Champions! was built for superheroes. We found it worked well for other genres, so long as they were also high-powered (worked great for high fantasy). Not so good for gritty games, but that's what GURPS is for.
I think a universal system can work, but will always maintain a certain "feel" -- be it grit, heroic cinema, or what have you.
I really like how deftly you navigate some of the genre-bending challenges. Back in the day I enjoyed Cyberpunk, then the sequel 2020, but couldn't *quite* get into Shadowrun despite being a huge geek for genre blending. It's been a long-ass time since I played the system but I seem to recall a problem I had with it being that there wasn't enough boom in some elements. Maybe it was that grenades weren't as good as fireballs, or the other way around, but some parts of it felt diluted.
Or, it could have been my then-14yo failure to understand how to use it properly 🤣
I take issue with games that attempt to "do everything" because it almost never works. I appreciate genre-bending, but it has to be done very carefully or you get kitchen-sink settings. I have found that the best games focus very narrowly onto what it is they do well and a specific setting: Is it a game about dueling? It is a game about exploration? Is it a game about sailing? Is it a space opera, hard sci fi, superhero, or fantasy setting?
The "best" games are those that pick a specific topic and setting and then do those things extremely well. That's one reason DnD did well it's because the topic was dungeoneering and the setting was high fantasy. Mutants and Masterminds has done well for the same reason.
A good system can be adapted by a good GM to any setting... but what sells the system isn't usually it's ability to do anything, it's the ability to do one or two things really well. When I want horror, I'll run with Unknown Armies or something similar. A trash system for doing anything but horror, but great for horror. When I want fantasy, I'll select a dedicated fantasy system. I feel like DnD 5e being so streamlined to what it does well (baby's first fantasy) has created an impetus among designers to develop systems with the intention of genre-bending, but in practice, that's a much harder sell.
That said, I'll take a look at Cypher if I get the time.
Champions! was built for superheroes. We found it worked well for other genres, so long as they were also high-powered (worked great for high fantasy). Not so good for gritty games, but that's what GURPS is for.
I think a universal system can work, but will always maintain a certain "feel" -- be it grit, heroic cinema, or what have you.
I really like how deftly you navigate some of the genre-bending challenges. Back in the day I enjoyed Cyberpunk, then the sequel 2020, but couldn't *quite* get into Shadowrun despite being a huge geek for genre blending. It's been a long-ass time since I played the system but I seem to recall a problem I had with it being that there wasn't enough boom in some elements. Maybe it was that grenades weren't as good as fireballs, or the other way around, but some parts of it felt diluted.
Or, it could have been my then-14yo failure to understand how to use it properly 🤣
I take issue with games that attempt to "do everything" because it almost never works. I appreciate genre-bending, but it has to be done very carefully or you get kitchen-sink settings. I have found that the best games focus very narrowly onto what it is they do well and a specific setting: Is it a game about dueling? It is a game about exploration? Is it a game about sailing? Is it a space opera, hard sci fi, superhero, or fantasy setting?
The "best" games are those that pick a specific topic and setting and then do those things extremely well. That's one reason DnD did well it's because the topic was dungeoneering and the setting was high fantasy. Mutants and Masterminds has done well for the same reason.
A good system can be adapted by a good GM to any setting... but what sells the system isn't usually it's ability to do anything, it's the ability to do one or two things really well. When I want horror, I'll run with Unknown Armies or something similar. A trash system for doing anything but horror, but great for horror. When I want fantasy, I'll select a dedicated fantasy system. I feel like DnD 5e being so streamlined to what it does well (baby's first fantasy) has created an impetus among designers to develop systems with the intention of genre-bending, but in practice, that's a much harder sell.
That said, I'll take a look at Cypher if I get the time.