I’ve used QAGS to run many different campaigns, from canonical game settings like M-Force, Spooky or the Herrick Agency to Shakespeare/Tarantino/Rodriguez fusions to Chinese fantasy to bizarre space adventures to dead guy games. Other GMs I know have used it to run social and political commentary, the 80s in all their glory, the Simpsons, teenage nosferatu transition expediters, time-hopping cowboys, pirates, fratboys versus monster of your choice, and modern mercs. Heck, one of my games at Origins this year was a Regency romance–about as far away from sterotypical roleplaying as you can get. And some of the games that Ruckusmanager, Our Guy in the North, is running at Gencon this year make me green with envy that I didn’t think of them.

As for customized mechanics, for the Sindbad game we had to revamp a set of unpublished ritual high magic rules, while another game “Champions of Navistar” is going to use a more flash-bang magic system. It’s all a question of what is going to work best with the scenario you want to run/play/stoytell. Whether you want to run Japanese rubber monsters, giant transmogrifying robots, or even a good old-fashioned car chase, the basic QAGS system is flexible enough to accomodate pretty much anything you want to do. At least in my experience.

That’s why I use it.

I definately think it has a shallow learning curve and a good GM could have a session running quick. They give a advice on how to customize your setting, but if it is real or near real world setting it should be easy. If you wanted to do something exotic, like an Ars Magica adaptation, it would take a lot of work to fit it to the QAGS system. If you are just trying to make some action heroes in a easily defined world QAGS is a great choice. I say this not having played it yet, but that is the impression the rules give me.

I’m just curious what your experience and impressions are. I’d personally love to find a system that would allow me ot customize the hell out of it, with minimal re-working of the rules, and that I could introduce to a player group with a shallow learning curve. You know … something like, “Let’s make characters and start playing in this custom setting, within an hour of sitting down.”

Maybe I ask too much.