I've been doing a lot of work on Via Astrum lately, and I've been contemplating pulling the core mechanics and concepts out of the system into a universal system. This would allow me to create source/worldbooks without reinventing the wheel as it were.
The base system has 9 stats, Strength, Agility, Stamina, Appearance, Intelligence, Sense, Willpower, Charisma and Luck. The system is d10 based with exploding dice (not literally
). For most rolls, if you roll a 10, you get to reroll and add, and continue as long as you roll 10's.
Character generation is a bit unlike most other games. Each race has a set value on their stats, and characters get a number of points (3-4) to add to stats as they see fit. Characters also receive talents. Talents are similar to feats (D&D 3.5+, NWP D&D 2). Characters gain a limited number of these at creation (1-3 usually), and may purchase new ones with experience. Talents could be considered analogous to advantages also. They fill a similar role. Stats & skills are also raised via experience purchase. I don't have disads, mainly because the base system is not point-oriented.
I do have classes in the system, but no levels. Classes are similar to the old-school Traveller professions, adding to skills and stats. Again, similar to Traveller, you don't progress through your class, it's more of a "This is what I did before I started adventuring".
Combat is a simple 1d10 + skill + stat vs a Target Number. Meet or exceed the TN, and you succeed in the attack. This is also how skill resolution works. Opposed rolls both parties roll and compare. The higher total is the victor.
Combat is fairly deadly in the system. A light pistol can kill a person on a lucky damage roll. This of course, assumes no armor. Since Via Astrum had its genesis in Astra Imperium, there are 3 basic damage types; Kinetic, Thermal, and EM. There is a fourth, non-typed damage which is reserved for situations where the damage does not fit one of those categories. Armor protects against one or more of the damage types. Health is the non-lethal aspect of taking damage. In a simple sense, every 10 points of Health damage does 1 Wound, which is counted against Stamina. Zero Health = Unconsciousness, Zero Stamina = Death.
There are a couple additional derived stats, Stress and Morale. These make combats more on the gritty realistic side of things. When Stress is reduced to zero (opposite of the logical way), the character is basically in a combat paralysis, shell-shocked, etc. Once Morale has depleted to zero, the character has broken and will attempt to flee.
In all, I can see additions, mainly through classes, talents and skills to make any variety of RPG genre, fantasy, sci-fi, superhero, modern, horror, etc.