Reddit mentions: The best savage worlds books

There's a lot in this space and it's mostly pretty damn good.

• Savage Worlds - $8.68 - As /u/HuddsMagruder mentioned, Savage Worlds is a great bang for your buck purchase. Lots of supplements and it's genre agnostic. You don't need to pick up those supplements if you don't want to.
  
• Basic Fantasy RPG - $5 - This is an old school RPG. It's honestly really well done. You can pick up the base book and all of it's supplements in hard copy for about $35. Note, all of it's supplements are around $5. It should also be mentioned that the base game and all of it's supplements are available as free PDF's.
  
• Dungeon World - $20 - The hard copy is temporarily sold out most places, but a new batch is on the way. Despite arguably being the worst Apocalypse World hack, there's so much damn fun to be had here. Me and my group love it, though admittedly we've rewritten significant portions of it.
  
• Monster of the Week - $22.37 - Oh man, this one is loads of fun. It's what it says on the can. If you've ever watched shows like Buffy, Supernatural or even X-Files, you already have a fair idea of what's in this. Fantastic fun.
  
• Urban Shadows - $20 - Kind of a cross between World of Darkness and The Dresden Files. High emphasis on debts and relationships in a sort of noir style. Honestly, it's probably my second favorite tabletop game.
  
• Fate: Core System - $20.54 - Another genre agnostic system that's a little easier to work with. Note, this game is very GM dependent. It's great, but without a GM that's on the ball, games tend to stagnate.
  
• Fate Accelerated - $5 - A condensed version of Fate. Easier to understand and arguably plays a little better. Still the same problem though, you need a GM that is on the ball.
  
  Honorable Mentions:
  
  
• Mouse Guard - $22.93 - This can be a bit of a hard sell for a group, but man it's a lot of fun. The general premise is that mice have evolved over time to be more intelligent, build tools, etc. They have their own towns and such. Sort of a medieval mouse society. The heavily emphasis teamwork and problem solving over straight up combat. Great fun for all ages.
  
• BubbleGumSoe - $21.90 - Teen mystery game based on the Gumshoe system. It's a hard sell but can be a ton of fun if you can get players invested. Sort of a primer for playing Trail of Cthulhu.
  
  As much as I love Mouse Guard, I just can't quite fit it in the list with a budget of $100. In any case, that's a lot of great tabletop fun for ~$100!

Just gonna throw my hat in the ring here with some suggestions:

IF YOU WANT AN ASSORTMENT OF BOOKS

GURPS 4th Edition Basic (~60 USD): A simply fantastic game which, for everything that it can do, along with the absolute wealth of materials, both official and fan made, combined with it's pretty stellar price point (You can pick up everything you need to play anything you want for about 60 USD), it's hard to argue with. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, GURPS modularity is probably its key selling point, but on top of that, it sports a system that, when you break it all down, is actually incredibly easy to learn, and very simple. I've taught the "base" game in just a few sentences.

Savage Worlds Deluxe (~10 USD): I'm listing the lower price here simply so I can cram more into this list under the 100$ budget, but Savage Worlds is exactly what it says on the box: A fast, fun, and furious system, on top of that, I don't think I've seen a cheaper game that does as much as Savage Worlds. It shares similarity to GURPS in its modularity, you can run a lot of different settings and and hack in your own rules with relative ease. SWDX also has some unique rules from time to time (Using playing cards for initiative, the way that bennies work, etc.) and for speed, you generally can't beat Savage Worlds. Chargenning is speedy, and combats are among some of the fastest I've seen, allowing you to really get into the roleplaying aspects of a game more than just the crunch.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten (~15 USD): I personally got my copy of this game for 19.99 at my local book store, but it seems like it's been out of print for awhile. You can still get a digital PDF of it for 15 dollars at RPGdrivethru, however. I've run All Flesh Must Be Eaten numerous times, and with its ruleset, you can run a variety of different zombie games. Its fairly simple, with chargenning taking a fairly short period of time, combats running by fairly smoothly, and not a lot of "bloat" in the rules. It does what it does well, but might need some tweaking if you want specific types of games (I had a game where the PCs were zombie killing gods near the start of the game, for example, didn't play too well for my gritty game.)

FATE Core System (~15 USD): I listed 15 USD as the price here, but you can pay what you want for it on DrivethruRPG I've not actually run this game myself, but I do own it and have read the rulebook cover to cover. This is a very freeform system from what I can gather that takes narrative roleplaying to a pretty different level. It focuses on essentially creating "conditions" on characters, items, environments, and so on, and using those conditions to spawn the action and contribute to dice rolls. It's truly a unique system, and is designed to run any setting you particularly want. For 5 bucks, you can't go wrong adding another generalist RPG to your repetoire.


-------------------------------------------------

IF YOU WANT JUST ONE SYSTEM AND SETTING IN PARTICULAR:

Shadowrun, 4th Edition, 20th Anniversary Edition (~50 USD): There is not a single game on this Earth that makes my imagination go gallivanting quite like Shadowrun. The setting, in my mind is one of the most finely crafted, and most fun settings I've ever played. The gist is that it's a fantasy-cyberpunk game, you got dwarves, elves, trolls, orks, humans, etc. in a cyberpunk world with nasty corporations waging wars in the shadows, and there's magic and technology and it's just wonderful. The 20th Anniversary edition is the one I recommend purely because it I'm familiar with it, but it ALSO is a basically a "done" edition, and it comes with the 4th edition errata already written into it. It's also full colour, with beautiful artwork and it even has Shadowrun fiction between each chapter. And the best part is that you can get this book for 50 USD on Amazon. I got mine for 60 almost brand new, and the hardcover book is worth the investment.

Shadowrun 4th, Augmentation (~12 USD): This book contains lots of new cyberware augmentations for characters, and I consider it one of the "Core" splatbooks to be used. You can get it for about 12 USD on Drivethru RPG.

Shadowrun 4th, Arsenal (~12 USD): Another one of the "core" splat books in my opinion, this one basically contains craploads of guns and new ways to kill people. Fun! You can pick up the PDF at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Runner's Companion (~12 USD): Contains a metric crapton of character creation options, but for the love of god, screen the characters your players create. RC is fantastic, but it lets in some broken options. You can pick it up at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Unwired OR Street Magic (~12 USD for either): I put these two in a lump category because you couldn't buy both on the $100 budget, so it's up to you what you pick. I consider both to be the final parts of the "Core" splatbooks. Unwired is an entire rulebook that elaborates all on the technical side of Shadowrun, about hacking and the matrix and devices and all of that. Street Magic gives new spells, adept powers, traditions, etc. You can find Unwired on DrivethruRPG here for 12 USD, and Street Magic here on DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

----------------------------------------------------

That was long winded! But hopefully this helps out, if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know!

Buy some dice.

Buy some books.

Honestly, it depends what kind of game you want to play. I think here you're going to get a lot of weird niche games suggested but for starters you're better off sticking with the a more 'traditional' experience. D&D is an excellent starting point if you want to play a fantasy game, you can even pick up one of their adventures if you don't want to write your own material.

If you're unsure about spending that much just to get started you can pick up this starter set that will include the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters, and a short adventure. From there, if you like the game, you can pick up the full rulebooks and some more dice and whatever else you like. Alternatively you can try out the free basic rules by downloading them from the Wizards of the Coast website. All you'll need is a set of dice to get started.

If you don't like or don't want to play D&D you can check out a bunch of other systems that will let you play other games or settings. [Edge of the Empire] (https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Edge-Empire-Rulebook/dp/1616616571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=edge+of+the+empire&qid=1563883870&s=gateway&sr=8-1) is a really cool Star Wars game, but it requires custom dice. My personal favourite sci-fi rpg is Traveller though, and it has the advantage of only requiring six sided dice.

A lot of people really like Savage Worlds, it's fun, it's cheap, and it's generic enough that you can run almost any setting you like with it. Unfortunately there's a new edition due out really soon so take that in to consideration. If you want a more in depth generic system then I can recommend GURPS, although you'll also need the Campaigns book. This system is absolutely not beginner friendly, it slaps you in the face with tables and rules for all sorts of scenarios, but I adore it and it's not really all that hard to figure out.

If you want an alternative to D&D Green Ronin has the "Age" series of games, starting with Fantasy Age, continuing with Modern Age, and the recently released The Expanse RPG covers Sci-Fi. I will admit that I've not actually had a chance to play any of these games, but I've read the rules and like the system.

Honestly you can find a game to cover practically any genre you want, whether it's Grimdark Fantasy, Martial Arts, Space Exploration, Lovecraftian Horror, Anime Cyberpunk Space Opera, or almost any other thing you can think of.

Don't fall in to the trap of playing a game because someone suggests it's 'easy', play something that really grabs your interest and inspires your imagination.

Yes, the Core Book for Savage Worlds is this one. If you really like it, there are great expansion books for it, but the core can take you pretty far.

Monte Cook, the creator of Numenera/Cypher System thinks it's a narrative system, but that's because he doesn't know what that means. It's really not very good at being a narrative system, and is difficult to run that way. It's very good at being a more traditional rpg, though. It's also very easy to GM. I don't like the Numenera setting either. The Strange was really good, and yeah, Predation looks pretty good. There is also the setting neutral Cypher System Rulebook, which can run a very wide variety of settings.

BRP is definitely one of the % systems, and it's a good one. % systems can be a bit clunky, usually when it comes to things like character creation, but during play they are actually very simple (usually). The core mechanic is definitely easy to understand, as if you have a 62% in something, you have a 62% chance to succeed.

If you are going to try to do GURPS, grab the core book (maybe match the edition to the supplements you have, but I don't think that's super necessary, as the supplements are usually pretty universal). I haven't played a lot of GURPS, but from what I understand, you can choose to play without all the rules options and it can be comparatively light.

If you want to check out Iron Kingdoms, they have three different free quickstarts (which are all pretty different in feel, even though they are the same world/rules). Steampunk Fantasy pdf link, Playing as the monsters, and Playing as evil samurai elves pdf link.

TLDR: GURPS isn't overwhelming, but it may be a lot of work for the GM; GURPS Combat is (usually) faster, but that doesn't necessarily make it more fun; unsolicited recommendation that the system Savage Worlds might be right for you. Good luck!

Overwhelming? - GURPS shouldn't be overwhelming to a new player, but it might be to a new GM. GURPS is basically a giant toolkit, so it's up to you to do a lot of upfront work.

Primarily, you need to decide which rules are appropriate for your setting (how gritty/pulpy do you want it to be), and you need to decide what skills and items will be available. If you make the lists concise, then players likely won't notice that it's really more or less complex. Thankfully, there are some character templates that will give you an idea about what skills might be appropriate. But still, that's a lot more work than having everything laid out (relatively) neatly for you in D&D.

I will note though that, in my experience, when playing a game that makes many, specific skills available, players new to roleplaying will often forget about skills that they have and never use them. D&D is in this sense friendly to new players because the skill categories are so broad. The GURPS solution is probably to just limit how many points they get to "buy" skills--they won't be very powerful heroes, but it will teach them to pay attention.

Combat - First, combat is always slow with new players. That's just how it is because it takes time for them to learn and get comfortable with a bunch of rules. Depending on how set up your game can be (and typically is) really gritty, so getting shot/hit by a sword even once will effectively put you out of the game. But it doesn't have to be this way. The thing that can slow combat down in GURPS is that there can often be a lot of maneuvering (feinting, defending, etc.).

Note on D&D Combat - Combat in D&D can be a slog, but it doesn't have to be. In my experience, fights become a slog (1) when players have no other goal in the fight encounter than "kill the baddies," and (2) when players and DMs stop fighting heroically--players and DMs should use skills in fights creatively, take risks, and narrate dramatically. As Matt Colville might put it, the magic of D&D is in the drama. But really the same principles apply to GURPS. Fighting may be faster, but that doesn't necessarily mean more fun.

Unrequested Recommendation - If you're looking for a low-cost buy-in, I would definitely check out GURPS Lite, which someone else has already recommended. The actual books are fairly pricey, so I'd definitely check out Lite first. But I might also recommend that you look into Savage Worlds.

Savage Worlds uses a point/buy skill system, so you can do a lot of tailoring to character needs/desires, much like a (much) lighter version of GURPS. Character creation is FAST and relatively easy, which is a big bonus for new players. Combat is also fast paced and can have some really dramatic, unexpected results (there are many stories about players one-shotting a boss--or vice versa). Overall, Savage worlds is a nice balance of being flexible without being overwhelming and being simple but still crunchy. But maybe the best part is that the core rulebook costs $8.69 on Amazon.

I hope that helps. I'm glad to hear that you'll be playing with your family! GURPS, D&D, and Savage Worlds are all really great, fun systems (and so are a lot of others!). I hope you find the one that works best for you.

Are you married to actually playing Dungeons and Dragons?

If not some other games I would suggest

Savage Worlds Deluxe - Quick and easy game that you can get for <$10. You can do fantasy but if you want to try out a different genre you can do that easily as well. The real meat to SW is the various settings that are out there. Some of my favorites are Hellfrost (fantasy) and Deadlands Reloaded (Weird west based off the Deadlands game).

OpenQuest is like a retroclone of old Runequest - This game has a "dev version" which is free but does not include the artwork (and 2nd edition will not include some new rules). The first edition dev kit is on the downloads page, second edition is not released yet. Sadly I have not had a chance to actually play this game but reading over the rules I like them and it is percentile based which is always good.

Runequest 6 The newest iteration of the Runequest game (first edition only came out a few years after DnD). Another percentile based game that is a bit more complicated (quite a bit in my opinion) but has rules about building a character not just a lump of numbers like in some games.

Then there are a lot of other games that I know if you want to get more narrative. But if you want to play DnD in particular the edition order that I prefer (I have only played 3 editions) would go 2e is my most favorite, then 4e, then 3.5 (I am not a fan of 3.5 at all really).

But DnD is not my go to game.

EDIT: Oh and I am not trying to talk you out of DnD per se, I just see too many people online and offline that started with DnD so every other game must of course be terrible. And, in my personal experience so I have no factual basis for this, it seems that people that start with a game other than DnD are more open to trying new games. And really this hobby has a lot of games to choose from and while you can have fun with (almost) any of them if you don't look around you may never find that game that is just perfect for you/your group.

If you're interested in D&D, the starter set for the newest edition is a great deal. It's only 15 dollars here on Amazon. It comes with a guide to get you through level 5, a set of dice, pregenerated characters, and a premade adventure for you to run. It's definitely worth a look.

If you're worried about complexity though, my favorite game to pick up and run with newbies is Savage Worlds. It is 9 dollars right now on Amazon for the entire rulebook. You'd just need a set of dice. Its focus is, "Fast, furious, and fun," and it does it pretty well. The best part is that it's only 150 pages or so instead of the hundreds upon hundreds that most people use for D&D.

Either way, I'd encourage dropping by /r/rpg if you're at all interested. The community is super helpful and there are countless RPGs out there that are tons of fun to run and play.

Savage Worlds sounds perfect for what you're looking for! The game is centered around the players being hard-to-beat action heroes. There are rules for pretty much any type of combat you can think of, and you can run nearly any genre you could possibly want with the system. Player creation is also extremely flexible, and you gain plenty of "edges" as you level up. I highly recommend the system for all intense action RPG needs. I've run a Sci-Fi campaign with the system, and it was super easy to learn and the players had a blast. The core rule book is only $8.99 on amazon, so it's definitely worth a try! :)

My suggestion when starting kids of this age in rpgs is always Savage worlds Its cheap, easy, fast, and versatile.

This week you can be playing super criminals(or cops) doing whatever in "not shadowrun". Then next week when he gets super into power rangers you can easily play "not power rangers" with the same rule set. Then when some pirate show comes on tv you can play "not pirates" or "not space rangers" or really whatever you want. There is a huge number of setting books (that you don't really need) for all flavors you could want.

The card based initiative system is great. Probably the best initiative system I have ever seen in something that has a codified init system.

it uses a target number 4 system with "raises" for each mulitple of 4 over your first. Dice explode and get added together. So it helps to teach math

its based on a 'benny' or benefit system where you have little tokens that allow you to do things like reroll dice. The game is based around an economy between player and gm, with the gm being encourage to give them out to the players for good roleplay, decisions in character, or bringing in their negatives. We can take this one step furhter with kids and use it teach them small life lessons. Encourage them to do things, like instead of fighting a guy, they talk him down, or help him, givem a benny.

I often suggest usings like candy to represent these tokens. He can't eat them until he spends them on something, but then when he is out of them he can't do cool rerolls and stuff. teach him restraint since he wants to do cool stuff, but also wants to eat the candy.

Personally, I have read (and listened to) RPO multiple times. I don't think D&D would be fitting at all for it, but maybe something like Savage Worlds? It allows for building your character out in a very open ended way, just as is demonstrated in the Story, and since it is meant to be the more intense and over the top, you could with ease work that in (They are actually working on a Rifts adaptation to Savage Worlds currently, which is also a ridiculously action packed kind of setting).

You don't have a class system in Savage Worlds, so characters can pick up skills as they increase in power, without having that sudden "Level Up," feel to it. And, because it is meant to be easily adaptable to any sort of setting, it even having a very good amount of varying settings/genres, there would be no problem in changing to different settings or worlds so quickly, since all you really have to do is copy the book's explanation, "Oh, yeah, your Phaser doesn't work here because this is a Magic Zone. Sword and Sorcery time, guys!"

Plus, the Main Book for Savage Worlds (which includes everything you would need to make characters, know all the rules, and craft a campaign) is only about $10.00, which you can find on Amazon or their Own Website. I highly recommend it, and trust me as someone who recently got into this system to say that it is very easy to learn and simple to teach. I honestly think it is a great system that isn't too heavy on the rules that they get in your way, but not too light to force you to try and make up too much on the spot.

And if you are worried about having content from D&D, converted over to this system for you to use, I recommend Zadmar's Magnificent Collection of Free Savage Worlds Content It even includes a load of Monsters converted to the system from both D&D and Pathfinder.

The best thing you can do is to find someone who has some experience to show you the ropes for at least a few sessions. If you start asking around among your friends, you're likely to find someone who has a fairly decent grasp of it. Failing that, find a local gaming store and ask around for someone willing to GM for you. Tabletop gaming is one of those hobbies that makes 100x more sense once you've actually done it.

As for a game system, i personally like to suggest starting with D&D 4th edition. It's simple, most gamers know how to play it, and the general fantasy setting is one you're going to see a lot in other games. Once you have some experience under your belt, i suggest you try out some other games/genres (i like Pathfinder, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Savage Worlds).

Good luck and have fun! Feel free to ask me any additional questions :)

List of Influential RPG Titles

Dungeons and Dragons - By TSR and WotC

Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition - TSR

• Core Rulebooks
  
• Adventures (Keep on the Boarderlands, The Tomb of Horrors, The Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition - TSR
  
  
• Core Books (PHB, DMG, MM)
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Campaign Settings (Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Arms and Equipment Guide
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 - WotC
  
  
• Savage Species
  
• Deities and Demigods
  
• Stronghold Builder's Guidebook
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, DMG, & MM)
  
• Expanded Core (PHB2, DMG2, MM2, 3, 4, 5)
  
• Psionics Handbook
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Complete Series (Arcane, Adventurer, Warrior, Divine, Champion, Scoundrel, Mage, Psionics)
  
• Campaign Settings (Ebberon, Forgotten Realms)
  
• Adventures (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 4e - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, PHB2, PHB3, DMG, DMG2, MM, MM2, MM3)
  
• Essentials (Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms and Heroes of Fallen Lands, Rules Compendium)
  
• Settings (Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Adventures (Tomb of Horrors)
  
  Pathfinder - Paizo Publishing
  
  
• Core Rulebook
  
• Advanced Player's Guide
  
• Advanced Race Guide
  
• Ultimate Magic
  
• Ultimate Combat
  
• Ultimate Equipment
  
• Game Mastery Guide
  
• Ultimate Campaign
  
• Mythic Adventures
  
• NPC Codex
  
• Bestiaries 1-4
  
  Not Dungeons and Dragons
  
  World of Darkness - by White Wolf
  
  
• Vampire the Masquerade - Vampires are so mainstream now...
  
• Werewolf the Apocylypse - Where there are vampires there are werewolves.
  
• Mage the Ascention - and witches and wizards.
  
• Hunter the Reckoning - and someone to hunt them.
  
• Changeling the Dreaming
  
  "New" World of Darkness
  
  
• Core Book
  
• Expanded Core (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf)
  
  AEG
  
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition Core Rulebook
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 1st Edition Core Rulebook
  
• 7th Sea
  
• Deadlands
  
  Other
  
  
• Shadowrun
  
• Savage Worlds
  
• Dungeon World
  
• FATE Core
  
• Call of Cthulhu
  
• RIFTS
  
• GURPS
  
• Paranoia - Super expensive on Amazon, not sure why.
  
• Elf Quest - Also a very popular graphic novel.
  
  Authors to Look for
  
  
• Gary Gygax - Role Playing Mastery and Master of the Game
  
• Monte Cook
  
• John Wick
  
• Dave Arneston
  
  RPG Related Non-Fiction
  
  
• Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress - Shelley Mazzinoble
  
• Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
  
  RPG Fiction, also essential
  
  
• Dragonlance - Chronicles Triligy by Weise and Hickman - Set in a D&D campaign Setting
  
• Drizzit's Series - By R. A. Salvatore. Icewind Dale Trilogy and The Dark Elf Trilogy
  
• The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist - It's allegedly the story of the author's long running D&D game.
  
  Other Lists
  
  
• Good Reads Popular RPG titles.
  
• Wikipedia timeline of RPGs
  
  Honorable Mentions
  
  
• Star Wars - d6 Edition, d20 Edition, SAGA Edition, Star Wars RPG (Fantsy Flight)
  
• Star Trek - Various Incarnations
  
• Serenity the RPG
  
• D&D Comic Books
  
• Buffy the RPG
  
• Whatever the heck "Demon" is...
  
  *Please add suggestions below, I'll add to the list as I revisit this thread throughout the day. Adding Amazon links now.

Dungeons & Dragons is the big dog, it's the only TTRPG most people have ever heard of and that name recognition means whatever the current edition of D&D is will almost always have the largest player base in a given area in the English-speaking world.

But if you want a different game you could go with something like Savage Worlds, which is a rules-medium system that can play in any genre you want. The corebook (which is the only book you'd need to play, though others are helpful) is less than $10, which is a plus. See the demo here: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/peg-freebies/TD06.pdf
Corebook here https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200

If you want to get some friends together and try some D&D (5th edition, which is the current one) though, I'd try it with the free demo rules before dropping between $90 - 120 on the 3 core books depending on where you buy them. Free demo rules here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

If you play a game with your friends you'll want some dice, unless you just decide to use a dice roller app on your phones. I'd recommend buying a big bundle of cheap dice rather than paying a lot for individual sets. A bundle like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KN7REWQ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01KN7REWQ&pd_rd_wg=8uUwb&pd_rd_r=HQQYF600AKZZA1GKEZHV&pd_rd_w=CjKc8

DrivethruRPG is the site you'll want for other RPGs and older Dungeons & Dragons material, they're the amazon or wal mart of TTRPGs, selling PDFs and print on demand books. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/

Can't get more unique than Low Life by Andy Hopp, with the setting book The Whole Hole: Keister Island and The Whole Hole: Holy Crap. It's a setting where you get to play as bugs, worms, or sentient Twinkies after Earth has had several apocalypses. The books are filled with gloriously color-illustrated pages and puns galore. There is also a ton of lore, but the beauty of the setting is that you can make anything up and it'd still fit. The books are solid hardcover quality although the font may be a smidge tiny, but there's a lot of stuff in the books!

Since you have ETU & Thin Blue Line, both of which are "modern" settings, I'd look into acquiring some fantasy-based ones such as Hellfrost or Beasts and Barbarians (I rather like B&B's Jalizar, City of Thieves for their urban fantasy). In addition, can't go wrong with picking up one of the Deadlands: Reloaded campaign books.

Check out Mythweavers: http://www.myth-weavers.com/forumhome.php

It's a play by post site and you can join games for all sorts of different rpgs.

Personally, I would recommend trying Savage Worlds. It's a really fun and easy to learn system, and it can be used for a wide variety of games, from fantasy to modern to sci-fi. There's a free test drive of the rules that you can check out here:
http://www.peginc.com/freebies/SWcore/TD06.pdf

The full rulebook is $8.99 on Amazon, and it has everything you need to play: http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200#

This does a great job of capturing the Burroughs style of Mars adventures. It's Barsoom/John Carter without the copyright infringement. It's also a fantastic sourcebook.

The Savage Worlds core rulebook is wonderfully inexpensive- $9.99.

They do have free Test Drive rules which would give you a very good idea of whats going on.

• Savage Worlds Test Drive PDF
  
• core rulebook on Amazon

Another option here is Savage Worlds. The $10 core book has everything you need with simple rules and fast combat like D&D 5e, though it uses a different core mechanic. I recommend it because it can do just about any genre and easily handle mixing modern tech with magic. There are also tuns of official settings and fan made conversions. There's even a Shadowrun conversion that is quite well done. Note: it does require a Shadowrun core book, though mostly for reference).

The reason I recommend Savage Worlds and the shadowrun conversion is that Shadowrun is notoriously complex, even though 5th edition Shadowrun has slimmed down some rules, it's still very rules heavy. A lot of people, especially people newer to RPGs in this day of fast and simple rules, have a hard time wrapping their mind around all of it. As an example the book is almost 500 pages long. If your used to D&D 5e with it's simple rules and fast play it'll be quite jarring.

It's not a paradigm I ever want to play and Deadlands: Reloaded Player's Guide to play and in doing so miss the next cool thing.

Not 100% certain w/ that edition, but the likely answer is yes. You'll need the Savage Worlds core rulebook in some iteration.

http://www.peginc.com/freebies/SWcore/TD06.pdf <-- This is the link for the free "test drive" version of the game system. It may be enough to get you some use from the book you've already got.

Amazon for the Core Book --> http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorers Edition (soft cover) is $8.66 on Amazon and is a fantastic little crunch medium system with a lot of free and cheap material covering most genres.
http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200

Savage Worlds since this is r/rpg

If it's a fantasy setting, you could just rip Eberron and fit it to your liking.

Edit: saw your other post, since its the far future you could incorporate a Cyberpunk/fantasy setting such as Shadowrun. I'd recommend getting the Fantasy and Sci-Fi companions to give you some ideas and prebuilt objects for the world.

What I enjoy most about Savage Worlds is the amount of flexibility you are given as a GM/Player in that everything has a baseline, and you add flavor to make it something different. Great examples of this are the spells, where it could be a simple "Bolt" spell, but with added flavor such as Fire or Frost, you can change the dynamics of how they work. Plus, the main book you'll need is only 10 dollars.

Also, possibly the best selling point: the core book is only $10. For a physical copy.

EDIT: Here's an Amazon Link.

Savage Worlds Deluxe Core Rules: Explorer Edition

• 
  Slipstream
  
• 
  Deadlands: Reloaded Player's Handbook
  
  Probably you could get by with the core rules and one or the other. Slipstream would be beneficial for the gear, space combat, and the edges, while Deadlands would give you edges, dueling rules, and both would have good stuff for Professional edges.

OK. So you want a game that stays away from high fantasy and level-based character progression, lots of opportunity for mysteries and/or roleplaying through investigations and conversations, while also offering fights with bigass monsters 'n things, and preferably falling into a steampunk or Western feel/genre.

Hmm.

How about a classless, non-level-based steampunk-horror-western game that runs on Savage Worlds for quick, exciting combat?

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look into Savage Worlds. Would that be the deluxe edition on Amazon? Or is there another edition you were thinking of?

Also the rule book is under $10 on Amazon. Of course support your flgs if you have one.

http://smile.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413129275&sr=8-1&keywords=Savage+worlds

Just for clarification, there are two SPC editions, the [second one] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937013421) is the newest and better.

My goto generic system these days would probably be Savage Worlds. Character creation is pretty simple, combat is quick. Power level kind of takes care of itself, based on what edges PCs take, but you could always limit what is available. Plus the Explorer's Edition of the rulebook, which has everything the hardback copy does, is only 10 bucks.

Quick start rules, if you want to take a look before buying.

You can get the book from PEG themselves.


Or through Amazon UK or US.


But I don't think you need it for Dishonoured, everything can be covered by the core powers tbh.

Check out Savage Worlds, all extras are divided among the players and go on their initiative. The rules are light enough and the character sheets simple enough that one person could run a good number of extras in addition to their character without combat bogging down.

The core book is on amazon for less than 10 bucks - knock yourself out.

Take a look at this if you want more crunch!

http://johnwickpresents.com/7th-sea-second-edition/

https://www.amazon.com/50-Fathoms-Savage-Worlds-S2P10015/dp/1937013189

Nice... there's another SW G.I. Joe tribute called Strike Force 7 which I've run a campaign from.

(PDF) http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/102528/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-Edition

(Physical) http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200

The physical paperback is actually less than $10.

It really is.

Although let me advise you to pick up the Player's Guide and Marshal's Handbook (this and this) rather than the big hardback they put out first. The hardback's layout is unappealing, a couple of the Arcane Backgrounds had some serious errata issues, and it's overall more expensive. The smaller paperbacks are the way to go.

I second the suggestion for savage worlds. I would use the deluxe edition as that is the simplest form of the rules and has the largest number of adventures.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1937013049/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1566340457&sr=8-1

I'd get Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition. It's the only book you need to run in Savage Worlds (plus it's a fantastic system) and it is only 10 dollars (sometimes cheaper). http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407602646&sr=8-1&keywords=savage+worlds

Dungeon World or Apocalypse World (neither are related to Savage Worlds) are also fantastic pick ups that are cheaper than most p&p rpg books.

or you can do the Savage Worlds cheaper paperback version

or the more durable hardback version its a generic system with tons of different settings guides so they can play anything from superheros to mad max to high fantasy

Someone else will say it if I don't, but Savage Worlds has the tagline, "Fast! Furious! Fun!". It's definitely more crunchy than Dungeon World, but manages to make combat go fast.

If you end up getting it, note that the "Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorers Edition" is the newest version.

The books labeled as companions are also up to date. Don't buy anything labeled 'toolkit' as they are earlier parts of what became the companion books.

All of the older versions are extremely similar or literal copies. If you have an old version it'll work with the new stuff as far as I've been able to tell, but that also means its pointless to have more than one 'version'.

Bonus, the system is really quite cheap. You don't need any companions, but they do have a lot of cool stuff:

http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200

http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Companion-S2P10500-Savage-Worlds/dp/0981528112/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CVET03E63CH10C4H8DD

http://www.amazon.com/Horror-Companion-Savage-Worlds-S2P10502/dp/1937013162/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CVET03E63CH10C4H8DD

https://www.peginc.com/store/super-powers-companion-second-edition-le/

https://www.peginc.com/store/science-fiction-companion-le-bundle/

if this is a pen and paper type deal utilizing the polyhedral dice, i'd suggest picking up Savage Worlds Deluxe with the Super Powers Companion.

Savage Worlds is the easiest RPG system to use and the easiest to modify with different settings to utilize such as sci-fi, fantasy, horror and modern.

I'm currently using Savage Worlds, running a 4-person group through (loosely) an old MERP module. We're two episodes in, and everyone is having a blast. The Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer's Edition is usually around $9.95 MSRP:

http://smile.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420053487&sr=1-1&keywords=savage+worlds+deluxe

No matter what, good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405753710&sr=8-1&keywords=savage+worlds Savage Worlds is cheap and a very versatile system with lots of different settings(homebrew and in print).

Have you thought about just adapting something like Savage Worlds (which uses the Die Used=Skill rating)? I haven't used the system but own the book. It's universal, and I think it might even have vehicle combat rules as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Worlds-Deluxe-Explorers-S2P10016/dp/1937013200/ref=pd_sim_b_2

Low Life is a campaign setting for Savage Worlds.

Here is the campaign setting book on Amazon and here is Andy's site.

It also has an official Savage Worlds conversion.
http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-World-Savage-Worlds-Campaign/dp/1935432486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454085038&sr=8-1&keywords=Darwin%27s+World

http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-World-Savage-Worlds-Survivors/dp/1935432427/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1454085038&sr=8-3&keywords=Darwin%27s+World

Savage Worlds is a fast system and while I wouldn't classify it as rules light it is a very streamlined systems with a few quirks.