Roleplay systems.

[D'hui]

Good Morning.
I was just wondering what roleplay systems people use because I can't decide which ones to use.  Have you got any suggestions for really good ones?  I belong to a Warhammer Fantasy roleplay club but it's out of print and very difficult to find resources.

[CaptainPenguin]

Usually, I use homebrew.
I also sometimes use the various White Wolf systems (Exalted, Vampire, Werewolf)

[Ylorea]

I use D&D, however I have found one important thing now that I have been introduced to Amber as well. The best roleplay system does not exist.

Some people may prefer ODM (Het Oog Des Meesters) which is a german system originaly known as DSA. Others may prefer whitewolf systems like the Captain (I must say I liked his other subscript better as his new one)

I happen to prefer D&D oh, yes for your information version 3.0, not 3.5 as .... no lets not go there. I personaly do not like AD&D at all.

So which system is best: I don't know. I ques it all depends on what you expect a system to do for you. Some may feel a system should be intuitive, others argue it should be a good approximation of reality.

It all depends on what you prefer.

If availablity is one of the reasons for starting to play a system.... I'd say go to your local gameshop and see what they have on stock. Also ask them what is easy to order for them.

Yours,

Ylorea

[MoonHunter]

Good Morning.
I was just wondering what roleplay systems people use because I can't decide which ones to use.  Have you got any suggestions for really good ones?  I belong to a Warhammer Fantasy roleplay club but it's out of print and very difficult to find resources.

If you want to keep your campaign going you have three viable options.

First, just keep using the game you are using now.  Why shift to something new just because it is out of print.  The game engine you are using is still as good today as it was when it came out.  Sure there is no new source material for the world, but that is what GMs are for... to create storylines for their players to play out.  I am running a campaign that has been running for nearly 20 years using the original game system, even though the game has been out of print for nearly 12 years now. (I love Stalking the Night Fantastic/ Bureau 13).  

I recomend Ebay and a lot of photocopying to keep things together. You can create mini-booklets of photocopies which have all the core lists and charts for you. These mini-books, being bound photocopies, take the brunt of the day to day play wear; keeping your main books in better condition as you only have to refer to them in special circumstances.

Secondly, I would recomend GURPS for you.  If you can play WarHammer, you can easily play GURPs. It is actually a beter system than the one you are using.  In addition you can casually convert your existing campaign over to GURPs without too much effort.  Gurps will be supported forever, even is SJ Games was blown off the face of the Earth by a huge meteor, due to its huge fan base.

There is a third option: Savage Worlds Rpg Master Rules. It is both a miniatures and  rpg game.  The system can be a bit wonky (and that is a technical term), but it might be something your group can be comfortable with.  You can salvage your existing campaings or create new ones.  

Remember, just because a game does not have new source material does not mean you can't create your own. In fact, it is easier to do that with out of print games, because no new products will come out and "erase" what you have done out of continuity.

[Ancient Gamer]

Me; I use homebrew just like the good captain.

And I follow MoonHunters advice; I steal shamelessly from all those RPGs I have played and from fantasy authors too.

Then I shake it all together and spice it up with my own imagination.

I have actually not bought a RPG book in a decade and not read one in 7 years(or something). It is good to be free from the restraints of a publishing house.

I like the warhammer setting by the way... Chaos vs. Law. Mad summoners and Chaos Beastmen.. T'is more fun than the standard "court intrigue and the king's servant" settings methinks  

[Pirate Penguin]

I like the D10 system from Exalted.

[Iain]

When GMing I use my own system, for the main reason that for me, creating the system is as much fun (possibly more) than the actual GMing. I actually started GMing because I'd written a system and wanted to use it, rather than the other way round. As well as the fun in designing the system (I love the way new ideas keep coming to me in play which I can then create modules with, and the tweaking and altering of new rules after a play session when things turn out to be not quite balanced) I like using my own because it means things can be just the way you want them to - you'll never find another system that suits you as well as the one you make yourself. A side benefit is the elimination of rules lawyers.

Having said this, I agree with Ylorea - most systems are good and I'd be happy playing with most I've come across (though I don't have any experience of these as a GM). I'm currently playing in a game which is AD&D 3.5 edition which I'm enjoying a lot, mainly because it's a good group and the GM who's running it is excellent. These are the factors that make an enjoyable game for the players, not which system is used.

[D'hui]

What is "homebrew"? (Forgive my blatant stupidity).
I have written my own system based on a computer game, but it's not very roleplay-y unless you play it in a suitable fashion.

[MoonHunter]

Homebrew came to the gaming lexicon early on from our friends in the SCA who were brewers (as it was told to me).  

In short, you take the basic components provided in a brew recipe and add your own touches by adding/ deleting ingredients or altering the proportions slightly. So a brewer can either do massbrew, recipe-it, or homebrew.  

Now extend this to gamng.
Massbrews are the published game settings with no deviations.

Recipe things are combining the raw elements presented and generating something pretty much like everyone else.

Homebrew is do it yourself. In the begining, you would take an existing world (like the DnD standard) or game (AD&D was the normal system of choice at the time) and change things around enough to make it your own, your own homebrewed world or game.  The phrase has been extended to those who are making their own unique games or world.  

<rant/>
Can I just say I have a total loathing for the term Homebrew. I feel it cheapens the efforts of people who go to the effort to make their own game materials.  It allows you to disreguard it with distain by a simple "oh it is some homebrew". After all, it is not OFFICIAL or PUBLISHED material, so it must be crap. Yet, we all know some of the best game worlds and systems we have encountered were made by gamers we have met, not publishers.

I could go on by I am shutting up now.  
</rant>

[CaptainPenguin]

Would any of you like me post my (really bad, mish-mash, cobbled-together) original, by Penguins for Penguins, Super Awesome Mega Sword-Chucks Gaming System?

[manfred]

Uhh, not really, we don't do any game systems here.

*someone whispers from afar "But you did!"*

Oh...



...then, why not!

If there is enough Penguinish inside, I will gladly take a look!

[D'hui]

Will non-penguins understand it?  I'm not about to change species now - I've just got used to pointy ears (so useful for keeping apples away from thieves - or pies for that matter, but the gravy dribbles).

[Michael Jotne Slayer]

Homebrew is nice, as loong as it is good quality homebrew.
I would say that your first homebrew never reaches the standard.
Go for your third one or something, that is if you do not update it as gain exp in the art of homebrew making.

[SleeperCell]

I'll agree with Moonhunter on the GURPS idea.

It's the perfect place to start with plenty of options. I used GURPS for years and it can also be customized to your liking if you wanted to "homebrew" the system.

I would also love to see CaptainPenguin's gaming system....

[Ria Hawk]

Ditto on seeing Cap's system.

At the moment, I'm using my own freakish mix of random bits of the d20 system: the basic core of D&D 3/3.5, mana rules from EverQuest d20, and a good deal of Cthulhu Mythos from CoC d20.

In the end, there is only one hard and fast rule of using any particular game system: Do what works.

[Dragon Lord]

On the hole I aggree - use whichever system best fits your approach to gameing and/or views on how a universe should operate.

Personally I tend to use RuneQuest (now saddly out of print) but I also like GURPS and the original Star Wars d6 system, mainly because I prefer skill-based rather than level-based character advancement (it seems a bit more realistic to me).

Also I have recently been experimenting with FUDGE, a free system from Grey Ghost Games (you can download it from their web site). This removes numbers from the system all-togther - character skills and abilities are rated using keywords instead of numbers (e.g. Sword Good, Health Great, Spell Casting Poor, etc). It sounds confuseing at first but actually works surprisingly well.

A word of warning through, FUDGE less of a system and more of an umbrella mechanism for defining your system, so you will have to do a lot of work before you start. On the other hand, with a little thought you will end up with (almost) the ideal system for your needs (note: this does NOT in any way imply an absolute ideal system).