System with the best put of combat mechanics?

[Tvtyrant]

As above, which game do you think has the best out of combat system and why do you think that?

[Khedrac]

I don't think there is such a thing as a "best" out-of-combat resolution system

What there is, is different systems which are good at meeting different design goals (in terms of how the game plays). (Of course there are lots which are not good at meeting their goals.)

One sample system is Chaosium's Basic RolePlaying System - the grantparent of all the percentage chance to succeed systems. It is very easy to understand and players generally have a very good idea of what their chance for success is.
It's not so good at handing people with super-human abilities at the same time as ordinary humans. (It can do it, but one needs to be applying lots of modifiers - so it doesn't do it well.)

Top Secret SI used a variation of the basic % system that made opposed rolls work better (higher roll wins).

RollMaster had a system for people who liked rolling lots of dice and looking up funny critical and fumble tables.

Other systems emphasise the story over the mechanics, I've not played them but I understand that this can greatly improve the flow of the game.

Etc.

For me, an example of a bad out-of-combat system was the skill system for BECMI D&D presented in the Gazetteers - I found it tended to define what a character couldn't do rather than the reverse. (No skill system = try anything; skill system = only try things not covered by the system and those few you actually have skill in.)

[gkathellar]

Depends on what you want. Different games do different things well.

I'm personally fond of games like Wushu, or Blades in the Dark, where the systems for non-combat stuff and combat stuff are one and the same, and are mechanically lightweight in general.

[comk59]

I rather enjoy the Mouse Guard conflict system.
Although I think that Mouse Guard is a reverse engineered Burning Wheel. So I guess Burning Wheel?

[JoeJ]

One of the things I really like about the Firefly game is that it doesn't have separate combat and non-combat systems. It has one set of rules for resolving conflict, regardless of whether the conflict is punching/shooting, talking/debating/persuading, or competitive drinking. That means the system doesn't artificially restrict your options if, for example, somebody tries to stab you and you want to persuade them to calm down instead of having to kill them. (Not that there's anything wrong with killing somebody who's trying to stab you, but it might not be your best choice in all circumstances.)

[Arbane]

What out-of-combat experiences are you asking about? "Combat" and "Everything Else" is a pretty big divide.

The Japanese TRPG Ryuutama has rules for travel just as detailed as its combat rules (not very detailed, it's fairly rules-light).

Exalted 3rd edition has a rather insanely-complex system for crafting magical artifacts.

[Tvtyrant]

What out-of-combat experiences are you asking about? "Combat" and "Everything Else" is a pretty big divide.

The Japanese TRPG Ryuutama has rules for travel just as detailed as its combat rules (not very detailed, it's fairly rules-light).

Exalted 3rd edition has a rather insanely-complex system for crafting magical artifacts.

Looking for systems that might be more fun when we aren't running 3-6 combats a day. Basically I am sick of D&D and want alternatives.

[exelsisxax]

Looking for systems that might be more fun when we aren't running 3-6 combats a day. Basically I am sick of D&D and want alternatives.

Run a Pathfinder game with a few fullcaster item crafters that like to roleplay everything. You'd change your thoughts on combat pretty quick.

Seems to me that this isn't really a system problem, you don't need to run that many combats unless your players run directly towards everything with weapons drawn like murderhobos. The same thing can easily happen in games that are supposed to downplay combat.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

No, system still plays into it. I'm not as familiar with many other games, but compare, say, D&D with Chronicles of Darkness. D&D is clearly designed to be combat-based; you pick classes based on their combat abilities, and most of the rest of the skills are adventure challenges; climb a wall, balance on the beam, threaten a prisoner, seduce a guard, pulp-action stuff.
Probably the best way to show this is to look at character options; in D&D you choose whether you smash enemies, fight them with skill, sneak around and stab them, use various magic against them or to boost your allies... but almost all the character choices are built around combat.

Compare to Chronicles of Darkness; your character choices are based around a broader type of story; You can have a social animal, a well-connected character who brings lots of contacts and allies to the table, a researcher, a hacker, and generally "the muscle" is just one character in the group. The mechanics bear this out; entire sections on chases, and a (albeit not very clearly written) section on major social maneuvering. Plus, combat is, as in the real life, incredibly deadly and scarring to a character. Part of this is setting (y'know, guns make deadly force easy), but even a knife-fight is quick, deadly, and will take weeks to heal without supernatural aid.

[romanwas]