The System is Your Console

Establishing Complexity and Choosing a Game

In a recent article, I talked about starting a game and what it requires, and in case you are a firm believer of "TL;DR" (too long didn't read), what it boiled down to is meeting the basic needs of the game: players, a comprehensible system, and a GM who is willing to "make it work."  Keep in mind, what it is important in this context is that these base elements are important to form a new group consisting of new players a new GM, and an entirely a new game. Any combination of these will require some degree of simplicity. Once a group has taken off and learned to play a tabletop roleplaying game, then it is time to choose that delicious layer of complexity that adds all the fun rules we like using (and hopefully not abusing). This is metaphorically, like selecting the type of video game that we feel like playing, we have all agreed that we want a particular experience.

The Engine of Complexity

We very well may have chosen a game we want to play, but there is an important aspect in choosing a system, and this extends to any system not just the ones I mentioned previously. The system you choose better be able to accommodate the game you want to play. To continue our video game analogy, based on the hardware in a Sega Genesis, we couldn't play Bethesda's Skyrim as we know it today. Though, we can definitely play the original Sonic the Hedgehog on any modern console with no difficulty.  In fact, this very phenomenon is why we see remakes and rehashes of old games, we want the ability to play things we enjoy in an updated fashion. (More on this later)

Aside from remaking a game, we may want to choose what game we want to play, and then choose the console to play it. For instance, for the longest time, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was only on Playstation 2. If I wanted to play that game, I needed to use my Playstation 2 and not my Playstation 3, but sometimes, we find that rather than buying the new remake, we can just save the money because we still have the console and game. As DM Starhelm likes to remind me, in tabletop games the systems and the games are often mistaken for being one in the same. The way I play Dungeons & Dragons is not the way your group plays it because Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition may be the game, but it is more liken unto the console, what I do with the hardware (the base rules) as a GM is entirely up to me. There are, in video games, good games and bad games, just as in tabletop gaming there are good games and bad games, because you guessed it, we may all be playing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (Wizards of the Coast brand new console) but we aren't playing the same game. 

Choosing an Engine

Therein lies the beauty of choosing a system. I have been playing the master(sword)piece that is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild because I can't play it on my Playstation 4. At the same time, we have the option of playing the game on both the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch. There we reach the secret of choosing the system, what do I need and want? The Switch is marketed for being portable, and a new revolution in gaming with friends. I own a Wii U and I generally, if I am out somewhere, I don't have the time or need to play a video game, so the Wii U fits me just fine, and how else am I going to play Super Smash Bros.? The analogy is continued here as we see that I have my reasons for playing the game on the console I have. To step back into our situation of choosing the system for the game, the way you want to play, that game you have chosen to share, unlike a console which generally are fairly universal aside from peripherals and available games, will dictate which tabletop roleplaying systems are right for your group and your game. Let's take a brief rundown of some examples and my subjective and objective thoughts on them: 

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5

I have no inherent problem with 3.5 other than balancing issues, but that is part of my reasoning for my choice, it is not an objective expression, my own conclusion from my observations. 3.5 is good for games in which character diversity is paramount to you and your group and you all have little complaint for diversity and want more exact rules. This system may be more work for your GM and players overall depending on the game you want to run and how you handle it. Homebrewing is much harder in 3.5, mind you but there isn't much that is not covered here. Definitely for groups that want a game and story with a more "hardcore high fantasy". If you want to feel like your characters go from 0 to legendary hero in this, this system is great, just be aware of obvious rules issues and broken characters.

Pathfinder
I personally like this system a little more than 3.5 but it is undoubtedly based in it (and there for backwards compatible) this game is more balanced with the same level of diversity that 3.5 offered, with similar rules. Major changes are an increased diversity of characters through archetypes while arranging the system so prestige classes aren't necessary, but math gets slightly heavier here. Broken characters can still occur, but players are more likely to have a far more balanced time. New material is still being made for this system by the publisher and a lot of good 3rd party publishers alike. The feeling of growing in leaps and bounds and becoming a legendary hero is also in this system and good for a game that has a high fantasy feel while also having "realistic" rules but with more balance than we saw in 3.5. 

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition
This system is controversial, but it is balanced, and that may be some people's gripe with it, but it is great for new players and GMs alike, as the system is written in full acknowledgment that it is a game you are playing with the flavor and fiction being left entirely to the players and GM. This system breaks a few standard conventions concerning D&D but if the players want an experience where not much can be broken, and the playing field is fair, in a sort of Justice League everyone is a hero kind of way, welcome to D&D 4th edition. Although, one thing to remember is that this game leaves very little to rules arguments and can be good for having a solid system in which a story can be crafted around. 

Dungeon World and Other PBTA Games

The games that are based on the Apocalypse system that I have mentioned are completely fine systems, and very engaging for both the GM and the players. Some of my favorite sessions have actually been in this system because it is less bound to a huge stack of rules. Alternatively, what is important to remember is that a large amount of what you feel your character can do is up to you and your GM. Unlike D&D, your character class isn't going to explicitly tell you how things work in the fiction of the game while giving you your own unique mechanic. Class features in this game are light and are very driven by the story and how you play not by what your class is, or "who" you are. This game will feel odd to many D&D veterans because they like having those huge blocks of text that make them feel like they have a list of cool stuff they can do, when in this system, the power to be cool is inside of them all along. 

Mutants & Masterminds
This system has a decent following, and can be used to tell essentially any superhero or high power anime/JRPG-esque story. The main consideration is that it is a lot of work at first and without a well read GM, the rules can be daunting, especially for players. Though it has its rewards and you can play superheroes and all that it entails and the rules for player creation are very open, it can be a nightmare to keep it all straight. GMs unfamiliar with the possibilities can be surprised by what their players are capable of and then you may have a problem. The GM being surprised by a decision is ok, but being unaware of a mechanic or power in their game until the moment of can be disastrous. Days of planning can be undone simply because of the "Chunky Salsa Effect". A friend's campaign was abruptly ended when the players essentially create the perfect death trap of cascading damage for the main villain within the course of a couple sessions, and the main damage source was the building damage thanks to the "Chunky Salsa Effect" or the property of energy reflecting off unbreakable walls, magnifying damage and ultimately turning the villain/victim into...well... a thick, chunky salsa like paste. One can be sure that the GM was surprised. If your group can handle it and keep it all straight and want to bench press continental shelves, then have at, just be prepared. 

 

The Start Button

This list doesn't incorporate all the systems out there, but it gives you a glimpse of what systems are good for, I DM and play a lot of 5e (clearly, look at this blog), but at times I miss Pathfinder because of the open options. It is up to everyone (EVERYONE) in the group to decide. No one like being lost in rules, or being beaten up without a clue in Smash Bros. Like any other time, tabletop roleplaying games are about cooperation and cohesion with your players-- your friends. Without that, you have an impending melee, brawl, or dare I say, Mario Party on your hands.