Which "generic" or "universal" systems do you all think are best for solo play? Or at least your favorite. GURPS, FATE, BRP, MiniD6, Savage Worlds...something else?
I like HeroQuest, from Moon design Publications. It takes a simpple approach, but is useful for a lot of genres. I've seen some excellent solo reports using it, and have been interested in playing myself.
FAE (Fate Accelerated Edition), Wushu Open, and PDQ my go-to systems for universal hacks. Least favorite is anything with too much crunch and not enough story/narrative control.
Scarlet Heroes. It's easy to make characters, it's simple to remember what rolls to use when, and it lends itself to customization and creating new content easily.
evandro novel — never blogged about it, but run a few scenes with it and finished a play-by-post with Sorcerers & Sellswords (Ray Otis's awesome fantasy hack). Awesome game...
roryb bracebuckle I'm not too sure what 'generic' means in this context, I think? I assumed it meant 'setting agnostic'. I'm using SH pretty successfully (okay, fine, for a self-defined value of 'successful', hahaha) for a riff on WoD, a sci-fi-fantasy-swords-and-psionics game, a more traditional fantasy game and a vampire noir game! It provides just the right amount of crunch, in my opinion. Of course, I've really tweaked it, but that's what's so nice about it!
You're probably right...when I hear of any OSR product, my immediate reaction is always to think "exclusively fantasy" or even more, "D&D fantasy". There's enough conversions out there for sci-fi and modern that D20 related games could be considered generic.
Oh, yep! SH works very well with the other Sine Nomine lines, and that covers quite a few genres! I do find myself playing pretty loose and fast with the rules, though, but that's one of the nicest thing about solo play, no balance issues to worry about.
I go with the D6 system myself. It's pretty universal.
ReplyDeleteI like HeroQuest, from Moon design Publications. It takes a simpple approach, but is useful for a lot of genres. I've seen some excellent solo reports using it, and have been interested in playing myself.
ReplyDeleteJames Smith I agree. You can port or duplicate almost anything into it.
ReplyDeleteFAE (Fate Accelerated Edition), Wushu Open, and PDQ my go-to systems for universal hacks. Least favorite is anything with too much crunch and not enough story/narrative control.
ReplyDeleteFreefrom Universal works pretty well too.
ReplyDeleteScarlet Heroes. It's easy to make characters, it's simple to remember what rolls to use when, and it lends itself to customization and creating new content easily.
ReplyDeleteI can't quite see Scarlet Heroes acquiring a "generic" tag (although it's an awesome game!).
ReplyDeleteFate is great, but still working out how to be more successful with it in a solo environment.
+1 for FU, and the mechanic for Lasers & Feelings. Cornerstone Universal is a new addition and a good one, mixing the best bits of FU and Fate.
roryb bracebuckle Hi Rory, I'd love to try the mechanics of Lasers & Feelings! Have you tried and blogged about it?
ReplyDeleteI hope to try the Cypher System for solo play soon.
ReplyDeleteChad Feldmann I'd love to see this.
ReplyDeleteevandro novel — never blogged about it, but run a few scenes with it and finished a play-by-post with Sorcerers & Sellswords (Ray Otis's awesome fantasy hack). Awesome game...
ReplyDeleteBivius Solo RPG of course!
ReplyDeleteIt is actually what I'm playtesting right now, probably it's not the best but its radical gaming mechanic intrigues me
roryb bracebuckle I'm not too sure what 'generic' means in this context, I think? I assumed it meant 'setting agnostic'. I'm using SH pretty successfully (okay, fine, for a self-defined value of 'successful', hahaha) for a riff on WoD, a sci-fi-fantasy-swords-and-psionics game, a more traditional fantasy game and a vampire noir game! It provides just the right amount of crunch, in my opinion. Of course, I've really tweaked it, but that's what's so nice about it!
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right...when I hear of any OSR product, my immediate reaction is always to think "exclusively fantasy" or even more, "D&D fantasy". There's enough conversions out there for sci-fi and modern that D20 related games could be considered generic.
ReplyDeleteOh, yep! SH works very well with the other Sine Nomine lines, and that covers quite a few genres! I do find myself playing pretty loose and fast with the rules, though, but that's one of the nicest thing about solo play, no balance issues to worry about.
ReplyDeleteBobbi Blackcat I will have to write something up.
ReplyDelete