A generic role-playing game is one that has no default setting, and might have no setting at all included. Many generic games are designed to support a certain genre of story in any possible setting. A generic game that is, in addition, designed to support multiple broad genres is called a universal role-playing game.
Generic games may include multiple pre-made settings as options that can be played in, one or more example settings to explain the rules but are not intended to be played, or no setting information at all. However, even in games that provide pre-made settings, there is an assumption that individual groups and GMs will homebrew their own setting to play in. Some generic games will provide worldbuilding tools to do this, but that is not common.
Examples[]
- Although the role-playing game Champions has a default setting in a superhero universe, the Hero System core books that were derived from Champions' rules have no default setting, making Hero System a generic game.