You cannot really separate setting and system. For example, the D&D system uses Vancian magic. That isn’t how magic works in Lord of the Rings. So you cannot „see Lotr through the lens of the D&D system“.
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2025
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I completely agree that system can influence the setting; the entire point of playing different systems with our setting is to see how those systems impact our world building.
The very act of playing a dnd game in the setting of middle earth is seeing it through the lens of dnd!
Mouseguard. Everything's of epic proportions when you're a mouse.
My favourite is Burning Wheel from the same devs.
I really enjoy the flashback mechanic from Blades in the Dark. It's a nice narrative mechanism that makes the player write a bit more of the story.
Aside from that, I've been playing Cyberpunk RED. It'd be fun to see the Interlock system in fantasy. I enjoy the focus on skills rather than levels - I could see some fun crunch around skills in different schools of magic and combining them for spells.
Dungeon Crawl Classics. The rules are fun, but still quick and light. Combat is deadly. Magic is powerful but can cause mutations if you’re unlucky. The modules are fun, and allow you to build a world around.
My current game infatuation is Fate. It's a general purpose game so you can use it for any setting. It's not very crunchy, so you can delegate a lot of stuff to Aspects.
Can the elf talk to the trees? Well, his "Elf Prince of the Eldest Forest" aspect makes that plausible. The dwarf with his "Royal Gemcutter of Moria" not so much.
Of course, this is a very different mode of play than the "I took 3 levels of ranger and took 'Speak With Plants' as my 4th level special power" or whatever you'd find in a crunchier system.
Absent knowing anything else, and assuming most of the "usual" fantasy tropes are in place?
Either Savage Worlds, or Colville's Draw Steel depending on how I feel and how my upcoming experimental play of the second one goes.
I quite like Monte Cook's Cypher System for just about any setting. Fast, elegant rules with just the right amount of crunch to keep things interesting. It's really easy to grasp and can be easily tailored to fit any setting. I also love how it uses a descriptive sentence instead of cookie-cutter character classes.