a universal system can always be compared to another system, it can't hide behind "that's not what I do." For another, you only have to adopt one 'best' system if it's universal.

But, mainly, I just find the concept of a universal system appealing, much like a Grand Unified Theory in physics.

I think you could argue that the best RPG is one that accomplishes what it sets out to do the best.

What about the RPG that sets out to be the worst RPG possible and succeeds? ;P

If rules-heavy systems don't give you a game experience you like, claiming that something like GURPS is the world's greatest system isn't going to resonate.

I'd draw a distinction between 'best' and 'most popular.' Even between 'best' and 'most fun.' Put those two together and it puts the importance of theoretically 'best system' in perspective. It's really virtually moot which game is 'best,' it's interesting to think about and analyze, but there are so many subjective factors that affect the play experience in a TTRPG, that even if you could isolate the 'best system,' it wouldn't guarantee anyone would buy it or enjoy playing it.

...

And, in the context of this thread, another reason to consider universal systems:

But we don't know the genre or style beyond that, so we can't usefully answer the question.

Or, you can factor genre out by considering universal systems.

 

[Umbran]

Or, you can factor genre out by considering universal systems.

But "universal" is itself genre of game. Imagine that the OP asked, which tool is best, and you answered "Swiss Army Knife". In order to be what it is, the Swiss Army Knife must make many design choices and compromises that impact its character. The Swiss Army Knife's screwdriver will never be as good as a full stand alone screwdriver, for example.

 

[Celebrim]

Morrus has the right of it.

There are people who will swear up and down that this system or the other is the best system, and for every such person championing any such system, there is always someone for whom the system is as unpleasant as a bit of vomit retched up in to the back of their throat.

 

[Zinnger]

I agree that there is no "correct" answer for this other than a person's opinion of what that person wants. I have played RPG's for over 30 years and find that there are some things I love and some I hate in each system. I loved playing Dragonquest before TSR bought them out. It was a d100 system that allowed each character to do whatever you wanted as you bought skills or magic improvements with xps as if it were money. But overall, I really enjoy the 5e system better than any of the other D&D systems and I started with 1st ed in the '70's. Again, this is my personal choice and others will agree or disagree based on what type of game mechanics they want to play.

 

[pemerton]

Which gaming system has the best mechanics and why?

What are you hoping to achieve with the game?

My preferred heroic/epic/gonzo fantasy system is 4e.

My preferred gritty/sword-and-sorcery system is Burning Wheel.

If I was into supers, I'd use Marvel Heroic RP.

If I wanted a light-ish, free-descriptor system like FATE et al, I think I'd either use HeroQuest revised or the Story Engine from Maelstrom Storytelling.

 

[GMMichael]

"lets pretend" has been the best system for a millennium

although the resolution system of "You're dead - no I'm not!" is a bit messy and usually breaks down to "I'm gonna tell my mum"

Dangit! I was gonna say LARP. Then, more seriously, echo Morrus: WOIN is the best system of all. (Although I hope NOW and Spectre (film) come out at the same time...)

Maybe it's easier to say which systems aren't the best?

I don't like GURPS. Tables.
Nor Vampire the Masquerade. Too Twilight-y.
Dark Heresy? I don't like d100 systems because I don't think outcome resolution requires that much granularity. Some games run just fine on only d6s...
Any games with non-standard dice: nope. I don't want to cancel my game because the dog ate a d-Murphy.

I guess that just leaves Munchkin.