Game WISH 81: My Favourite System

Game WISH 81 asks:

What�s your favorite game system, and why? What things don�t you like about it? How much do you have to "jigger" it from published rules and why?

I don't have a single game system, but I can narrow things down to two systems, utterly unlike one another in some ways, and very similar in others. As a GM I'm very much a worldbuilder, and want to mix and match elements to create an original game setting rather than 'playing in someone else's sandbox'. Therefore I don't care so much for systems with their own settings, especially those where the game mechanics and the basic cosmology of the setting are intimately intertwined; DnD's alignment system being a typical example.

And the favourite game systems? First, GURPS. While it's not quite as universal as the "U" in its name applies, it's a very flexible system with a tremendous depth of support for a huge variety of genres and settings, as my several shelf feet of GURPS books demonstrate. The only genres it doesn't comfortably handle are very high powered ones such as four-colour superheroes, a genre I don't really care for anyway (Am I the only gamer that really doesn't "get" supers?). GURPS isn't perfect, while the core game engine is very good, it's accumulated a lot of cruft from various supplements over the years, and badly needs a fourth edition to clean it up again. The other problem it has is that some people have the idea you have to use every possible optional rule, which to me is less of a problem with the system itself, rather a problem with some of the players. Although the point-based character generation system can be quite complex and intimidating to new players, I find the actual gameplay can be much simpler and faster than games like ADnD, especially if you don't use the (optional!) advanced combat rules. As for 'jiggering with the rules', I find the main thing is deciding which optional rules and subsystems to use, and which ones not to use; for my Kalyr game I've also come up with a few setting-specific skills. One change I have made is to use the official optional to make hit points dependant on ST, and fatigue dependant on HT, rather than the other way round.

The other favourite game has to be Fudge. While GURPS is a detailed system with rules for just about everything, Fudge is more freeform. In fact the heart of the system is simply the seven-level scale for skills and attributes (Terrible - Poor - Mediocre - Fair - Good - Great - Superb), and the dice mechanic of 4dF. A dF being a six sided die with two plusses, two minuses and two blank faces. There isn't even a standard list of attributes or skills, instead GMs are encouraged to define their own lists appropriate to the genre and setting. It makes a wonderful game for rules tinkerers, but it's also a joy to GM, since most of the time you can just wing it rather than have to look up obscure rules from a 700 page rulebook. In fact, when GM Fudge face-to-face I've never, ever, had to refer to the rulebook during play, something I can't say for GURPS.

Of the online games I play or GM, two are Fudge, one is GURPS, and the fourth is systemless. While I'm prepared to play a great variety of systems, I'm unlikely to GM any system other than those two.