The Role of Generics

First there were roleplaying games based on their own rules but it was not long before game publishers began coming out with generic rule sets not linked to any specific setting. When I was a younger gamer the major generic set was GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System), by Steve Jackson Games. It was a rulebook that had everything from character generation to combat and other things that could come up during a game session. What it didn't have was a setting, unlike things like D&D which was really tied into its Tolkeinesque fantasy setting. How GURPS got around not having a setting was by having additional soucebooks. They had anything you could imagine in those sourcebooks. One could be a fantasy setting, one in the far future with aliens, one in the old west with six-shooters and so forth.

I never quite got into the GURPS thing but over the years I have seen the roleplaying game industry move back and forth. For a time it would focus on setting specific rules and then generic rules. Most of the setting specific rules had some design decisions based to give a specific feel for that genre of play where as the generics tried to be so generic that they could handle anything from cavemen with clubs to sci-fi with psionics and phasers. In my opinion some of those earlier ones tried to be too generic.

Since that time there have been a few well designed generics that have their own feel, as opposed to the earlier ones that didn't have a unique feel of their own, which is what originally threw me off them.

There is one I am really impressed with on the market now, plus there are others that companies are beginning to put forth for the players who like making up their own settings. The one I have been drawn to recently is called Savage Worlds by Pinnacle Entertainment. It's built around simplicity and flexibility where the older ones were built around handling everything with specific rules. It leaves judging situations that happen at the gaming table up to the Game Master so play remains fluid.

What Savage Worlds does excellently is give the feel of an action movie. For the fans of pulp settings like Flash Gordon, The Shadow or even Indiana Jones, this is the best choice. But, an idea I had when first reading the rulebook, which is just a $10 investment by the way, was to try and use it for the long out of print Star Frontiers setting I loved as a young roleplayer. Since I was first learning to play roleplaying games I realized there are all sorts of clunky rules in that original Star Frontiers game, but this Savage Worlds set of rules is really formed to fit the feel of that sci-fi setting. At least I think so.

Recently I heard that the rules used in Serenity and Battlestar Galactica, both by Margaret Weis Productions, will be released as a generic set without the setting flavor of those two games. From owning Serenity and really falling in love with it's rules I am really looking forward to this upcoming release, the Cortex Roleplaying Game. It should be another set of rules for those who love to design their own setting around something fast paced and free flowing.

In addition to those rules there are others to check out. Here are some I know of at the moment. Some are purchasable and some are fan created and free to use.

• Core (fan generated system)
  
• Fudge (independently produced system with free pdf version)
  
• Fate (created by Evil Hat Productions for their games but released separate also)
  
• Fuzion (used by R. Talsorian for their Cyberpunk games)
  
• Tri-Stat (out of print I think, but here's a fan update)
• True20 (Green Ronin's generic roleplaying system with several setting books available)
  
• Unisystem (created and used by Eden Studios in their games)
  

So, if you like some setting and there is no game specifically designed for it, go out and try some of the generic sets of rules to see if you can find one that has that perfect fit.

Hmmm... I wonder if Doctor Who could stand up to a Savage Worlds treatment... or even a Cortex treatment...