It’s clear going through these lists designers have varied approaches
to the idea of an rpg that can do everything. We’ve seen 89 rpgs, not counting
pdf-only mentions. Today’s list, in particular, showcases a spectrum of “conceptions.”
I have an analogy for this, a way of thinking about what’s happening in these different
systems. And it comes from watching The
Lego Batman Movie.
On one end of the Universal RPG spectrum we have games with
a high density of rules, some dare call it crunch. These game intend to model
every element and make those elements feel correct within the mechanics. That
means a large number of rules which aren’t necessarily symmetrical, but do fit
together. I’ll peg GURPS as the current end point of this approach, with HERO
close by. We’ll call these games “Lego Games.” They have lots of building
blocks. Most of the pieces share a common logic: four stud brick, flat pieces,
headlight brick. But we also have some weird pieces- windows, plates, minifigs.
They’re clearly part of the mechanics; they socket up with the rest of the
geometry. But they also introduce new elements and require new ways to arrange
them. We can make anything with Legos- though to make them look good we may
need a custom set released by the company.
It isn’t a great analogy, but it helps me think about what’s
happening differently in these systems. Savage
Worlds, True20, and many others
fall somewhere in the middle. I don’t know if I have a toy to describe those. I
do think there’s a way to describe PBtA within this schema. PbtA’s the
collection of all of the various Lego successors and emulators all thrown
together (Mega Blocks, Playmobil, Kre-O, Cobi, etc). Right?
CHEW ON THIS
I only include core books here. I’m also only listing books
with a physical edition. I might include an electronic release if they’re
notable and of significant size. At the end you’ll see some miscellaneous entries,
covering borderline or similar cases. Some selections came down to a judgement
call. I’m sure I missed some releases. If you spot something Universal I missed
which came out from 2010-2011, leave a note in the comments.
A self-published Norwegian universal rpg. Appears to be a storyteller
game where the role of the "scene owner" passes between players. For the
less literate (namely me) I looked up the title’s translation "L'esprit de
l'escalier or l'esprit d'escalier ("staircase wit") is a French term used
in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late."
2. Gaia Saga Universal Role-Playing System
(2010)
Chronology poses a challenge when I assemble these lists.
Some designers have a habit of calling something "X edition" based on
several self-published or in-house iterations. That’s probably great for version
control, but less useful for me when I hit a published third edition of something
and can't find info on any earlier ones. But I digress, I was talking about Gaia Saga Universal Roleplaying 2nd Edition.
When I have trouble finding samples or reviews, I turn to blurbs,
forum posts, and publisher statements. It looks like Gaia Saga came out of an earlier fantasy rpg developed by the author.
A lot of that DNA may have carried over. I'm always wary when I see a universal
rpg talk about "thirteen playable races to choose from." That suggests
a more specific game world or setting, rather than a toolbox. The blurbs mention
spells and magic as well, so I suspect this may actually be a universal fantasy
game, with bits left open. In other words, universal but the GM has to build anything
non-fantasy.
I found the mention of a "personality and emotions
engine" intriguing. In a forum post, the designer describes is this way, "Personality Engine: Keeps track of your characters
moods, how they act generally, and helps decide your alignment by how you act. Gives
players a focus so they can roleplay their characters in the best way possible.
Emotions Chart: Shows a list of friends
and enemies, their feelings towards your character, and gives a reference point
on how to increase game play and realism." I wonder how mechanical that
actually is.
A streamlined game built on the Open d6 engine. This is WEG’s d6
System stripped down to basics. Character creation's covered in two pages and
that includes a perk list. While that leaves a lot of heavy lifting to the GM, it’s
less than you might suppose. You could run a pick-up session with what's on offer.
Resolution's covered in just two pages and that includes two different approaches
to combat: Fast Static Combat and Traditional Open d6 Combat. A sample magic system
and sample characters get the longest page counts, each clocking in at four pages.
The book includes several simple settings, each presented in two pages: Firefly-esque,
trad fantasy, Victorian horror, '70's Beat Cop, and an homage to Traveller's Imperium.
This is a solid, solid package and one worth looking at if you're hunting for a
robust but light system.
4. Silvervine Games Core Rulebook (2010)
A game from John Arcadian, a contributor and co-author of many
contributions to Gnome Stew releases. Silvervine's
a point-buy system, dense with info and options. Players roll a pool of d10's with
8's as the default success number. Relevant skills reduce that target number. You
compare total successes the task difficulty. It's clean and the rules read well.
I particularly like the idea that your roll is based on a primary attribute plus
another supporting attribute. The former shows the most important element needed,
while the latter demonstrates nuance. Focuses- the special powers of the system-
can modify the success, results, and fiction of these actions.
While Silvervine has
clear mechanics, it also spends a chunk of time talking about collaborative, thematic,
and narrative elements of play. There's interesting discussion of where to hand
off narration to the players. Despite that storygame talk, is has some crunch.
Character creation’s fairly involved. It reminds me a little of Big Eyes, Small Mouth. Players have broad
details which they can modify to create their unique abilities. To illustrate character
creation, Silvervine uses its example
Anime/ Steampunk/ Fantasy “Cyrus World: setting. That's good in that it offers concrete
examples. However muddies the division between the generic cc rules and those for
this world. That's a problem. Either this needed to be the rules just for that setting
or needed to take a much more generic presentation approach.
While it might not to be to my taste as generic ruleset, Silvervine provides and interesting and flexible
approach to this hybrid world. Silvervine
released under the CC 4.0 license and currently available as a PWYW pdf on Drivethru.
I picked up Strands of
Fate on a friend's recommendation. Prior to that I'd only encountered Fate via Diaspora and Spirit of the Century.
However made the base mechanics clear. I couldn't put together how the system actually
played. Surprisingly it finally came together when I read Strands. Suprising because SoF takes such
a different approach to Fate. It feels a lot like Fate 3.0 crossed with Champions or GURPS. There’s a focus on
point buy and construction. It clearly wants granularity- the ability to assemble
all kinds of powers, devices, and magic. It also has a different approach to skills
and aspects.
Strands of Fate didn't
click for me, but it did give me a sense of how aspects worked in Fate. By going back to other Fate games and comparing them to Strands of Fate, I started to have a decent
sense of Fate's base mechanics. That leaner
approach appealed to me more than the engineered systems described in SoF. Despite
that, Strands of Fate works. It offers
a point-based structure, with lots of statting up and building. If that's what you
like, but you still want relatively light resolution mechanics, you could do worse.
Void Star released a large supplement the following year, Strands of Power. That offers many new advantages, powers, and mechanics
for different genres. Picking that up if you dig the core
book.
6. World vs. Hero
(2010)
A two-players rpg with random event generation. World vs. Hero echoes the Mythic GM Emulator
from the same designer. It leans into an open approach, making it high up on
the “relativism” scale and useful for any genre. WvH bills itself as a "strategic"
storytelling game. The two players- Hero and GM- compete during play. The
player can define The Hero broadly; it might be a single person, an adventuring
company, or something in between. They build that character from narrative phrases
as well as some numerical stats, called Suit Abilities. The game resolves using
playing cards, so each abilities ties into a suit. Those in turn affect different
kinds of conflicts.
While the World player seems like the GM, they have limits on
what they can throw at the Hero. The intent is mechanical balance. Cards are drawn,
the Hero sets the location, the World puts a card forward for the conflict, the
Hero uses another to activate appropriate abilities. Play continues this way. It’s
an interesting idea and offers a cool option for freeform two-player story games.
The game includes a optional rules for adapting this to existing settings, doing
play by post, or using it more closely with the Mythic GME.
Marcelo Paschoalin offers an important correction on this: "World vs. Hero was designed by John Fiore, while Mythic (and Mythic: GME) was designed by Tana Pigeon. You probably made the mistake due to the two games work really well together if one wants to play WvsH solo." Good catch-- people referencing the two together and the shared publisher made it easier for my mistake, but it's my fault.
Marcelo Paschoalin offers an important correction on this: "World vs. Hero was designed by John Fiore, while Mythic (and Mythic: GME) was designed by Tana Pigeon. You probably made the mistake due to the two games work really well together if one wants to play WvsH solo." Good catch-- people referencing the two together and the shared publisher made it easier for my mistake, but it's my fault.
Not the same as BareBones
Fantasy. But I could be forgiven for thinking that, given that the publisher,
Scaldcrow Games, has erased Bare Bones Multiverse
in favor of other products. You can find archived review pages, but the main product's
gone from DTRPG. Those reviewers have wildly mixed reactions; some like the 2d6
system, some loathe the presentation. Others find it middle of the road. The system
itself takes up only the first twenty pages of the rulebook, with the rest given
over to nine sample settings. Scaldcrow has reworked this into other, primarily
pulp rpgs: Rotwang City, Davey Beauchamp's Amazing Pulp Adventures-Role
Playing Game, and Bare Bones Beyond: Worlds
of Pulp. This last one feels universal adjacent, intended to cover any genre
with a pulp filter.
8. BEAN! The D2 RPG (2011)
You make checks in BEAN!
by throwing a handful of beans. Maybe…if you want to go all in on the theme. You
don’t have to. BEAN! uses a d2 randomizer,
so you could use coins or even/odds on dice. Ubiquity functions much the same way, counting up successes for
evens on d6’s. Of course using beans has a tactile benefit. More importantly it
gives the BEAN! designers a hook for all
their artwork- a showcase of anthropomorphic legumes.
That simplicity and humor make it a good choice as a game for
kids. BEAN! has default fantasy frame,
but is written to be adapted broadly. It falls into what you might call tissue paper
or, less judgmentally, streamlined universal rpgs. Simple standard resolution, a
few choices for character creation, and just enough mechanics to feel like you have
a safety net. Unlike many of these slight rpgs, BEAN! has been supported with several releases: a second edition, solo
adventures, modules, and world sourcebooks.
When I first came across this I wasn’t sure if it was a stand-alone game or a bolt on to something else. “obSESSION is more than just a Role Playing Game, it is a set of core mechanics designed for use with any setting, genre or game style…Additional optional rules from Obsessive Compulsive Design are fully compatible with the rules found within, expanding upon rather than contradicting the core rules and ensuring that any optional expansion is usable with any obSESSION game, not just one or two.” Not the deliberate choice to abbreviate the game to OCD.
obSESSION might be crunchy. “Derived Attributes” is a key warning for me. We have ten-second rounds, a “Soaking” score that you compare damage to in order to determine actual wounds, saving throws with levels of effect, 26 hit locations, encumbrance, character levels, builds & templates, sixteen primary attributes and eight derived.
To get a sense of the mechanics, I offer this from the one- page rules: “Most of the time in obY the success of an action will be determined by a Skill Roll, an Attribute Roll or a Combined Roll. These differ only in the way in which their Dice Pool is determined. For a Skill Roll the Dice Pool is equal to the appropriate Skill’s Rank; for an Attribute Roll the Dice Pool is equal to the appropriate Attributes Skill Value (full value divided by 20); For a Combined Roll the Dice pool is determined by adding a Skill’s Rank to an Attribute’s Skill Value.”
obSESSION might be crunchy. “Derived Attributes” is a key warning for me. We have ten-second rounds, a “Soaking” score that you compare damage to in order to determine actual wounds, saving throws with levels of effect, 26 hit locations, encumbrance, character levels, builds & templates, sixteen primary attributes and eight derived.
To get a sense of the mechanics, I offer this from the one- page rules: “Most of the time in obY the success of an action will be determined by a Skill Roll, an Attribute Roll or a Combined Roll. These differ only in the way in which their Dice Pool is determined. For a Skill Roll the Dice Pool is equal to the appropriate Skill’s Rank; for an Attribute Roll the Dice Pool is equal to the appropriate Attributes Skill Value (full value divided by 20); For a Combined Roll the Dice pool is determined by adding a Skill’s Rank to an Attribute’s Skill Value.”
10. Other Worlds (2011)
Other Worlds came as a nice surprise. It looked very trad at
first glance. Instead you get a system built on player-defined abilities and flexible
narratives. It opens with discussions of story and "shared creativity."
Other Worlds signals its intent to share
power and "give everyone the power to drive events forward and introduce new
elements to the plot."
Characters consist of Abilities with associated ratings. Players
define these, breaking them into General Abilities, Personality Traits, and Relationships.
Those slot into one of several templates: cultural archetypes, professional archetypes,
individuality, and trademarks. Example abilities include, "Speak Japanese,
Curious, Loves Roberto, Chase Suspect, and I Ain’t Getting in No Plane." To
build your character you choose four templates, each with a set of abilities. Then
you create your “individuality” by choosing up to 24 additional abilities. These
all have a default ratings which you can modify.
The resulting character record looks dense. I'm used to lighter
systems having easy-to-grok sheets. That's what we get from games like PDQ and Fate. Here you have lots and lots of things
to sort through once your character's put together. It looks like a GUMSHOE
sheet. This may work for some gamers. I'm less a fan of having to hunt through my
many, many lists to figure out what I need to roll.
And you'll likely be doing that hunting quite a bit. When a conflict
occurs you figure out your rating by assembling a total based on a primary ability's
rating, modified by bonuses from any supporting abilities. That means scanning through
to get the maximum effect from the ability sets you've crafted. Some players will
get fast at this, others will suffer from analysis paralysis. The opposition also
creates a total, meaning the GM’s doing a parallel hunt. Both roll a d100 and it
to their final rating. Higher roll wins and chooses the outcome.
The base system is simplicity itself, but the steps require some
crunching. I'd have to see it in play. I do like the way Other Worlds frames conflicts as universal and then slots that into
a larger structure of "set pieces." There's some neat tech here. It's
well written and has echoes of HeroQuest,
Fate, and PDQ. But it feels more elaborate
than any of those.
Wow. Before I start be aware you can get a free copy of the Paraspace Basic Rules from DTRPG. Looking
at that may help disentangle what I'm about to say. Because this game...this game...
The cover has a photo of a d10 with added flame effects burning
a streak through a side-of-a-van-worthy fantasy collage painting. Every page uses
a variant of that image as a one-inch, full-color page frame. The pages
alternate space-ships & moons at the top, dungeon doors & tunnels at the
bottom. Throughout it all the still-burning d10 appears as the page number the backdrop.
The actual tight, double-column text sits on a greyed-out frame, a palimpsest below.
You can just make out the image lying beneath the text. Occasional odd stock-art
choices break this up, but you're more likely to be interrupted by a table or chart.
OK. I have to take a break.
I'm back. ParaSpace
uses d10's, for single rolls, percentiles, d1000's, d10/4 etc. Characters have eight
stats plus Skills, Abilities, Techniques & Manoeuvres. Note: The stat Physique is abbreviated PH, that appears before they define
it, so I initially assumed they tracked the PCs’ acidity. Also, pro-tip: be
consistent in your abbreviations. If you use three letter codes for six the eight
stats, don't then have Quickness shortened to "Q". Also, the stats aren't
called stats, characteristics or attributes. They're "manipulations."
Also…*takes a breath*…
Skill checks take stat+skill+1d10 vs. a target number. Unskilled
use can divide that die result by 2 or 3. Look,
I'm not going to drag this out: there's a lot crunch and granularity here. Characters
have a figured stat called KDV to determine if they're knocked down by an attack.
Different skills and abilities have different experience costs. Axe is divided into
four skills: Axe, Axe (Thrown), Axe (Two-Handed), Axe (Two- Handed Thrown). ParaSpace has 132 skills. Some seem more
like talents, but they're lumped in. Skills include Odour Scenting, Held Respiration,
Car Mechanic, and Supplementary Defensive Manoeuvre. There's an appropriately over-detailed
equipment and magic section. There’s…*takes a breath*…
It feels like a strange mix of 1980's design combined with first-gen
indie 1990's DTP efforts. The character sheet...sorry, I'm not even going to try to describe it. Here's the thing--
I'm sure the designer got a lot of great gaming out of this system. He lists 34
guys (and one woman) as playtesters. This probably clicked for the level of crunch
they wanted. But wow: this is hard to read and parse. It's so far outside my
comfort zone-- and I was still playing Rolemaster
up to the beginning of the year.
12. The Story Core Rulebook (2011)
This offers another one of those moment when I must simply turn
to the author's blurb: "Everyone has, in one point of time or another, played
a Role-Playing Game. This is Story Teller's Version 1.5 of The Story, a 3D6 gaming
system, closely related to D&D and GURPS." So that’s helpful.
These two years saw major revisions to existing universal rpgs.
Savage Worlds Deluxe is another tinkering
with this venerable system. According to the publisher it, "includes rules
updates, new rules material, new art, more examples, an expanded Setting Rules section,
Designer Notes to give you an insight into the development, and much more. It does
not, however, invalidate prior printings of the rules, which you can continue enjoy."
This appears to be the most current edition as of this writing.
After a decade Story Engine
Plus revises and cleans up the original Story
Engine. This edition received two Indie Game Design "Runner Up" awards.
The main stated difference seems to be a refinement of the adjective-based character
creation. MADS Role Playing Game (Revised)
expands this system with a 40% larger page count. Finally Paragon HDL is the new name of the Paragon Tactical RPG. This updated version also now powers their Demongate High, Perfect Horizon 216X, and LUCID:
Dreamscape Reality games.
14. Miscellaneous: Universal
Adjacent
Several games come close to being "Universal" but have
a more subtle thematic approach. Skullduggery
takes the oppositional mechanics from The
Dying Earth rpg for a game of negotiated backstabbling. It can cover many genres
and the book includes several different set ups, including the selection of a Pope
(timely now given HBO's The Young Pope
series). It’s like a complicated Fiasco.
Microscope's a game I’ve talked about
and played extensively. It offers an rpg about any history, though some debate the
rpg nature of it. Microscope can cover any genres, but players move from character
to character in scenes across times. Finally Idee! Das Universalrollenspiel: Edition Ad Astra is a German card-based systems
for telling rpg-like stories.
This period saw some striking and larger pdf-only releases. d6 Intégral is a French
take on the d6 Open system. They supported it with several Lulu-only supplements.
Pangenre RPG Core offers an adapted d20
system for universal gaming. It has several different “final” and “beta” versions,
plus some topic-specific supplements. Sundered
Epoch is another game with many different versions and "editions"
out there. It seems to be a d6 stat plus skill system. RPGGeek lists a couple dozen
supplements of various lengths for this. Finally Polyverse appears to a more detail heavy universal system. It has a
supers supplement available.
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