[Observation] System vs Setting

[demonground]

This morning I was thinking about my favourite roleplaying games and how this differs from my favourite game settings. To clarify, there are lots of games I like but think their setting lack anything appealing, and on the flip side there are many, many game settings I love but think their mechanics do little to reflect their actual play feel.

I’ve previously examined my ‘top 5’ in a number of posts, but as that was now 6 years ago, I thought I’d revisit the list and see both whether they still make it or not (see http://demonground.livejournal.com/60266.html as a good start for these posts).

My favourite matches -

• Stormbringer 5th edition - if there was ever a game that, meets my expectations this is it. I love the setting and the game mechanics. It has its short fall in reflecting real moorcockian magic, but other than that. I have to also say that the SB rules beat out the updated Magic World version, only because I think that the MW default setting is pretty weak (and given the state of Chaosium will likely never get the attention it needs!).
• The Esoterrorists - Once you get your head around the GUMSHOE rule set, and its more abstract approach to mechanics, I think the Esoterrorists is the best of the settings for this rule set. It reinforces investigation and punishes combat - all good in my mind!

Setting that could have better systems -

• Dark Conspiracy - anyone who knows me, knows how much I love DC. The saying that, to this day I find the whole system way too focused on combat (I mean there’s calculus involved in working out explosive damage for crying out loud!). If only it had been a simpler, tighter game system…
• Dark Sun - Need I say more? Read the novels - most of which are great - and your quickly realise that the setting is nothing like D&D in any of its forms.
• Sundered Skies - While Savage Worlds is okay, every game I’ve ever played has had a combat that has bogged down in a point-blank mire of ‘hit, shaken, recover’ for turn after turn. For my Skype game, I created a home-brew Mini Six rule set for Sundered Skies.

Systems I love but could have better settings -

• Fantasy Age - Tears of Valuckisuci-us - sigh. FA needs a good developed setting…
• Barbarians of Lemuria - I love the BOL system, its tight, simple and thematic. However the setting of Conan meets Thongor never really appealed.

I’m sure there are other games that could fit in these categories, but let’s just leave this here shall we…