Best system for a PVP experience?

[Fenryr]

Yo, sup!

A friend of mine wants to be the DM of a group of friends of his own. Point is these people want to play PVP. I only know DnD 3.5 and PF and these aren't suitable for PVP.

Would you mind recommending a good system for PVP? Last man standing and the like.

Thanks!

[Kid Jake]

Paranoia is absolutely built around PVP. If anyone except you survives the mission then you've done something horribly wrong.

[jaydubs]

You could try Maid RPG. Though it would be hilariously awkward, and probably the last thing in the world they were thinking when they asked for PvP.

[veti]

Toon is built for PvP. Although, since combat is basically harmless, they might find it frustrating...

[Eisenheim]

what kind of PvP? pitfights? long term backstabbing?

Are the characters going to be opposed to each other all the time, or do they just want the option on the table?

Is anything going to be happening in the game that isn't about conflicts between the PCs?

All those are important questions to find the right system. That being said, I recommend fate because I always recommend fate, and because I find the narrative style of play helps to keep PC conflict separate from player conflict.

[Fenryr]

what kind of PvP? pitfights? long term backstabbing?

Are the characters going to be opposed to each other all the time, or do they just want the option on the table?

Is anything going to be happening in the game that isn't about conflicts between the PCs?

All those are important questions to find the right system. That being said, I recommend fate because I always recommend fate, and because I find the narrative style of play helps to keep PC conflict separate from player conflict.

Probably direct combat, no need for political stuff and backstab. It seems they wish to make some kind of tournament to name their champion.

Right now they're reading Mutants & Masterminds. Is it any good?

[Kid Jake]

I'm a big fan of M&M and if they're looking for tournament styled play, it handles Dragon Ball and similar genres extremely well.

[Eisenheim]

If they are looking for just a PvP tactical combat experience, have they considered a miniatures game of some kind?

This is an honest question; I love rpgs and miniatures games, and I don't think any rpg system really gives you great depth of experience for PvP tactical combat: it's mostly going to be just rolling dice and losing out on a lot of what makes any of the rpg systems you might try great.

There's nothing wrong with it, but everyone might have more fun if you go with a tool designed for the job you want to do.

[Mr.Moron]

I can't think of any specifics at the moment but in general: The lighter the better.

The less space there is for system mastery, the more satisfying the experience is going to be. A rules-heavy system is going to almost by nature devolve into whatever player has the most rules knowledge slapping their proverbial **** on the table.

PVP should be about PVP. Not who had the most spare to memorize the books and look up the math in online forums.

[kyoryu]

Amber Diceless?