I absolutely adore Genesys, it's one of my favorite systems of all time but it really shines the most with a group that's in a juicy, creative mindset. If you don't have people that are either accustomed to or engaged enough to create narrative flow it can fall flat when a player rolls 4 advantages and doesn't know what to do with them.

I really feel that some of the older universal RPGs have great strengths and should be considered next to these newer rules systems. Hero System, GURPS, Basic Role Playing, even CORPS and Active Exploits have strengths for players and GMs who want options around class-free, level-free point-buy cross-genre gaming.

GURPS is still around and pretty good. Open D6 is by far the best open rules around. And finally I hate games with special dice!

Cypher is my fave... you don't need to buy special dice, easy to GM. Players are linked together in many ways during creation, promotes pure co-op, even the GM role is supportive to players. Plays more theater of the mind. The Cards are worth getting. Keep in mind the characters are more effective from the start and "leveling" spread between players is less consequential than other systems. The pools do replenish easily and represent fatigue a lot more. GM has more fun as intrusions (with cards) can prompt greater GM'ing improv skills that you can use with other RPG's.

great reviews. While really adore Genesys, I also can't argue with your assessment. It's nice to see really fair reviews. Keep up the good work!

I like the super simplicity of GORE/Basic Role Playing. Then again it was the game engine for systems such as Runequest, Call of Cthulhu and Super World. From this list I only have Savage Worlds, which is pretty good, and have tried Genesys via the Edge of the Empire game. I feel that system, to really see what it is capable of, you need to have a group that "gets it".

I know this video is a few years old, but I got recommended it out of nowhere (well, not NOWHERE, I watch a lot of TTRPG videos) and I was interested to see your list. Turns out, our lists of the best generic systems are almost identical! I do agree that Genesys and Cypher are on the lower end, primarily because of proprietary dice (which makes it really hard to play the game when they're out of print) and somewhat overly complicated rules, respectively. That said, I do love Cypher's character creation system of "I am an X Y who Zs". Fate and Savage Worlds are my overall favorites; I love narrative systems so Fate is just about perfect for me, and I think Savage Worlds is the perfect balance point between a lot of crunch and a lot of narrative. But then Cortex Prime is so incredibly interesting; i've never played it _yet,_ but as someone who loves generic systems as a sort of toybox ("I'll pull out this, that, and these other toys and see what I can do with them today, and perhaps tomorrow I'll pull out entirely different toys and have a different play session"), Cortex Prime is that in _spades._ Cortex Prime feels more like it's a step by step guide to create your own TTRPG, because so many of its little modular bits are just so unique and cool. I still to this day love the concept that Marvel used Cortex Prime for, where every hero has a ranking based on how well they work solo, as a duo, or in a team. It evokes such a simple concept in supers comics; some supers are total loners, some join every team they see, and some just need their iconic buddy with them on the job. Cortex Prime gives you so many other cool ways to rank your characters' abilities, like based on your bonds with other people. It's definitely the system I'm most interested in trying once I get the time to sit down and really delve into it.

I've run several character creation sessions, and character creation goes really well and easily using the descriptive sentence. What's really key is to get that book, and then pick your genre, and pick up the "white book" for the Genre (They ave Horror, Fantasy, Sci Fi, Super Heroes, Post Apocalyptic, and Fairy Tales) and it helps you pick what to extract out of the book, and adds even more. I'm really fond of it. They are constantly release new "genre books" to help people build out their worlds.

I really like the Cypher System and have been using it a lot. I've found it to be very DM friendly and story focused; with Creature cards in hand I can go through a session without having to crack open a book. The only thing it doesn't do (out of the box) is gritty, low-power games. If I want to run Horror I reach for CoC before Cypher. Thanks for the video; great overview.

You missed of course GURPS, the HERO System (my favorite),Big Eyes Small Mouth (my second favorite), TWIRPS, Fusion Labs (Interlock system plus HERO System).

Everything you told us about Cortex prime applies to every universal system including GURPS. What exactly makes this better? What dice system does it use? How crunchy is it? How is the layout? How much support does it have? Is movement hex based or square based or is it ToTM only? Point buy or class? Tell us SOMETHING.

You missed HERO System from Hero Games. It bills itself as a "toolkit" system that allows you to make any kind of game you can imagine.

I have never heard of cortex prime. I have heard of all the other systems. I do still like Gurps.

Huge fan of Cortex Prime, as for the universal rules go, it is still perhaps one of the "newer" games in the list. I am hoping it catches on more, because I am usually a GM, but Cortex is one of the few TTRPG I absolutely love as a player. And, being how new it is, it is hard finding a game.

When I wanted to introduce my son to RPGs, I wanted a universal game that I could use for whatever appealed to him, such as Transformers, Star Wars, or something else. That's how I came across Fate. It took me a little while to wrap my head around it because I was so used to having systems where I would look up weapon and armour stats, manoeuvres, etc. But now I really love it, and Fate Accelerated (FAE) is hands-down THE best RPG for supers, in my opinion. Some will prefer a more rules-heavy approach, but if you are just looking to replicate the feel and action of comics, FAE is amazing. I find I am leaning more and more into more narrative games, however, so I also enjoy games like Risus and Freeform Universal. I would love to see them get more love from the general public. When I do get the occasional nostalgia-fueled urge for a D&D-type game, Elemental is a good choice and that's another system that I think people should check out. They regularly release free stuff and more than many other publishers, they just seem to really be in love with gaming.

Cortex prime has kind of caught my interest, but I'm not exactly sure how damage works in that game. I thought they were making a dnd beyond equivalent, but I haven't heard a thing about that.

Nice job. Enjoyed the video. Thoughts on how Fate and Cortex Prime compare in terms of game experience, aside from the dice mechanics?

No mention of the Champions/Hero system?

My favorite so far is Dreamchaser. A really lightweight system so you can focus on the story and it is easy to play with others who aren't big into roleplaying.

Good content, thanks!

On your recommendation I am going to give Cortex Prime a try.

I'm currently designing a fallout campaign in GURPS for me group and so far GURPS 4e as been a fairly easy read :P just bought me a copy of Fudge 10th anniversary I'm more interested in that than fate tbh.

MARVEL Heroic Roleplaying was my introduction to CORTEX, and I agree that it's an excellent system. My first choice among Universal systems however is Tri-Stat, the engine that powers BESM.

It is a major misconception that Genesys is from the Star Wars system by fantasy flight. It is not. It is based off of the warhammer fantasy roleplay game from fantasy flight.

BRP, well thats that question answered.

I'm still a GURPS guy but I think I may check out Coretex Prime.

I prefer almost all the others you reviewed to Cortex Prime. I really only like Cortex Prime for superheroes. I especially love Cypher.

What are your thoughts on Stars Without Numbers?

Fate is probably my current favourite because I've played and run a log of it. But, more recently I've started getting into Cypher System and I'm really enjoying the rules system and it's potential. The biggest benefit Cypher has over Fate is that the rulebook is really well presented. Fate is great once you know how to run/play it but the rulebook is horrible at teaching you how to play the game and most of the setting books that I've seen aren't any better. It's not a great game to bring new players in. Cypher wins hands down in that department. Cortex is also solid, but also suffers a bit of the same problem that Fate does in being more of a toolset book and less of a good teacher, though still way better at it then Fate. The other are I find Cortex bungles up a bit is in campaign play. Love it for one shots or shorter term play, just don't think it scales well for long term play. Another plus I'm enjoying about Cypher is that it can deal with simple traditional kill and collect game play it handles loot just fine. Fate and Cortex don't really work as well within that kind of traditional Dungeon Crawl space. They abstract that portion of the game, which I've found has turned off a lot of players that want that type of game. Universal isn't so universal when it comes to play and not just setting.

HERO Systems is pretty robust and very flexible as well.

You didn't add the big two, GURPS and Hero System.

I was hoping to hear open legend, gurps 4E, savage worlds and pathfinder 2e compared to each other

I saw the Savage world wasn't going to be the number one and started to get grumpy. But Cortex is worthy of being above it I think.

Hero System is my favorite universal game. On par is R Talsorian Games interlock/fuzion. Though Fuzion requires more work for a gm in creating a world. In fact, I almost always prefer using these systems over a worlds game mechanic.

Cypher System is interesting in my opinion. I'm not 100% sure about these rules but please tell me if I'm mistaken the rules about Armor: Normally when someone attacks you with melee or range you make Speed Defense roll. (Poison would be Might Defense and psychic attacks would be Intellect defense.) Applying Effort for Speed Defense will make you more likely to dodge the attack but wearing armor makes it harder to dodge. Shield counts as Asset for Speed Defense but does not give you Armor. There is no speed cost for shield. (Unless you gain armor for shield somewhere else like Defends the Weak foci ability Warding Shield giving you 1 armor if you wear a shield.) Page 202 it reads if you are not practiced in armor the speed cost is +1 for all armor. This means normally light/medium/heavy armor speed cost for applying effort for speed tasks is raised by 2/3/4 for each effort used on speed task. If you gain practiced with armor the speed cost of armor is reduced to 1/2/3 Now... Warrior taking Practiced in Armor should grant both practiced in armor and lowering the speed cost by 1? This is not clearly written in the ruling page 171 and is up to interpretation. It would make sense you also gain practiced in armor as the name implies and lowers the cost of wearing armor. Now following the rules: Taking Practiced in armor would now lowers the speed cost of armor to 0/1/2. You can now become trained in armor lowering the speed cost to 0/0/1 Later you can become specialized in armor lowering the speed csot to 0/0/0 from 2/3/4 So, you can lower the speed cost of heavy armor to 0 by becoming specialized in armor and having some ability to lower the speed cost by 1. Also funny to note is that if Speaker wants to become practiced with armor he has to buy it using XP and at most can reach 0/0/1 speed cost unless he can lower the speed cost for armor some other way. So progression of speed cost for armor Light/Medium/heavy 2/3/4 Not Practiced in armor 1/2/3 Practiced in armor 0/1/2 Trained in Armor 0/0/1 Specialized in Armor 0/0/0 Lowering the speed cost of wearing armor at any point.

Hero System. Best universal RPG rules set out there bar none.

If it really comes to an universal system which is intuitive and very very very easy to use, you have forgotten Open D6 and especially its Mini Six iteration.

Wouldn't Rifts be considered a Universal system? Wasn't it really the first popular RPG to do that?

How did you forget Powered by the Apocalypse?

GURPS

Now that I have watched the entire video… you know what I really look for in a RPG? Great art - not! Yes, pretty art in rulebooks is nice, but it does nothing to enhance gameplay in any way, shape, or form… Also, you know which system does EVERYTHING you have listed as strengths for each of the games you review? You know what it is. Say it with me: GURPS! To cover your apparent fetish: great art? Yes. . Play in any setting? Yes. . Only need a core book to play? Yes. . Supplemental material to really flesh out each genre? Yes. . Custom dice? No. But a standard resolution system which uses 3d6 for almost everything, and a bell curve for difficulty. . Rules system that can be as simple, or complex, as you want? Yes. . Rules for using miniatures? Yes. What about turn length? In GURPS, each turn last one second. So you really get into the nitty gritty when you take a turn. Want to cast a spell? Take a ready action. Depending on how complex the spell is, you might need to concentrate for a few turns, before the spell is cast. Want to use a crossbow? Use one turn to fire it. Then use the next turn to reload (or wait sixty turns(!) for the winder to wind it back for you, if you have insufficient strength to reload yourself). In a sword fight? If your weapon is balanced, such as a sword, you can attack every turn, doing cutting damage. If your weapon is not balanced, such as an axe, attack one turn, then ready the weapon to strike again in your next turn, as you regain both balance and weapon readiness, before being able to attack again in the following turn. One thing you did not mention on any of the reviewed systems was “realism”. Yes, I know this is hard to quantify in systems where we have magic, psionics, supers, etc, but are items weights, costs of goods, etc, realistic? Is a character’s ability to lift things commensurate with their strength? Does the damage system make sense? For instance, is a character’s “Health/ Damage Points/ whatever” a true reflection of how much damage they can take? If a character falls one hundred feet, are they likely to die, barring some divine intervention? If you get in a gunfight, and are shot through the heart, is your character dead, or will they hang on, somehow, because of their incredible stock of HP? Because GURPS is ultra-realistic in its combat. A truly exceptional character might have as much as 20 hit points, regardless of how advanced they are. If someone ambushes them, and shoots them in the head. They will die. If the characters are duelling with swords, each successful strike can cripple a character. Characters fatigue over the course of a combat. Of course, if you don’t like this system, you can change it for more cinematic combat, or even carrion effects, if you wish. But the core system is about as real as you can get, in a game. Also, due to the way the game is designed, you can take supplemental material from other systems, and incorporate them into GURPS. Settings, characters, adventures, whatever. This is because GURPS was designed to emulate realism the real world in its rules. So, if you can imagine it, you can do it in GURPS. I don’t know why you dislike GURPS, but you should really give it another chance. It is, hands down, the best universal role playing system out there.

The best system is a coin. Narratively something either happens or it doesn’t. The key is only rolling when it would make the story more interesting.

FUZION was by far the best.

Genesys: I played it multiple times and was exited in the start. It took some time to get used to the dices and analyzing them, so you have to play it for some while to get it running smoothly. In theory it sounds great, but the idea about having different types of dice, colors and symbols is just bad. I don’t like that you have to make a hard break in your storytelling to analyze and resolve the dice. I became annoyed over time and really didn’t wanted to roll but just play the game. Fate: Too little crunch for me. It’s basically just a +2 game. First time I’ve read the core book I didn’t understand the concept and neither did the players. I actually thing it’s better to buy a game based on Fate than buying the core book. I don’t like it. Savage Worlds: I’ve never played the new version, but the older ones had some problems. It’s actually not a bad system. Cypher System: I love it, but it’s more crunchy than one would expect. Cortex Prime: Just got the book yesterday so haven’t played it. It definitely looks promising.

Considering I have seen kids handle GURPS just fine, not sure what to make of all these "oh noes it's so hard" kinds of comments from adults... GURPS is "tough"? Or Crayola simple and easy. It is what you make of it! 🤣

I really like Cortex, in principle, but it's not a game or a system, it's a toolkit. You cannot take that book and runs game with it, you basically have to decide on all the rules first. The only rule you get is add 2 dice and how PP work. Everything else is up to you. At which point, I could basically be writing my own game.

Cortex Prime: The book is a reference and a tool, but regarding teaching you the game it's crap. It actually looks a lot more complex than it's really is. A little bit crunchy in the beginning, but you can make it as light or crunchy as you like. I kind of like it. You can do a lot of things with Plot Points, almost too much and overwhelming. But 90% of the things you're doing is pretty easy.

dice with symbols are them are a HARD PASS for me.

I have played and used every single game you have shown, I hate them all, especially Cortex system & Fate. I hate story based games, 😡 went back to GURPS 👍and I have HERO system, really complex for my liking.

GURPS is the best RPG, period. :D

where the fuck is GURPS?

Well there is Fudge (the root game where Fate came from) Fuzion SilCore (Silhouette core) Basic Roleplaying (BRP) True20 BESM D6 system Mythic D6 Aria Action system That's some, btw the last version of Gurps 4th edition is from 2008-ish Sounds like you were playing 3rd edition,

You e never even played cypher, how can you judge it properly?

Lol, the FFG Star Wars products were garbage. They had conflicting rules, missing rules and no internal resemblance to anything in the movies they are based off of. For instance when you need ship weapons to be able to hurt the Hutt Crimelord in EotE or the Acklay like the one Obi Wan fought in the arena your game is garbage. And when Missile Tubes or the E-Web Canon can't even scratch anything above a landspeeder etc it's garbage.

I found an wierd opennes in shadowrun 5th edytion. i know it has an setting BUT! consider this dear reader: pretty open magic system with keywords like "control " or Boost where the power of the spell gives opportunity for better effects, not directly more dmg. costom spells are very easy to make, especialy where there is an universal metric for power witch is 50 USD for reagent. want to know if your wizzard can stand a chance to an cyborg? his power 10 fireball is about 500 USD gun in the setting ( they have own flavor ofc but i never seen this type of stuff in anything other then generic RPGs) sience fiction galore. you have cyberware, VR matrix, hacking, custom robots and vehickels and drones and they got unique system where their sensors and AI play a role, so it is not an character in desgise. whatever you want it propobly has it. whole system is pool-based where you take your atribute and ability score and roll that many dice, to se how many hits you get. From what i found this kind of 2 numbers together and wierd fun pools insted of target number is often used in generic rpgs. there is a system for social relation where power of your ally and how mutch they like you affect what they can and want to do for you. Great way for charisma players becase it gamifies NPCs. " my friend is an mechanic.. he is rating 4 out of 10 so pretty avarage skillset.. i saved his wife once, he likes me at 8 out of 10. very close friends. say if i call him..he would repair my car if i asked nicely? " then GMS who wants the car broken for plot says " roll vs relationship to see if he will give you an favor becase he is very busy". I love that becase it makes GM fiat less burdersome, and gives incentive to make friends and contacs beside story. character have advanteges and disadvanteges gurps style. generic "addyction" or "metal illnes" or " i have an enemy in high places" or even " i never went to school" every sesion can be an self concluded "job" where you have an setup, ifo gathering and resulution. very formulaic and it can be good and bad for some people but it lets you explore. you can set up an home base where you can buy modules to upgrade it skyrim style, and even run an magical lab or armory to upgrade your gear..on witch... guns have call of duty moden warfare level of customization XD " this MSG wil have an infrered, scope, counterwieght to recoil, exra deep mag, retracteble stock and a laser sight, and i load it with exploding bullets. oh BTW my mage enchated it for extra accuracy so now all my 3 fiering modes are better! and cybernetics are the same way. every classical race (even centaurs and cyclopses) are represented with tools to make your own. same with critters and monsters. most described genericly. minuses: not mutch for everyday life. you play as high lvl adventurerer with dangerus job. no d and d tavern runing without heavy mods. no faction/kingdom maker/gameplay as in pathfinder or ORE. pretty crunchy. not as bad as gurps but pretty close. and if you want to modify gear it can take HOUERS art is very shitty. some lore is wierd too like private ambulance is called "DOC WAGON" but if you just take the ruleset it is not a problem. TLDR: shadowrun is great generic TTRPG if you skip the lore chapters