Favorite Game System. I will cheat a bit again. I will not pick one game system but a a type of Game systems. I am a fan of a good core system. When done well it gives you the ability to run a game in any backdrop with a familiar set of rules to run by. A great case in point would be the D20 system.. While not the perfect core system by any stretch of the word. For some reason it took the world by storm. And from it spawned an endless number of game settings based around its rule set. And I have always been a fan of this model of game mechanics. It gives the GM more wiggle room to run the story they way he sees fit. So With that I will give you my personal top five Game Systems that do this the best.
5. G.U.R.P.S. Generic Universal Role Playing System.
This old cult game is as good as they come but there are so many books that they have stacked up beyond the rafters that there is just too much content anymore. By the sheer Irony that over the years they have put out so many amazing supplements instead of GURPS being a Generic game.. it turns into a Insane collectors drive “catch them all” and get each and every book in the system. Sadly the fact is you really only need the core book and one or two other main books.. But once you sink your teeth into this beast you quickly become a crack fiend for the rest of the line. Its a good base set of rules. And their followers are dire hard lovers of the game.
4. D20 System.
Like it, Love it or hate it .. You have to admit. The D20 System was one of the most sweeping Game systems to hit the market of all time. It spawned numerous well established game company’s to do entire rewrites of their own games to produce D20 versions of their game. And do this day one of the biggest RPG’s on the block is sill running off the D20 OGL.. Pathfinder. So why #4… Only because for as successful as D20 has been.. the remaining four just did it better.
As a point another note that Pushed D20 over GURPS is the new Trend of SRD for game settings.. Making things quicker and easier.. and darn it I just like it more.
http://www.d20srd.org/ For all things Fantasy
http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/modern/smack/srdhome.html And Modern
#3 D6 System’s GDW
Open D6 is wonderful. This my be because I am such a fan of GDW D6 Star wars but as a whole I have always found that D6 is like sitting down with an old friend. I can run it with my eyes closed. The rules are basic and just make sense. And as an Open D6 Setting it plugs in Fine with Pulp Adventure, Fantasy, or Space games.
#2 Savage Worlds
Savage worlds swept caught fire in the last few years and it can be found everywhere. It is a good system that you can plug in any game setting in the blink of an eye. If it has any weakens it would be its magic rules. But It is a solid game none the less and you can run anything you can think of with this one book.. Also they have a HUGE community that has made free setting material for everything from Dragon Age to Halo or Mass Effect. If there is a flavor of game you want. Its probably had a few ideas penned down in the Savage Pedia.
https://www.peginc.com/product-category/savage-worlds/
#1 FATE.
This has become the new go to system for many people.. With the simple FUDGE dice system and its super creative use of Aspects. Its hard not to like what this game offers. Because with a little big of work FATE can be anything.
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