(No, that's not a typo.)

Here a question I just thought of: As far as table top RPGs are concerned, which one would you consider to be the best for players who like to "roll play", "powergame", "meta-game", "munchkin", or otherwise play the game for the mechanics? Assume that all the players, including the GM, are into that kind of play, and nobody is interested in what is commonly called "role playing" in this context.

Please, no comments on whether this style of play is better or worse than what is commonly called "role playing".

One of the groups I played with were heavy into power-gaming, and Rifts was the game of choice. You can start out the game as a little human or elf, but why when you can begin the game as a dragon or a demi-god? The game has always been kind of the "everything and the kitchen sink + the rest of the store" feel to it.

As far as the main setting goes, it takes place on a post apocalyptic earth where ley lines erupted after a nuclear strike which resulted in massive natural disasters as well as random portals opening and bringing in all types of creatures/races. (The Chaos Earth setting goes over that). Most of the books depict portions of North America, but there's more than a few that describe other parts in the world, different dimensions and alien civilizations.

All their settings are compatible, so if you want to bring superheroes from their Heroes Unlimited line, or the supernatural creatures from Nightbane, it's easy to do. The hardest part is trying to control how crazy it gets.

I'm a fan of the old 90s Palladium system. I ran a game combining ninjas and superspies, beyond the supernatural, tmnt, heroes unlimited. Heroes players seemed a bit overpowered and one guy used psi powers to paralyze other players.

I think one problem with Palladium system is the character creation was slow. I might recommend calculating skill percentages when you actually use that skill. We spent some evenings just on character creation.


My favourite all time system is palladium fantasy 1ed. Didn't like the world they created but I loved the mechanics, nothing spectacular and I thought it was a nice down to earth system. Didn't like the magic system mind you.

Out of curiosity, how does that magic system work and why didn't you like it?

I would not say it is the best rpg system, but knowing the posts you make, it is a system and world that might interest you.

The game is the Mechanical Dream pen & paper rpg,.It was released in 2002, not successful and out of print, but it shows what people can come up with. Still have the core rule book on my shelf. Hit me with a chat message, I can send you a link for Mechanical Dream. Not sure I can post it here.

There is also the Eclipse Phase pen & paper rpg, which has an interesting take on what you are, or what makes you.
Eclipse Phase

Looking at your initial question, I guess Pathfinder 1st edition would be the choice to go crazy on rules and theory crafting your characters for the most powerful outcome..

Rolemaster may be worth a look...

It's a skill + level based system where each level characters gain Development Points to spend on a wide range of skills or spells. While the class you choose determines the cost of skills, there are very few absolute limits so you could have a spell-casting barbarian (just not a very good one...).

Sometimes know as "Rollmaster" amongst players, it features a very extensive spell system (with a couple of thousand spells) running from level 1 to 50 (companion rules have extended this up to level 100+), hundreds of skills, dozens of classes, combat tables for individual weapon types and several critical hit tables with five ranks of severity.

The original version of Rolemaster consisted of 3 books (Character Law, Arms Law/Claw Law and Spell Law) and spawned no fewer than 12 companion volumes of rules options (Rolemaster Companion I-VII, Elemental, Arms, Spell-Users, Alchemy and Oriental Companions) plus War Law (mass combat) and Sea Law (naval rules).

War Law has the somewhat dubious distinction of almost requiring the use of a scientific calculation for combat results with its Refereed (complex) system. It has a simpler (Standard) system that plays more like a traditional hex-and-counter wargame.