A Generic RPG from Fantasy Flight Games?

[Tom H.]

Interesting.

I just read about an RPG named Genesys that is in development by Fantasy Flight Games.

From a quick read I have inferred this:

• It will be flexible and multi-genre.
• There will be an initial core book.
• Five genre's will initially be supported: Fantasy, Steampunk, Weird War, Modern Day, Science Fiction (Hard and Opera).
• A variety of equipment will be presented to match the genres
• It seems to have been announced this summer. I see no release date scheduled.

It also seems to use a similar dice pool mechanic as their recent Star Wars RPG's. This mechanic provides for varied and interpretive results.

I would go so far as to say this is the generic realization of their Star Wars system.

This is interesting to me as I always thought modern RPG design would/should start with the generic system (especially in the wake of GURPS).

It'll be interesting to see what kind of impact this may have on GURPS and SJ Games' product strategies.

Preliminary Comparison.

From what I know of the Star Wars RPG, there should still be a wide difference in implementation style between GURPS and Genesys.

I believe Genesys will handle the multi-genre market with mechanics that simplify play with more abstractions and unequivocal rules.

GURPS style will remain highly detailed with rules tinkering and adjustment to fit the level of precision.

In truth, this allows GURPS to be the more generic and realistic system at the cost of complexity and coherence.

For example, in the Star Wars RPG, discrete encumbrance points abstract a merged concept of weight and space (bulk). And hard point values allow you to add units of modifications to spaceships on one scale and to hand weapons on another scale.

Of course, in GURPS you will tend to deal with the actual real life measures for these properties.


Does anyone have thoughts or information to share about Genesys or its upcoming coexistence with GURPS?