Tell me your favorite system...

Tell me your favorite system, and then explain why it's your favorite in the most subjective/non-proselytizing way possible.

In other words, explain why you love it without trying to:
1. Sell it to other people.
2. Write a love letter to the game mechanics themselves.

Examples: D&D 3.5 because sexy dungeonpunk art and nostalgia and fuck you WotC I'm not buying new books again.

GURPS because I loved legos as a kid and yeah I like rules sometimes too so fucking sue me.

Fate because honestly I'm just kinda lazy and my players don't care what I tell them we're playing anyway.

Exalted because sexy bitches, amusing post-game anecdotes, also WoD had too many goths for me to get into so now I'm here instead.

FATAL because I started playing ironically but then I got trapped in a post-irony campaign and I have to admit I kind of like it now.

Song of Swords because I have beaten wife syndrome and even though I know in my heart it's actually no better than RoS and it will never be finished, I still force my faith in Jimmy because I've already invested too much of my soul in it to stop now.

Legends of the Wulin because no other system has the same combination of satisfying crunch and narrative focused design, meaning that despite it's problems it's the only way I can experience that kind of gameplay.

Kek at waiting on sign of swords

Well?

Not to go off-topic here, but...I thought SoS was a wargame? It's an rpg?

Dark Heresy because I like the amount of freedom it gives me as a DM in terms of combat/social/investigation. Also the Crit Tables are probably the best thing about the system.

Seconded, especially for GMing. I like rules heavy systems, and DH is crunchy without too many rules that don't make sense (I can enjoy D&D with friends, but what the fuck is Armor Class supposed to be). I understand that the system is kind of joined at the hip with the 40k setting, but it's honestly my all-around favorite system from the perspective of pure mechanics. Also, the 2nd edition books are all sexy as fuck.

Legend of the Five Rings

Because of the pre-written setting details that forms an interesting story as well as the rules that are a pretty novel approach, suited for many different things such as combat -which is also extremely lethal-, mystery solving and a great take on the horror genre too. It is simply a great system for those who are tired of the run-of-the-mill generic dungeon romp games.

GURPS is fun because of the crunch, that allows you to play realistic games well if you feel like taking a break from the standard fantasy_world#18234917.

Last but not least, Dark Heresy and Warhammer: Fantasy RP because of the d100 system, which I love, and the psyker rules/magic rules that make casting spells a double edged sword. I love it to bits!

100% Agreed, we do end up chucking a few house-rules about, but I really think a Dark heresy GM needs to know be fairly experienced for everyone to have a good time.

To many first time GM's are too afraid to throw out +40 and +50's on routine as shit tests.

I also adore the Utter brutality of combat, I feel like the players understand they're always one errant autogun burst away from loosing limbs, which leads to brilliantly smart play that I've rarely ever seen in other RPG's.

ORE because one roll is already tiresome but i won't play a fully pretenti- ...narrative system for all the gold in the world

FATE. For three reasons.

Simplicity. It is easy to learn, easy to teach. Even players who are terrible with rules can learn it with little effort. And because the rules are so few in number, you will spend no time looking them up in a book or debating them, because they are always the same.

Speed. It moves much faster than most games, both in prep and in actual play. Partly because stats are so simple, allowing you to design monsters and weapons and whatever else you want totally on the fly. And partly because it uses a single die roll and small numbers for all tests, so there is as little time spent rolling and doing math as you will find in pretty much any game, letting you move forward at a strong pace.

Adaptability. You can do anything at all in it, any setting, any style, any power level, any genre or group composition, and it always works, and always works well as a whole, at least mechanically. All the crunch is static while all the fluff is abstract, so you do not have to worry about levels, classes, points, or money. You can have Captain America, Tyrion Lannister, and Jack Sparrow in the same party, and not only can they all have all the powers and possessions you feel they should, they can all be equally effective within the game.

Dread because its one mechanic beautifully combines functionality with simplicity. It's nowhere near a universally applicable system, but for horror roleplaying I think it perfectly captures the feeling of horror for the players and DM. I think it's truly artistic how simple and effective the design is.

WoD (old, new and chronicles) because muh myths readaptations and themes of exploring human flaws through monsters.

L5R because roleplay is life, diplomacy is life, stabbing everyone in the back is life and msot of all playing shugengas and wrecking shit up is life.

Cthulhu because existencial horror, being able to play in any era you want with a lot of realism and because mysteries and tasty body horror works great on my players

PF because I started D&D with 3.5 and PF is a slightly better redesign of it.

It's a right wing death cult, is what it is.

Or an rpg with a neat setting that you need to kick out of Jimmy, and spiffy rules.

It's one of those two.

5e because baby duck syndrome.

DnD 4th and 5th
Introduced on it, all my friends play it, have had most fun with it and know it well enough we can move through rather smoothly even with new players.

You mean...explain why it's your favourite system, but as if you're an insecure cunt who thinks they need to defend everything they say?

AD&D, because she was my first and never let me down.
I know she has her problems and can be a bit antisocial, but I just like the ol' girl.

Same my friend, but the real question. Is she 1e or 2e I prefer 1e myself

SoS because I was looking for a proper low fantasy system for my homebrew setting

I love 4e. There is a particular kind of game that I've been trying to run and play since I got started in the 90's. We wanted to play games that felt like fantasy novels. Most of the games we played felt more like playing regular mercenaries in the world that someone else's fantasy novel happens to be taking place: that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what we were looking for. We house-ruled the ever-loving shit out of what we had, and made it work. Eventually, we found games that required fewer house rules to do what we wanted. 4th ed is the first game that did what we wanted OOTB. It's a game focused on running the exact kind of game that I got into the hobby as a child hoping for, but never quite got because the mechanics got in the way.

GURPS for similar reasons, in addition to the following:

The stats and how they affect each-other make sense.
I only have to remember like, three or four things, and the rest that regularly comes up fits on a cheatsheet or cards.
I like building characters based on TV show or movie characters. The Mountain from GoT, btw, should probably have gigantism and ST of 21. I did the math for the actor that plays him at one point. I actively enjoy the mini-game of modelling esoteric shit in GURPS basic rules.
I like having agency in combat. Also, combat is super-easy to narrate and make interesting.

Call of Cthulhu because even metagaming powergamers can't game their way through it and it's not high fantasy.

pathfinder because i like breaking and abusing it, there's so much stuff, its vanilla enough to get new people in and i know it well enough to homebrew/handwave any of its faults

Call of Cthulhu - I'm a prop whore. I love making spooky journals, autopsy reports, maps, passports, etc. CoC is very prop friendly.

Fate - It's a very flexible and hackable game that's perfect for homebrew settings, or genres that don't exactly have a lot of representation. It's easy to run and doesn't require prep in the traditional sense.

Apocalypse World - I have mixed feelings about the game and some PbtA products, but I'm including it because it made me a better DM. Having to constantly come up with interesting consequences for failed rolls is a creative exercise.

Eclipse Phase - I love transhuman sci-fi stuff and there's a ton of content. The setting is perfect for all kinds of existential body horror.

Dungeon World/Apocalypse World

One of the few systems that doesn't flick a switch in my head when we switch between combat and regular play. Usually this happens when I hear "roll for initiative". In my experience, combat is low on roleplay, high on rolling dice. Regular play tends to be the opposite. PbtA feels like the same game all the time, which is great to me.

Being able to balance fights mid-combat. As a GM, I want my players to win or at least survive, but the important encounters should be close calls.

Good GM advice in both games.

I love GURPS. Stats make sense and don't use too much abstraction - here is your strength, here is your dexterity, etc. Building character is intersting, because yeah, lego analogy. Combat isn't fast, but deadly and I don't have to describe in prose what my character is doing. Also I am too lazy to learn other systems, so I do GURPS.