The Gaming Den

My impression's that most of the discussion and homebrew work by this community involves the d20 system, but the Den has nothing against homebrew material for other rpg products & original systems. That about right?

Pretty much. In fact, the second-biggest thing on this forum after the Tomes (aWoD) is, indeed, not d20.

Shadowrun comes up pretty frequently, too.

Shadowrun is one of the more common systems mentioned because Frank has a bit of a chubby for the 4th Edition Shadowrun rules basic structure, and honestly the same structure has been used for many, many others systems (albeit with slightly different die shapes) like WoD and so on, that "roll pool of Thing+Thing rated normally 1-5 or so against a TN and count how many match/exceed TN" is probably the most common basic structure aside from 3d6 and the d20.

Frank wrote part of 4th Edition Shadowrun, and his points about the resolution mechanic providing the results we want is indisputable.

...That doesn't stop my from rather liking the simplicity of 3d6 or d20, and continuing to use them.

2d6 and d100 are literally the most common resolution systems, though.

-Crissa

Huh, I'm surprised 3d6 isn't most common. Then again, I only really say that because some of the big hitters in the generic world (GURPS, HERO) use it.

TavishArtair wrote:Huh, I'm surprised 3d6 isn't most common. Then again, I only really say that because some of the big hitters in the generic world (GURPS, HERO) use it.

Both GURPS and HERO suffer from a complexity problem relative other systems. I have mentioned elsewhere that GURPS seriously has a page of rules detailed to digging holes, and I wasn't kidding, either. HERO also has serious complexity issues, which somewhat limits their uptake.

Lastly, generic systems have the problem that... well, they're generic. Having a system that is tailored to no setting leads invariably to a system that doesn't represent any setting as well as a dedicated system.

Which is true, but sometimes you want that level of complexity.

GURPS having hole-digging is great when you want seriously your ability to build fortifications and lift levers and move mountains and fix spacecraft as part of the actual rolled mechanics. The expansive rules means more than the GM has a source to pull a mechanic not out of his ass but instead out of a book to answer any argument.

Heroes does four-color comics rather well, most of the complexity comes in creating the characters, which then becomes the game. It's much more a toolkit for creating various superhero games as it is a game itself.

They're strengths as well as weaknesses.

-Crissa