IP's that ought to have their own RPGs

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
At that point you're just making stuff up.

The thing is, from experience there's always a ton more content in-hand at the licensor's end than the public ends up seeing. There are story bibles, concept outlines, cutting room floor stuff, plans for other games or DLC, and more. HZD and Anthem both have a ton of that, and the trick is to spin out games that allow players and GMs to build on what they love about the properties rather than force them to tell the same story over and over.
 
I know there already exists Privateers and Gentlemen, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with the novels aside from sharing an author. It also seemed a bit more focussed on tactical naval battles than roleplaying in the setting in which those battles took place. Additionally, the only edition you can get in print now is a very bad scan of the original from Fantasy Games Unlimited. So why not recruit the creator or get his blessing to make a new game of 18th century nautical adventure?
20190512_212303.jpg
 
Last edited:
Flesh these out with a little additional material from Arabian Nights' Entertainments, good maps and sailing rules, fun sword fight rules, and some basic cultural detail of the Islamic fantasy world setting, and you've got a winner.
1cMm9jjoBs2C8euVvrvKCofLfC6.jpg
Golden-Voyage-of-Sinbad-1973-poster-433x650.jpg
simbad_tigre.jpg
 
Naruto
Grand Theft Auto (Red Dead Redemption could be a historical spin-off)
The Sopranos
Army Men
Urotsukidoji
Ghost In The Shell (Both Stand Alone Complex and the manga)
Koei's Warriors series (Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi, etc.)
Mortal Kombat
The Elder Scrolls
Hellsing
 
I assume someone already mentioned G.I. Joe upthread and I missed it. Obviously based on the Marvel comic books rather than the cartoons. I'd probably borrow a lot of the combat and skill rules from Victory Games' James Bond 007 (which really should just be updated for modern technology and reissued nearly as-is) and a lifepath system akin to Traveller and FASA Star Trek so you start your Joe (the game's term for player characters, of course!) with what military branch he came out of and maybe where he served prior to joining the super-elite G.I. Joe special ops force. I'd have three books in the box: one for players (including write-ups for a good number of Joes), one for the referee (including stats and setting info on Cobra and some additional ideas for non-Cobra missions and enemies), and a starting mission for the new Joe unit to undertake.
latest-1.jpglatest-2.jpg670487.jpgcomic-book---marvel-comics---gijoe--062-p-image-262956-grande.jpgcomic-book---marvel-comics---gijoe--061-p-image-262957-grande.jpggi-joe-comic-22.jpg
We'll also produce an overseas-market edition called Action Force, which will have the added benefit of making collectors buy the game twice. :hehe:
latest.jpgactionforce1.jpg
 
At that point you're just making stuff up.

I mean, isn't that what every IP is? Made up stuff? I mean, anything you put in a licensed game is going to get checked by the license holders anyway.

Also, HZD would be an awesome setting, and is an amazing video game. Anthem is also a really cool setting (too bad the game needed about a year more of baking).
 
Just to be a drag, my vote is 'none!'. Play all those settings, joyously and in good health. But for god's sake let's leave out the new systems. I feel like our hobby is drowning in new systems, and the biggest favor you can do the world is to use an existing one for whatever campaign has you fired up.

Personally I disagree because even with all the systems out there, I find there are STILL games and genres that I can't find a perfect fit for how I want it done. More options is always better.

Blades in the Dark has a different feel from Black Hack has a different feel from Savage Worlds has a different feel from Cortex has a different feel from Silhouette and all those different feels create something unique.

The worst thing that could happen to RPGs in my opinion is the return of something like the d20 era where every single game was built on the samed damn core system whether it made sense or not.
 
I'm surprised not to see mention of Thundarr the Barbarian or Adventure Time.

I'd be a sucker for My Hero Academia or One Punch Man. Or for something slightly older and more obscure, Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still.
 
The thing is, from experience there's always a ton more content in-hand at the licensor's end than the public ends up seeing. There are story bibles, concept outlines, cutting room floor stuff, plans for other games or DLC, and more. HZD and Anthem both have a ton of that, and the trick is to spin out games that allow players and GMs to build on what they love about the properties rather than force them to tell the same story over and over.
That's not making things up, though. That's just having more information than everyone else to build upon. Not a bad thing, quite opposite in my opinion.
That's what West End Games did with Star Wars. Worked out better than anything Lucasfilm or Disney came up with later.
Ah, but here's where you touch on the important thing: Information. WEG had the basics of the setting, how travel works, how the force works, examples of how things are, both politically and technologically.
I mean, isn't that what every IP is? Made up stuff? I mean, anything you put in a licensed game is going to get checked by the license holders anyway.
Not entirely. One thing a setting bible (even one that the rest of the audience never sees) creates is a box. Now, a lot of people always go on about 'thinking outside the box', but the box itself is what allows a setting to have the one thing we humans like in our stories:

Consistency. Rules about how things work, it doesn't have to be realistic, just plausible. But rules as to hang our ideas and stories on and expand out from.

Because without that 'box' you end up with situations like the current Star Wars sequel trilogy, wherein key elements of the setting are completely different than how they were portrayed before. Like the oft self-mentioned Hyperspace travel. JJ Abrams didn't bother doing due diligence on the lore before turning it into another form of light speed travel from a previous franchise his' production studio (Bad Robot, along with their new subsidiary, Secret Hideout) have the rights to, Star Trek. Both methods are very different, which creates a conflict in how things work in the world.

Imagine if you would, that suddenly, your car could fly because it uses Gasoline. Wouldn't you question what happened, why your Ford Escort suddenly buzzes the seagulls and flight towers of the world? And wouldn't consequences of such an ability send ripples around our world? Like suddenly, being able to send a small cruiser crashing into and destroying most of a fleet of much larger ships using a method that no one was able to?

Consistency within the setting keeps your players from questioning and arguing why a certain thing happens, and allows them to focus on what to do within the game.

My two cents.
 
So, obviously there's a TON of IP properties where I would jump on an official RPG just because I sadly retain a collector's impulse, as much as I've tried to let that go. There's still a few things that are instant buys for me. I would really love an Overlord RPG, which is likely to be a system that I have no interest in (I'm just not the target audience for the majority of current trends in the industry ), but I would still be chuffed because it was the intersection of a hobby I love with an IP I immensely enjoy (despite it admittedly being a ridiculous power fantasy with a fair share of fan service and an anime adaption with very low production values).

But that list would be long and pointless. So intead here's a few specific IPs whose concepts I think would translate perfectly to an RPG:

First however, here is a list of IPs that had RPGs at one point, but I think should recieve a modern edition: Hellboy (obviously),Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Masters of the Universe, Farscape, Ghostbusters, Buffy/Angel Whedonverse. and Dallas (just because of the system, I've never even seen an episode of the show).

Galaxy High

Teenagers From Outer Space was sort of the unofficial RPG of this highly under-rated 80s cartoon. The premise of Galaxy High is that a peaceful co-federation of Aliens decided to invite Earth to participate in a cross-species attempt to foster a universal society by having two adolescent-equivalents from every "peaceful" sentient species attend a school in space together (and wow, yes the 80's was a much more optimistic time). In the case of the cartoon it's two high school students representing Earth. Doyle, the star and also sort of foil of the show, who is basically a "dumb jock", and Amy, a bookish nerdy girl, but the kind of "hot librarian" type - Velma in the Scooby Doo movies as opposed to Thelma in the Hanna-Barbara cartoons. The show was all about Doyle growing out of that stereotype and becoming the sort of sensitive guy who valued learning and intelligence. Or maybe that was just Amy's Machiavellian plan to shape Doyle into the sort of man she wanted to marry. I never quite trusted her, because she was the willing participant and even initiator of most of the "learning lessons" (read: pranks) Doyle was subjected to each week. Anyways, I digress.

So why would this make a good RPG?
The very premise of an intergalactic high school that could feature any sort of alien one could imagine, along with humans stuck in the middle, is a great set-up for gaming. You've got the usual high school drama (a goldmine for role-playing that I'm genuinely surprised has seemed largely ignored by the hobby with a few indy and foreign exceptions- and TFOS), you've got space exploration (quite a few episodes featured Doyle encountering hostile xenospecies on nearby planets), you've got intergalactic politics, I have, in the few times I've gotten the right group together, ran some epic, thoroughly entertaining and surprising games of TFOS as Galaxy High. You get the right group dynamic for this one, and it is a party.

GI Joe
Specifically, of course, the Larry Hama iteration.

So why would this make a good RPG?
A premise that allows outlandish concepts but still within this structured framework that provides the perfect set-up for mission-based adventures. GI Joe deserves a system that caters to it, capturing that wonderful mix of realistic para-military action with over-the-top superscience and villainy. It's like if James Bond was an organization, and Spectre was run by supervillains (actually it kind of is already, thinking about it, but these guys have a Snake theme!). I think D6 might handle it well, circa WEG's first edition Star Wars (credit where credit's due, I think Endless first suggested a D6 GI Joe adaption many threads ago). Though, as Dumarest mentions upthread, Victory Game's 007 RPG system would be an easy fit as well.

The Venture Bros
I'm so behind this being a thing, I wrote my own..

Venture Bros RPG


Being a hack of Phillipe Tromeur's wondurful Wuthering Heights RPG, an English translation of the French role-playing game Rene le jeu de role romantique
Picture


"This show... If you'll permit me to get 'big picture,' This show is actually all about failure. Even in the design, everything is supposed to be kinda the death of the space-age dream world. The death of the jet-age promises." -Jackson Public

CHARACTER CREATION

Qualities


Throw two 10-sided dice and add 39 to obtain your amount of Rage.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 39 to obtain your amount of Angst.
Throw three 10-sided dice and add 10 to obtain your amount of Oldness.
Throw two 10-sided dice and add 20 to obtain your amount of Batman.

Traits

Throw one 10-sided die and divide by two (rounding up);this is how many Traits you have. Determine each Trait by throwing a d100 and referencing to the Traits Table. If you roll the same Trait twice, you should either double the effect, or roll another. You may refuse a Trait ; each time you do that, you must roll 2 Traits in its stead.

Choose a Name and you are ready to start playing.
Picture


TRAIT TABLE
01 - you are a "pedestrian". (add 10 to Oldness and Age)
02 - you are a clone. (remove 10 from Oldness and Age)
03 . - your parents are dead.(add 10 to Angst and Batman)
04 - you are an invalid.(add 10 to Angst and Rage)
05 - you have a physical deformity.(add 10 to Angst)
06 - you are hard-of-hearing. (add 10 to Oldness)
07 - you have bad eyesight. (add 10 to Oldness)
08 - you are mute. (remove 10 from Angst)
09 - you have a cybernetic limb. (add 10 to Batman)
10 - you are or were a rock star(remove 10 from Angst)
11 - you are a damn, dirty hippy. (remove 10 from Rage)
12 - you are an ego-maniac. (remove 10 from Batman)
13 - you are bi-sexual. (add 10 to Angst)
14 - you have huge tracts of land. (remove 10 from Rage)
15 - you are a transvestite. (add 10 to Angst)
15 - you are a technophiliac. (remove 10 from Oldness)
16 - you are a necrophiliac. (add 10 to Oldness)
17 - you are in love with someone from your family. (add 10 to Angst)
18-19 - you are a foreigner. (remove 10 from Angst)
20-21 - you are a fugitive. (add 10 to Angst and Batman)
22-23 - you have a secret identity.(add 10 to Batman)
24-25 - you are naive. (remove 10 from Rage)
26-27 - you are a goth.(add 10 to Angst)
28-29 - you are a slacker.(remove 10 from Angst)
30-33 - you are a geek. (remove 10 from Batman)
34-35 - you have an arch-enemy. (add 10 to Batman)
36-37 - you are completely insane. (remove 10 from Angst)
38-39 - you are gender diverse (add 10 to Angst)
40-41 - you smoke.(12 hours a day)
42 - you are a magic user. (4 hours a day)
43 - you gamble.(2 hours a day)
44 - you are a Christian.(2 hours a day and Sundays)
45-46 - you are an alcoholic.(5 bottles a day)
47 - you are a drug addict.(1 hour a day)
48 - you are a sex addict. (once a day)
49 - you are unhealthy (double Oldness but not Age)
50-51 - you are old. (double your Oldness and Age)
52-53 - you are young (half your Oldness and Age)
54-55 - you are bald. (add 10 to Oldness and Rage)
56-57 - you are fat. (add 10 to Angst)
58-59 - you are thin. (add 10 to Angst)
60-61 - you are small. (add 10 to Angst)
62-63 - you are ugly. (Hideously so, not "Hollywood Ugly")
64-65 - you are a bad dresser. (remove 10 from Rage)
66-67 - you are obsessed with the occult. (remove 10 from Rage)
68-69 - you are obsessed with revenge. (add 10 to Rage)
70-71 - you are in love with your boss's wife. (add 10 to Angst)
72-73 - you are evil. (remove 10 from Batman)
74 - you are an albino (without a big sword)
75 - you have a licence to kill (add 10 to Rage)
76 - you read comic books.(add 10 to Batman)
77 - you are or were a superhero.(add 10 to Batman)
78 - you are a robot. (add 10 to Batman and Oldness but not Age).
79 - you are or were a costumed miscreant.(remove 10 from Batman)
80 - you are or were an assassin. (add 10 to Rage)
81 - you are or were a quiz boy.(add 10 to Angst)
82 - you have an evil twin. (add 10 to Angst)
83 - you are or were a bodyguard.(add 10 to Batman)
84 -you are or were a ninja. (add 10 to Batman)
85 - you are or were a detective.(add 10 to Batman)
86-87 - you are or were a henchman (remove 10 from Rage and Batman)
88-89 - you are or were a super-villain (add 10 to Rage)
90-93 - you are or were a boy adventurer
(remove 10 from Oldness and Age or add 10 to Angst)
95-97 - you are or were a super-scientist (add 10 to Oldness and Age)
98 - make up your own Trait (remove 10 from Batman)
99 - you are or were a secret agent (add 10 to Batman)
00 - Mecha-Shiva!Mecha-Shiva! (add 10 to Batman, Halve your Angst)

Picture


SYSTEM

"It's about the beauty of failure. It's about that failure happens to all of us...Every character is not only flawed, but sucks at what they do, and is beautiful at it and Jackson and I suck at what we do, and we try to be beautiful at it, and failure is how you get by." "It shows that failure's funny, and it's beautiful and it's life, and it's okay, and it's all we can write because we are big fucking failures." - Doc Hammer

Basic Rule

You hay two ways to Check a Quality: roll above it or roll below. If the roll equals your Quality, it's a Fumble.

Rage Checks
A violent action requires the character should roll below one's Rage. To refrain from reacting too violently, one should roll above Rage.

Angst Checks
To make an important decision the character should roll above Angst. To be honest, one should roll under Angst.

Oldness Checks
To test a character's wisdom, one should roll below Oldness. To test a character's physical well-being, one should surpass Oldness.

Batman Checks
If a character wants to do something that benefits another but not themselves, the character should roll below their Batman.To screw over another for personal gain, one should roll above Batman.
Picture




Fight!
Both characters should roll below their Rage.
Should one succeed and the other fail, the latter gets a Wound (see below)
Should both succeed, both lose 1 Rage point and the fight keeps on, if both would agree.
Should both fail, they stop the fight and become friends, or something like that.
Whatever the other's result, a Fumble shall give you a Wound.
If both Fumble, both are Wounded.

If a character is fighting for the benefit of another, they may substitute Batman for Rage during a fight.
Picture


WOUNDS

A Wounded character should roll above their Oldness. The die roll is modified by the kind of weapon:
punch (or a 2 meter fall) d100 + 20
knife, stick (or a 5 meter fall) d100 + 10
sword, pistol (or a 10 meter fall) d100
rifle,ray gun (or a 20 meter fall) d100 - 10
cannon, laser (or a 50 meter fall) d100 - 20

A failure means the character is Dying.
A fumble means Death, after the death speech, of course.

DYING

A Dying character must try to roll above their Oldness every night. Two successive successful nights bring you back to life. Two successive failures kill you. The roll is modified by +25 if the character is in a hospital bed.

Picture


Suicide
Once Angst reaches 90 or above, a character will try to Murder themselves. To commit suicide, a character must roll above Batman. If one fails, they lose 1d10 Rage.

Mania
If Angst reaches 10 or below, the character is happy and spends the days doing useless but funny things; afterwards gaining back 1d10 Angst.

Madness
If Rage ever reaches 90 or above, the character must try a very risky task, after which losing d10 Rage.

Zen
If Rage ever drops to 10 or below, the character loses all energy and must spend the day reading, meditating, dreaming...afterwards gaining back 1d10 Rage.

Delusion
If Batman ever reaches 90 or above, the character is overwhelmed with love for their fellow man, and must commit one completely ludicrous and selfless act...afterwards losing 1d10 Batman.

Tantrum
If Batman ever drops to 10 or below, the character becomes mired in selfish desires, and will throw a fit if they don't get their way, afterwords gaining 1d10 Batman.

Emotional Shocks
During a Tragedy (an 'adventure'), characters will go up and down Rage, Angst and Batman scales.
A strong shock (death of a friend ...) will make you gain / lose d10 points in Rage, Angst or Batman. An important event (love success / failure, death of someone ...) make you gain / lose d10/2 points.
Some events / situations may make you gain / lose 1 point (good / bad weather, small success / failure ...).

Aging
Every Christmas, the Persona must roll above his Oldness ; a failure means he shall be Dying d10 x d10 days later.
A Fumble means a heart attack (death).
Every September 12th, the Persona has 10% chance of gaining a new Problem.
Picture


GHOSTS
If a character dies before the end of a Tragedy, he might become a Ghost, 2d10 minutes of gameplay later. A Ghost may act on the physical world by rolling below their Rage and losing d10 points of Rage after that. A Ghost may appear and speak to one other character by rolling below their Angst and losing d10 points of Angst after that.Ghosts can fly slowly, but can't go through solid objects. They disappear when their Rage or Angst reaches 10 or below, or at the end of the Adventure. They never gain Rage or Angst.
Picture


Rewards / Evolution
Should some persona survive an Episode (a gaming session), give one of them the possibility to lose a Problem.
If a persona's Rage, Angst, or Batman is greater than 55, they lose d10 points.
If a persona's Rage, Angst, or Batman is less than 45, they gain d10 points.
Add 1d10/2 to your Oldness (1d10/2 years pass).
 
Last edited:
Captain Future, the pulps and the anime series, use anime artwork.

5d841a03013ad4e6d033467729af01d3.gif
giphy.gif


A Tarzan RPG would be awesome. Just use a serviceable medium-light traditional pulp adventure system that already exists. Include the comics as well.

A properly done B.P.R.D./Mignola-verse RPG, not GURPS Hellboy.

Shin Megami Tensei / Persona
 
I think JK Rowling's 'Wizarding World' is definately an IP with lots of potential +++. I know I could portray it quite well with Fate Accelerated, although if it used Fate it would have to be marketed almost as a separate line, the source material is so popular that it has its own identity It's probably one of the biggest IPs not to have an official rpg.

For other IPs which could make good rpg vehicles, I would suggest 'Stargate', 'The Librarians', China Mieville's 'Bas-Lug', and the comic series 'Fables'; all of these could provide countless scenarios for gameplay.
 
Last edited:
Yes, Venture Bros. is another obvious property. Everyone would want to play Brock, of course.
 
Good timing, I was just thinking about this last night.

I was never a huge comics fan, but I kind of got into indie comics, graphic novels and Heavy Metal magazine in the 80s.

Always thought Pepe Moreno's Rebel was a great post apocalypse / decaying civilization setting, armed / armored cars, corrupt politicians, private armies masquerading as police, gangs, freedom fighters etc. As it was a comic game art is pretty well done. Of course easy enough to do with a variety of existing systems, but an official game with great art would be nice to have.

Rebel Moreno.jpg
rebel 2.jpg
rebel 3.jpg
 
Another was Scout, by Timothy Truman. Another late collapse / post holocaust setting with sci-fi and supernatural additions.

The main character had the ability to see through the disguises of spirits who were harvesting humanity in various ways. He was on a mission to hunt them down. Allegedly there is a film adaption planned.

Scout 1.jpg

Scout-Owl-Man.jpg
 
Not really sure how it would work, but a Heavy Metal game could make for an interesting very stylized and funky multi-genre anthology thing.

heavy metal 1.jpg

Heavy Metal 2.jpg


heavy metal 3.jpg

and of course there were the film adaptions (the first much better at least in my opinion)

heavy metal 4.jpg
 
Yep, but it was d20, wasn't much cop, and never ended up dealing with Atlantis (or the later Universe). It's a shame the d6 version by Tynes got shelved.
I seem to remember a fan produced GURPS Stargate floating around at about the time Atlantis was on. Completely unofficial, but reasonably good is my memory of it.
 
Last edited:
The only reason Thundarr does not have an RPG, is the IP holders want too much money. I know of two people who've attempted to approach them on the subject. Hence why I don't bring up the heartbreak there...
 
The only reason Thundarr does not have an RPG, is the IP holders want too much money. I know of two people who've attempted to approach them on the subject. Hence why I don't bring up the heartbreak there...

I think that's often the case, I kinda assume most often because a lot of IP holders are used to multi-national, very lucrative licensing agreements for things like Action Figures, Video-Games, Apparel, etc., whereas the RPG industry doesn't even really touch those sorts of numbers.
 
Wow. It's amazing how many IP that I've never watched or read (or in some cases even heard of before) are out there that folks want to see developed into RPGs. :ooh: I figured there would be a small handful, but if you take suggestions from all of the posts it's probably 50 or more.
 
The only reason Thundarr does not have an RPG, is the IP holders want too much money. I know of two people who've attempted to approach them on the subject. Hence why I don't bring up the heartbreak there...

As George Carlin used to say: “People refuse to be realistic.” That IP is not worth that much. In 1982, sure. In 2019, no.
 
I loved both Scout and Scout War Shaman. Grimjack would work even better.

Back to videogames; Phantasy Star and another vote for Mass Effect.
 
I'd disagree. I think a far too common mistake in RPGs is to try and fit a setting or genre into an existing system rather than build the system to fit the setting or genre. That was endemic throughout the 80s.
I''ve always liked the way The Chaosium and also The Design Mechanism does things with their settings/games -- Use a core mechanic that is flexible and extensible, and then tailor it to whatever you're trying to accomplish (Classic Fantasy, Mythic Britain, RuneQuest, Luther Arkwright, et al.). Everything stays broadly compatible, which makes it easier to pull things apart and stuff them into other games, you're not having to relearn an entire system whenever you want to try a new setting/genre, but there's (hopefully) enough unique tweaks and twists to really capture the tone and feel of the thing you're trying to emulate.

At this point I feel like I need a brand new system like I need a hole in the head.

EDIT: to actually answer the question at hand ...

Lyonesse by Jack Vance is coming from TDM, so that covers my favorite fatasy series of all time. Other than that, I think I'm good; I'm just not that keen to play in other people's fictive worlds. I'll beg, borrow, and steal from anything, but having players correct me ad nauseum on "lore" when I tried to run a Forgotten Realms campaign when I was a teenager cured me of that particular impulse.
 
Last edited:
As a fan of Clark Ashton Smith it would be remiss of me not to bring up his settings like Averoigne and Zothique. I'd love to see something based on the Captain Volmar stories. Though that would probably be best addressed with a game based in pulp space adventure as imagined in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.
 
I was going to say Stargate SG-1 as well, then I remembered it did have an official RPG. I even owned it at one point, and forgotten all about it.

My impression is it was just too rules heavy for me to want to play. It basically seemed crunchy in all the wrong ways to me.

Along the same lines, I'd like to see an X-Com tabletop RPG, complete with grid based tactical combat.
 
Dark Souls
Bloodborne
Phantasy Star
Blame!
Kill Six Billion Demons
 
I thought Stargate was awfully close to Tri-Tacs Fringeworthy. Only saw the movie, never got into the series beyond a few episodes without any context to where they fit in.

Tri-Tac's Stalking the Night Fantastic could also easily be seen in TV shows like X-files, Warehouse 13, Special Unit 2 and many others that feature special agents investigating the supernatural.

Not that they were actually the inspiration for any of these. RPGs are a pretty niche thing and these are fairly obscure games within that niche, so the odds that the TV writers knew of them seems slim.

Fringeworthy
 
I''ve always liked the way The Chaosium and also The Design Mechanism does things with their settings/games -- Use a core mechanic that is flexible and extensible, and then tailor it to whatever you're trying to accomplish (Classic Fantasy, Mythic Britain, RuneQuest, Luther Arkwright, et al.). Everything stays broadly compatible, which makes it easier to pull things apart and stuff them into other games, you're not having to relearn an entire system whenever you want to try a new setting/genre, but there's (hopefully) enough unique tweaks and twists to really capture the tone and feel of the thing you're trying to emulate.

At this point I feel like I need a brand new system like I need a hole in the head.

EDIT: to actually answer the question at hand ...

Lyonesse by Jack Vance is coming from TDM, so that covers my favorite fatasy series of all time. Other than that, I think I'm good; I'm just not that keen to play in other people's fictive worlds. I'll beg, borrow, and steal from anything, but having players correct me ad nauseum on "lore" when I tried to run a Forgotten Realms campaign when I was a teenager cured me of that particular impulse.

I would add that it's pretty hard to outdo GURPS as a default system for most any campaign setting you want to develop.
 
I would add that it's pretty hard to outdo GURPS as a default system for most any campaign setting you want to develop.
It may work for you, but I wouldn't use GURPS to run anything. That is why variety is good, cause no system is one size fits all for gamers.

And if you want to run every setting in GURPS, surprise nothing stops you from doing that, even if other systems exist, so why would you want the variety to go away?
 
WEG had the basics of the setting, how travel works, how the force works, examples of how things are, both politically and technologically.
They had about six hours of movies that told us almost nothing about the very few planets we saw, and nothing at all of the few others mentioned by name. The movies didn't explain "how travel works" beyond "make the jump to hyperspace!" and "it's not like dusting crops." The movies explained nothing about "how the Force works." They showed us a few spaceships and laserguns, but certainly explained nothing about the technology. And there was no politics in any of the films aside from Empire = evil and Rebel Alliance = good. Whatever you're smoking, it must be good stuff.
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top