I used to work for Hollywood visual effects. Over the span of many years I have tried almost all the software out there and I find Blender very powerful but my personal favorite is a software named Houdini* (not free but you do get apprentice version).
The core methodology Houdini is built on is for creating procedural systems for everything which i think is of more relevance for this community.
Do check it out, I am sure members of this community can put it to use for the things not even their creators would have imagined.
*http://www.sidefx.com/