What games had the perfect Setting but the wrong System?

[lategamer]

(Yoinked from Reddit)

What game* settings out there fill you with inspiration but the system** leaves you cold? Where the possibilities of a game were just not met by the system.

for me it's

• Skyrealms of Jorune...
• Dark Sun...
• Living Steel...

*stick to game settings, not a wishlist of novels, movies, manga
**answers such as "Anything that's not Mythras are hard to engage with so be specific

 

[Moracai]

Oh so many... First that comes to mind is Scion, because I'm GMing it in a different system right now.

And you are so right about Dark Sun. It has pretty much nothing to do with D&D, but there it is.

 

[lategamer]

Oh so many... First that comes to mind is Scion, because I'm GMing it in a different system right now.

I enjoyed playing Scion but the whole progression thing seemed so mechanical for a narrative game. So yeah, I grok that.

And you are so right about Dark Sun. It has pretty much nothing to do with D&D, but there it is.

I'd like to play it again...but yanno....d&d...brrrr.

 

[NinjaWeasel]

Pretty much all of Palladium's original IP would fit here. At least Rifts got a Savage Worlds treatment. The Palladium system isn't as terrible as some people claim but there are definitely a LOT of better, more appropriate systems for them. For me their settings that most need a different system are:

Palladium Fantasy
The Mechanoids
Systems Failure

Other non-Palladium settings:

Demon the Fallen (the setting needs some tweaks but it's pretty good as it was, the system I'd go with would probably be based on Part-Time Gods of Fate)
Ravenloft (Pulp Cthulhu or Leagues of Adventure/Gothic Horror for this one)

 

[SpaceCadetElle]

Last Unicorn's Star Trek game is an invaluable (if non-canon) resource for the Trek universe. The system is hot garbage.

 

[Mankcam]

Settings, and what I would prefer to play them with:

Hyborian Age (Conan) - BRP Mythras
Dark Sun - BRP Mythras
Call of Cthulhu/Pulp Cthulhu - BRP Raiders of R'lyeh or Hack 100
Stormbringer - Black Sword Hack
Ravenloft - BRP Mythras
Glorantha - BRP Mythras (what should of been the most recent RuneQuest!)
7th Sea - Honor + Intrigue
50 Fathoms - Black Hack
John Carter of Mars - Hack 100 or Black Hack
Solomon Kane - BRP Mythras
The Day After Ragnarok - Black Hack or Hack 100 if want pulp; BRP Mythras if want gritty
Dolemwood - Shadowdark
World of Titan / Fighting Fantasy - Knave 2E

 

[sharps54]

Dark Sun - BRP/Mythras
Conan - BRP/Mythras
Call of Cthulhu/Pulp Cthulhu - BRP Raiders of R'lyeh or Hack 100
7th Sea - Honor + Intrigue
50 Fathoms - Black Hack
John Carter of Mars - Hack 100 or Black Hack
Solomon Kane - BRP/Mythras
The Day After Ragnarok - Black Hack or Hack 100 if want pulp; BRP Mythras if want gritty
Dolemwood - Shadowdark, Knave

Instead of answering the question I assume this is your wish list?

 

[sharps54]

Any cyberpunk game that doesn’t use the Cyberpunk 2020 incarnation of Interlock.

Any PbtA, BitD, YZE, 2d20, or Cypher system game. They will all be better off using a system like Palladium, Tri Tac, or possibly Barbarians of Lemuria.

Any western that isn’t Boot Hill or Aces & Eights.

Actually you could just use Risus to run everything and simplify your life. That is the best answer, spend time with your family instead of squabbling over rule systems.

Or maybe I just got up on the wrong side of the bed and need to go back to sleep.

 

[Mankcam]

Instead of answering the question I assume this is your wish list?

Misread intial question, but then went with the next logical step - what I'ld prefer to run them with
Rather than go back fix it up, I just kept it as an 'adjacent-answer' heh heh
It's the Pub after all

 

[sharps54]

Misread intial question, but then went with the next logical step - what I'ld prefer to run them with
Rather than go back fix it up, I just kept it as an 'adjacent-answer' heh heh
It's the Pub after all

Of course! I think it is probably a better way to answer anyway, at least you are trending toward the positive instead of just shitting on systems you don’t like.

We’ve had a lot of threads lately that are basically shit on systems threads

 

[Mankcam]

Yep here at the Pub we gotta keep the glasses half full, rather than half empty

 

[lategamer]

We’ve had a lot of threads lately that are basically shit on systems threads

Wrong doesn't mean bad.

We've all seen games produced with 5e-Derivatives that involve normal-ish people and thought "well, that's weird". 5e may not be to my taste but others like it. Similar, you kinda pooped on ...

Any PbtA, BitD, YZE, 2d20, or Cypher system game. They will all be better off using a system like Palladium, Tri Tac, or possibly Barbarians of Lemuria.

Which I presume is deliberate trolling? [Yup]

 

[sharps54]

Which I presume is deliberate trolling?

No, I will much rather play any of the systems Iisted over PbtA, BitD, YZE, 2d20 or Cypher.

 

[Sable Wyvern]

Pretty much all the 2e AD&D settings (I have argued here previously that the system works for Planescape, but I have recently found myself wavering on that position).

Both editions of A|State (the first one wasn't so much unsuitable, just very clunky, while the Forged in the Dark version limits the setting to a much too narrow subset of the original possibilities).

 

[lategamer]

Pretty much all the 2e AD&D settings (I have argued here previously that the system works for Planescape, but I have recently found myself wavering on that position).

It was a pretty imaginative time for TSR. Looking back, they really exercised it.

Both editions of A|State (the first one wasn't so much unsuitable, just very clunky, while the Forged in the Dark version limits the setting to a much too narrow subset of the original possibilities).

I can see how FitD would be limiting (one of its features is limiting).

 

[Lunar Ronin]

How has anyone not answered Shadowrun yet? Y'all are slacking.

 

[NinjaWeasel]

How has anyone not answered Shadowrun yet? Y'all are slacking.

I always meant to pick up a copy of Shadowrun back in the 2nd/3rd edition days but never got around to it. I've considered Shadowrun Anarchy too. All of them still cross my mind from time to time but, conversely, I'm interested in the system but never in the setting!

 

[gruagach]

Exalted has a great setting, and I've disliked every system that's been developed for it.

 

[NinjaWeasel]

Exalted has a great setting, and I've disliked every system that's been developed for it.

I can't believe I forgot about Exalted. I've been meaning to pick up a couple of first edition books along with Essence but, despite that, they're all too complex for me to consider playing. It's a game that I think should feel pretty cinematic, fast flowing and freeform but is actually a fairly dense, detailed tactical system.

 

[TristramEvans]

Every Hellboy RPG so far
Planescape
M.E.R.P.
Paranoia (after 2nd ed)
Shadowrun (after 2nd ed)
(afaik it never came out, but there was talk of a new edition of Tribe 8 using BitD)

 

[TristramEvans]

Any cyberpunk game that doesn’t use the Cyberpunk 2020 incarnation of Interlock.

Any PbtA, BitD, YZE, 2d20, or Cypher system game. They will all be better off using a system like Palladium, Tri Tac, or possibly Barbarians of Lemuria.

Any western that isn’t Boot Hill or Aces & Eights.

Actually you could just use Risus to run everything and simplify your life. That is the best answer, spend time with your family instead of squabbling over rule systems.

Or maybe I just got up on the wrong side of the bed and need to go back to sleep.

In The Grim Dorkness Of The Future, There Is Only Risus

 

[Fenris-77]

Settings, and what I would prefer to play them with:

Hyborian Age (Conan) - BRP Mythras
Dark Sun - BRP Mythras
Call of Cthulhu/Pulp Cthulhu - BRP Raiders of R'lyeh or Hack 100
Stormbringer - Black Sword Hack
Ravenloft - BRP Mythras
Glorantha - BRP Mythras (what should of been the most recent RuneQuest!)
7th Sea - Honor + Intrigue
50 Fathoms - Black Hack
John Carter of Mars - Hack 100 or Black Hack
Solomon Kane - BRP Mythras
The Day After Ragnarok - Black Hack or Hack 100 if want pulp; BRP Mythras if want gritty
Dolemwood - Shadowdark
World of Titan / Fighting Fantasy - Knave 2E

I don't think Dolmenwood has the 'wrong' system in any sense of the term. Running it with Shadowdark would work fine of course.

 

[sharps54]

Every Hellboy RPG so far
Planescape
M.E.R.P.
Paranoia (after 2nd ed)
Shadowrun (after 2nd ed)
(afaik it never came out, but there was talk of a new edition of Tribe 8 using BitD)

I would counter that MERP is much more suited for First and Second Age games than The One Ring or any 5E based LotR game is.

 

[Savage Schemer]

I'm very disappointed that we went almost 20 posts before someone mentioned Exalted. You're slacking, Pub! That one should have been obvious and in the top 5 easily

 

[TristramEvans]

I would counter that MERP is much more suited for First and Second Age games than The One Ring or any 5E based LotR game is.

I'd counter that there's nofucking way anyone will convince me to play any Rolemaster game again, that system is like pulling teeth

 

[TristramEvans]

I'm very disappointed that we went almost 20 posts before someone mentioned Exalted. You're slacking, Pub! That one should have been obvious and in the top 5 easily

I don;t like the setting OR the system

 

[Savage Schemer]

I don;t like the setting OR the system

Fair enough. I think I'm on record somewhere for nearly being in the same boat. Though I always did like what I think of as "proto Exalted," or the idea of the setting as presented in the 1e books. What it became over time is another matter altogether.

 

[Sable Wyvern]

How has anyone not answered Shadowrun yet? Y'all are slacking.

I didn't answer Shadowrun because I don't really give a shit about it either way. I've played a few sessions here and there (mostly 1st and 3rd editions, I think), and it seemed mostly fine. I never had any reason to analyse it that closely.

I'm very disappointed that we went almost 20 posts before someone mentioned Exalted. You're slacking, Pub! That one should have been obvious and in the top 5 easily

I didn't answer Exalted because I give even less of a shit about it than I do Shadowrun. I had a glance at 1st edition and gave some thought to running it, but never did, and don't regret it.

 

[Mangoplum]

Teenage me would have answered Rifts.
Nowadays I'm torn by Anima Beyond Fantasy, which seems to have a functional system. But I'd rather use something I'm already familiar with, or near familiar, like Destined (Mythras supers).

 

[E-Rocker]

I love the sci fi hex and counter wargame OGRE. OGRE, being a Steve Jackson Games game, naturally has a GURPS supplement. GURPS is not to my taste, so I would prefer an OGRE supplement for a different game. Most likely Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, since that's the main thing I run.

 

[Moonglum]

Middle Earth (should be run with something more like Pendragon, though I've had good experiences with TFT, B/E D&D and GURPS)

Hyborian Age (should be run with something more like Runequest/BRP, though the OOP GURPS supplement is solid, and TFT has been good for me)

Young Kingdoms (god love the BRP take on this, but its magic system is too derivative of RQ to really match the setting)

 

[Armchair Gamer]

I've been doing work on migrating Ravenloft to other systems for 30 years, starting with my home notes on converting it to Rolemaster 2E. (Never ran it, and those notes are long lost, alas.)

 

[NinjaWeasel]

I've been doing work on migrating Ravenloft to other systems for 30 years, starting with my home notes on converting it to Rolemaster 2E. (Never ran it, and those notes are long lost, alas.)

Along similar lines, I think Against the Darkmaster would work quite well for Ravenloft.

 

[bendis]

At least two thirds of everything made in the 90's, really.
Like the "hellraiser timecops" RPG or the one about rogue superheroes based on Marshall Law or that one with the massive setting and metaplot or the one edgy british one or...

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

I don't really like D6, d20/Saga, or FFG systems for Star Wars. The lore stuff in star wars rpgs is good, but I'd want a different chassis to run it on.

 

[stonetoflesh]

Fading Suns, which is why I'm running it with Barbarians of Lemuria + variants.

 

[Mangoplum]

At least two thirds of everything made in the 90's, really.
Like the "hellraiser timecops" RPG or the one about rogue superheroes based on Marshall Law or that one with the massive setting and metaplot or the one edgy british one or...

Oh! The Whispering Vault!
Indeed, a fun/weird setting (IMO). A favorite of mine. The rules are peculiar and minimal, they may not sufficiently push the superhero aspect of the game (if a person approaches it as a supers game), but I think they suit the weird setting better than any other system I'd try to run it with.

 

[TristramEvans]

Fading Suns, which is why I'm running it with Barbarians of Lemuria + variants.

That's a good one. Great setting, never intend to use the system.

 

[TristramEvans]

Kult is another one

 

[Telok]

Spelljammer. AD&D was... ok. It's always been integrating space & ship combat with the personal scale combat that's been the issue. Making it so all character types have meaningful & important stuff to do, keeping the feel of age of sail ship combat (cinematic or otherwise), integrating space & 3d maneuvers. But AD&D did at least a half working job at it. The WotC 5e remake was just sad.

It really needs a dedicated subsystem for ships & crew that can handle stuff from an adventuring group 5-person skiff vs a small ship of mooks with one boss up to an elven Armada ship with a dozen Flitters vs a half doxen pirate ships. And doing so without devolving into repetitive "pilot moves ship, gunner rolls attack, someone else rolls to give a +1, everyone else plays on phones".