Re: Favorite RPG rules and why?

[Herr D]

Hammerknight has the right idea–one of the reasons I’ve gotten into writing game mechanics is I don’t agree with most of them.
The beauty of the present time is that with all the work already done, you COULD adopt the combat system from one RPG system, weapons from another, skills from a third, races / characters imported through GURPS from everywhere, and even convert from d20 systems to d10s to whatever and back again. You can quite literally build an RPG Frankenstein with a minimum of preparation. Books, online resources, even some consultants like I used to be are out there for the low, low price of just too much, and some are free.
As for favorite rules? I’ve got a few. A GM I know who uses a lot of percentile dice gives an automatic success on rolling a 69.
Several GMs I’ve known give experience points for making them laugh. Some give XP for ‘being ready with the answer a noob needs,’ and helping give them a leg up. One GM said a crit. success rolled on a random rock toss was worth choosing where an avalanche went.
Least favorite? Rules about cover / concealment and called shots seem grossly inaccurate most of the time. ‘Veteran’ in low-power skills always seem grossly overpowered or ignored. Generally inflexibility or the unwillingness to negotiate / customize bothers me also.