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Deaxsa
2017-02-22, 08:23 AM
Hi all, I'm looking for a system in which I can create a bunch of characters in a hurry. I'm ok with hacks and home brews, and don't want to pay too much to have to play it. The goal is to play something with the same feel as gone with the blast wave, with a little more plot and a little more death, this the easy character generation. Not yet sure on how post-apocalyptic I want it to feel. Additionally, some way to streamline rules for groups of people would be very helpful. Thanks.

Anonymouswizard
2017-02-22, 09:14 AM
I've never played gone with the blast wave, but two related systems, Fudge and Fate, spring to mind.

Fudge is the original, and is more of a traditional RPG. However the big part of it is that it's incredibly freeform, with no set list of Attributes and Skills (and no actual default gifts and flaws lists), allowing you to tailor it to your specific game (allowing better theoretical balance, if you don't need separate skills for katanas and broadswords just have a lone 'edged weapons' skill). However after you know what your lists of Attributes and Skills are you just have to rate everything important on a seven point scale of terrible to superb as suited to the character.

Fate is more narrativist, and actually more complex. In general it's like Fudge, except with a slightly different scale (of 11ish values this time), only skills (or approaches, or professions) as standard, and Aspects as the centre of all the narrative work.

Also both are available for free online, legally. I'll dig up links once I have time.

Deaxsa
2017-02-22, 11:29 AM
Gwtbw is actually a webcomic, no link because I'm at work and using a phone. It's rarely updated (something I don't intend to replicate) and pretty darn good.

More on topic, fudge sounds pretty close to what I need, so I'll definitely be taking a look at that. I've obviously heard of fate before, but not really any explanation as to what kind of system it is.

kyoryu
2017-02-22, 12:37 PM
Yup, those are good options.

Fate is more specifically designed to create game sessions that act "like" fiction - books, movies, tv shows, or webcomics.

Fudge is a bit more traditionally minded.

Knaight
2017-02-22, 08:26 PM
I'm backing up Fudge here - particularly when you can start with a soldier template and add a bit more quickly. If it's not to your taste there's always Savage Worlds. Resolute, Adventurer & Genius might also work, but I wouldn't recommend it.

cobaltstarfire
2017-02-23, 12:30 AM
Giving another vote to Fudge, I've never used the system, but I know it is both simple and customizeable.

Isn't Fate an example of something built using Fudge? Or am I thinking of something else?

Knaight
2017-02-23, 11:23 AM
Giving another vote to Fudge, I've never used the system, but I know it is both simple and customizeable.

Isn't Fate an example of something built using Fudge? Or am I thinking of something else?

Fate is built off of Fudge. There are some pretty dramatic changes that alter how the game is played in fundamental ways, and some of Fudge's better mechanics got cut (often only to reappear later), but the Fudge basis is pretty obvious.

Grod_The_Giant
2017-02-23, 11:39 AM
I dunno about the source material, but I'm bloody sick of people pushing Fate as the solution to everything. I mean, it's a fine game, but it has some wonky bits and a strong focus on character interaction.

Instead, I'll push my homebrew system (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?361270-STaRS-the-Simple-TAbletop-Roleplaying-System-5-0)as the solution to everything! Well, no, but it is a solution to "rules light with easy character generation." In brief, you have ten attributes rated 1-10, and checks are 1d10 roll under the appropriate attribute. Base difficulty is handled by 5e-style Advantage and Disadvantage mechanics, with an added mechanic for covering sub-or superhuman abilities. For character creation, all ten abilities start at 5, and you get a few ability points to boost them, and a few trait points to spend on special features (permanent boosts to certain types of check, special powers, etc).

Knaight
2017-02-23, 11:51 AM
I dunno about the source material, but I'm bloody sick of people pushing Fate as the solution to everything. I mean, it's a fine game, but it has some wonky bits and a strong focus on character interaction.

In this case though, there's specifically been a request for a simple system. That cuts down on the options significantly (otherwise I'd have mentioned Nemesis by now, we'd have seen GURPS and HERO mentioned, d20 modern would have come up, etc.), and Fate fits. With that said, STaRS is not a bad option here.

kyoryu
2017-02-23, 12:18 PM
I dunno about the source material, but I'm bloody sick of people pushing Fate as the solution to everything.

If you'd like, as one of the big Fate fans on the forum, I'd be happy to go through a huge laundry list of things I wouldn't use Fate for. It's certainly not a panacea.

Flemkopf
2017-02-24, 02:42 AM
I've had good experiences with Savage Worlds. It's a point based system, not a true d20 system (better skills manifest in the form of larger dice), but it tends to be pretty straightforward and easy to work with. It is also a very flexible system, with the ability to adapt it to pretty much any time period you want.

Anonymouswizard
2017-02-24, 04:34 AM
I dunno about the source material, but I'm bloody sick of people pushing Fate as the solution to everything. I mean, it's a fine game, but it has some wonky bits and a strong focus on character interaction.

I was really mentioning Fate and Fudge because they're simple with fast ways to generate characters (is someone great at fighting? That's their skill!). To be honest Fudge was the first system that came to mind because the lack of Aspects makes generating characters regards easier.

Savage Worlds also a debt option, but does cost more. It's fun and focused on running fast, but that means a small skill list and the like (not a deal breaker unless you're crazy like me).

Mutazoia
2017-02-24, 06:03 AM
Open D6 is a quick and easy system to learn and run. You can have characters up and running in minutes. It's the same system that was used to run the original Star Wars RPG. All the books are free online. (https://ogc.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=OpenD6)

kyoryu
2017-02-24, 12:27 PM
I was really mentioning Fate and Fudge because they're simple with fast ways to generate characters (is someone great at fighting? That's their skill!). To be honest Fudge was the first system that came to mind because the lack of Aspects makes generating characters regards easier.

On-the-fly character generation in Fate:

1) Define High Concept (aka, what is your character)
2) Define your peak skill if you want
3) Start playing, and fill in the rest as you need them.


Savage Worlds also a debt option, but does cost more. It's fun and focused on running fast, but that means a small skill list and the like (not a deal breaker unless you're crazy like me).

Savage Worlds is great as a fairly rules light, but still tactically engaging game.

2D8HP
2017-02-24, 01:37 PM
On-the-fly character generation in Fate:

1) Define High Concept (aka, what is your character)
2) Define your peak skill if you want
3) Start playing, and fill in the rest as you need them.



Savage Worlds is great as a fairly rules light, but still tactically engaging game.


It's funny, but I own the FATE corebook rules, but no setting books, and I own Savage Worlds setting books/adventures but not the rules!

Knaight
2017-02-24, 04:32 PM
It's funny, but I own the FATE corebook rules, but no setting books, and I own Savage Worlds setting books/adventures but not the rules!

There's like 15 short and free FATE setting books, plus the long and free Age of Agaptus. On the other end, I think there's a Savage Worlds light or something.

Anonymouswizard
2017-02-24, 05:27 PM
On-the-fly character generation in Fate:

1) Define High Concept (aka, what is your character)
2) Define your peak skill if you want
3) Start playing, and fill in the rest as you need them.

Sure, I personally was thinking more along the lines of creating a full character, for which Fudge is slightly easier.

I'm also not 100% comfortable with the adding skills as you go method, it feels a bit weird. I'm fine with characters filling in Aspects as they come across ideas in play


Savage Worlds is great as a fairly rules light, but still tactically engaging game.

Yeah, I'm just a crazy person who loves a lot of options, which is provided by the flexibility of Fate but not really by Savage Worlds to the extent I like (on the other hand I love GURPS and plan on picking up The Dark Eye soon so I can't really say I mind long character creation).


It's funny, but I own the FATE corebook rules, but no setting books, and I own Savage Worlds setting books/adventures but not the rules!

I recommend looking into the PWYW Fate settings, just because the fluff in a few of them is amazing (Red Mars is one I love despite being relatively dull, but Deep Dark Blue is cool, as is Secrets of Cats and Uranium Chef).

kyoryu
2017-02-24, 06:33 PM
Yeah, I'm just a crazy person who loves a lot of options, which is provided by the flexibility of Fate but not really by Savage Worlds to the extent I like (on the other hand I love GURPS and plan on picking up The Dark Eye soon so I can't really say I mind long character creation).

I wanna say it was Fred Hicks that said that Fate and Savage Worlds were both based on the idea of being adult gamers with little time to spend and wanting to get to the good stuff as quickly as possible. The difference between the two systems is basically what each set of designers considered "the good stuff".

Anonymouswizard
2017-02-24, 08:21 PM
I wanna say it was Fred Hicks that said that Fate and Savage Worlds were both based on the idea of being adult gamers with little time to spend and wanting to get to the good stuff as quickly as possible. The difference between the two systems is basically what each set of designers considered "the good stuff".

Sure, I think the difference is Fate allows you to go in and really create characters in detail if you want to. Set aside a session to discuss the campaign and character backstories, tinker over the skill list, decide exactly what stunts are needed for your character, and so on.

It's also interesting that both are essentially pulp RPGs, just approaching it from different angles.

I'll be honest, I'm annoyed that I forgot to mention Savage Worlds. It's one of those systems I like to recommend because it's good, pulpy fun, and honestly sometimes that's all you need, as well as being easy to run and adapting to larger combats fairly well (one thing I remember the 1st edition talking about was that the game's essentially made to still run smoothly when the PCs have some followers and the combats are against a decent number of mooks*, although it recommends still keeping to fairly low numbers).

* Running Savage Worlds as intended should almost never cause the 'boss monster' problem, because every fight should have a bunch of goons to give the GM extra actions.