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Reply To: How Many Game Systems Is Too Many?

February 22, 2021 at 4:10 pm #1614712

limburger

21708xp

@danny76 liking too many genres/settings is my problem in a nut shell.

Even if I were to reduce the rulebooks down to the absolute minimum I’d still have several themes and scales to worry about.
As such I’m kind of jealous of folks who can limit themselves to just the one period in history or 40k …

I’ve noticed that the one disadvantage with generic systems is that they tend to be ‘one size fits none’ type of deal that require a heck of a lot work to convert to a specific setting.

Starbreach for example. Yes, I can use it for both 40k and Legion as it has generic lists that match the factions of those games.
However it lacks that bit of je ne sais quois that the systems for either game do have. And then there’s the endless arguments when person A and B convert their faction to the generic system and argue about who did it better …

Historical genres tend to have one advantage as your only change from system to system may be the way you base your units. Although some systems do have lists that are more realistic (featuring radio operators and couriers in Battlefront) while others tend to favour the gear that actually did the work as it were (like artillery not needing its own HQ section).