What’s your favorite ttrpg system?

Sure, but AC doesn't always mean you aren't being hit, just that you aren't taking damage. The most common way to flavor not hitting AC is that the attack missed, but it doesn't have to be. It could have been deflected, not penetrated the armor, or been a glancing blow that does no damage. If you think of AC as the number you have to hit in order to deal damage, it makes more sense that armor increases AC.

I don't necessarily disagree, but it doesn't help that a lot of prior editions explicitly describe a successful attack roll as a "hit". Even the aftorementioned THAC0 stands for, IIRC, "To Hit (with) AC 0". Obviously I don't struggle with the concept now, having been playing for years, but teenage me really thought armor ought to provide damage reduction rather than making you harder to hit.

I of course get that it's an abstraction that enables convenient modifiers like stacking AC from dodge or whatever, but like I said it's an irrational pet peeve.

In that way even HP are super abstract.
You stand in the middle of a dragon's breath attack with a nat 1 on the save and continue to fight like nothing happened at half HP?
I'd like to think that HP are more an "exhaustion" than actual damage.

Agreed about HP.

I've only played a single one shot of Cyberpunk but in that game combat felt really lethal. I liked that there was a very big incentive not to get into combat because it was very easy to get killed.

I love dnd 5e, crash pandas, and honey heist.

Honestly? If I'm just picking one?

The old FASERIP system used in the (as far as I know) original Marvel RPG from TSR.

Wasn't called that back then, but yep -- Marvel Super Heroes RPG. A classic, and indeed the first of many Marvel RPGs.

Have to agree with Nezzeraj, Dungeon Crawl Classics is such a great game to play IRL as it is designed to be completed quickly. Many of my TTRPG games throughout history have fizzled simply because they took longer than newbie player interest lasted. I do have a group of hardcore old-school gamers who have the tenacity to grind through something like Caves of Chaos for months and stay hungry but most often when playing with new people I find the bite sized adventures of DCC keep them wanting more. Not to mention the sword and sorcery style and new system of magic corruption are irresistible.

Shadowrun is also one of my top three favorite settings as well but I've only ever found one group who knew it (and we're interested) enough to play IRL, the game demands an exacting knowledge of a convoluted dice/rule system that many don't have the patience for.

Same. Love the setting, the system I have issues with... I've been looking to start a game using the SR setting with a different game engine. I think the Chronicles of Darkness game engine is what I'll be using. Should take me about a month or so to open the game for trial runs.

Honestly with a little minor modification the Cyberpunk RED rulesystem works beautifully for Shadowrun.