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Generic role-playing game system

Role-playing game system designed to be independent of setting and genre

A generic or universal role-playing game system is a role-playing game system designed to be independent of campaign setting and genre. Its rules should, in theory, work the same way for any setting, world, environment or genre.

History

The term "generic" has been used since the earliest days of gaming to describe a system that can be used for any type or style of game. There is some dispute among role-playing enthusiasts on when the concept of a generic system originated and which was the first one published.

According to Shannon Appelcline, Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP, 1980), was the first generic role-playing system.{{cite web

It truly became a dominant subject in RPG design with the release of the Third Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2000) and the d20 System along with the creation of the Open Gaming License (OGL).

Definition

The Fuzion 5.02 rules uses the term "generic" to describe its basic ruleset as separate from its Champions and Interlock forerunners.{{cite book | author-link = Fuzion | access-date = 2008-04-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20001218092800/http://www.herogames.com/fuzion/ | archive-date = 2000-12-18 | url-status = dead In the second paragraph of the introduction to GURPS 3rd Edition the authors define "generic" as a means to satisfy players and game masters of many styles of play and feel for rules.{{cite book | author-link = Steve Jackson (US game designer) This is repeated in the updated 4th edition rules along with acknowledgments to Champions as the first truly flexible character creation system.{{cite book | author-link = Steve Jackson (US game designer) |author2=Sean Punch |author3=David Pulver |author3-link=David Pulver | title = GURPS Basic Set: Characters 4

Some d20 derivative, such as Green Ronin Publishing's Mutants & Masterminds and True20 Adventure Roleplaying,{{cite web | author-link =

Other influential generic systems

Blacksburg Tactical Research Center's EABA
Eden Studios' Unisystem
Evil Hat Productions' FATE rpg
Grey Ghost Press' FUDGE
Guardians of Order's Tri-Stat System
Pinnacle Entertainment Group's Savage Worlds
R. Talsorian Games's Fuzion and Interlock System
West End Games's D6 and Masterbook systems

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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