Hello it is me, the local GURPS shill. While not truly universal (I would never try to use it to run a really high-powered game like superheroes without massive houseruling, for instance), GURPS is pretty fantastic at running anything that's vaguely realistic. If you don't like the piles of HP people get in D&D, then come play GURPS were a single sword blow can be potentially fatal. There are buckets of optional (and not-so-optional) rules, and I've used it to run or play in the following games over the last 6 years:

• D&D with the serial numbers filed off
• Sci-Fi post-apocalypse road trip across the ruins of north america where the mad max-style vehicles are powered by human blood
• A spinoff game in the same post-apocalypse setting but in the Pacific Ocean, hopping around the islands from China to Japan
• Shadowrun with the serial numbers filed off where the PCs were rogue androids that needed to find alternate power supplies after breaking out of a corporate facility
• Warhammer 30k just before the heresy where the PCs were officers in the Imperial Army tasked with finding out why a colony had broken off contact while dealing with suspicious traitors along the way
• Space Opera heist game based on the setting of the Twilight Imperium boardgame
• Delta Green with the serial numbers filed off
• Evangelion + Pacific Rim vs Skynet
• Kung Fu Cowboys, an alternate universe where guns don't exist, so the old west is plagued by gangs of martial arts masters
• An extremely rules-light game where the PCs were prospective gods and had to complete prophecies to convince others of their divinity
• A pair of Halloween One-Shots: Campers vs Bigfoot and Squid Game but the Bourgeoisie are Literal Vampires