[Randyman]

Originally Posted by PK

Pretty much nailed it. RPM's strength is its amazing versatility -- a smart witch will "hang" several powerful, generally useful spells in advance, but can pull off almost any spell in a relatively short amount of time.

Sorcery is not all that different, but it takes it to further extremes. A sorcerer also has handful of powerful spells, but unlike the witch (who's limited in how many he can have ready), a sorcerer can cast those spells all day long -- limited only by fatigue. But a sorcerer's ability to improvise is weaker; even a powerful sorcerer can only improvise modest spells at best, compared to what the witch can do in the same time frame. (Of course, once a sorcerer has improvised a spell, he can recast it as quickly as a known spell, which is admittedly a very potent benefit.)

I think RPM tends to feel like the magic found in Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, etc.: mysterious and laborious. By contrast, sorcery tends to feel like the magic found in the Dresden Files, Harry Potter, etc.: faster, very "blast-friendly," but with each caster being good at only a limited range of "tricks." I agree that either could work well in a Monster Hunters game.

Thematically, I agree completely. Mechanically, RPM feels like an exception when other "empowered" types are modeled using powers. And the popularity of RPM's mechanics reminds me of an old piece of GMing advice - if you create something new and everybody wants to use it, it may be unbalanced in some unforeseen way. (Also true if nobody wants to use it.)

There are definitely other factors involved in RPMs popularity, of course; frustration with the default spell system and a corresponding desire for a better-functioning alternative being chief among them.