Quick system references

[Vladim]

Table of contents:

• The One Ring (1st edition)
• Ironsworn

[Vladim]

The One Ring (1st edition)

TOR is a dice pool-based system that uses a d12 and d6s to resolve actions. The core mechanic is very simple. When you need to roll, you use a 'feat die' (d12) plus a number of 'success dice' (d6s) equal to your skill rank. The higher you roll, the better, though the typical number to meet or beat (target Number, or TN) is 14. An 11 on the feat die is an 'eye of Sauron'-potential failure, and / or something bad happens. A 12 on the feat die is a 'Gandalf'-automatic success. 6s on the d6 rolls may enable critical successes.

The figure on the left gives a rough idea of how skill ranks translate in this game. 

The Player Characters in TOR do not have classes or levels, and almost everything is based on skills. They also have additional statistics and mechanics such as Hope and Shadow, that introduce many themes from the books into the game in a very direct and impactful manner. Although some options can be better than others during character generation / advancement, TOR is for the most part not min-maxable, and most characters should be viable.

[Vladim]

Ironsworn

In a nutshell:

• A free RPG (link) that supports solo, co-op (GMless) and guided (traditional GM-led) play.
• Mainly influenced by more well-known systems that include Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Fate and Mythic.
• A (mostly) rules-lite game with a gritty feel that focuses on perilous quests.
• All mechanics are player-facing, meaning that adversaries never roll.
• All mechanics are narrative-driven, meaning that the framing of the story should dictate what kind of mechanical 'move' should take place.
• The core mechanic involves rolling an action dice (1d6), adding appropriate modifiers (usually between +1 to +3) and two challenge die (2d10). If the action die result exceeds both challenge dice, the attempted action succeeds unconditionally (strong hit). If it exceeds only one challenge die, the action succeeds at a cost (weak hit). If it is equal to or lower than both challenge dice, the action fails (miss).
• Further nuances (e.g. rolling matches on challenge dice, momentum etc) refine the core mechanic, generating interesting variants and decisions.