Favorite game mechanics?

[Vladim]

Sometimes you read a game or 5 and end up liking some particular mechanic, even if the game doesn't necessarily capture you. Things that you could adapt to any game and feel simple but with a lot of depth and elegance. Often flexible.

I'm wondering if people have pet favorites. Things that they could summarize and perhaps articulate why they like (to explain and to sell them better). Preferably not overly-complex stuff.

For me, it's gotta be Fate's aspects by far. I don't do much Fate for (reasons), but I can't think of any game or character that wouldn't be improved by the inclusion of aspects. For the uninitiated, they are little pieces of descriptive text, like a sentence or two, with an upside and a downside, that can be invoked or compelled by the player(s) and/or GM to grant a bonus or a resource (Fate points). It's really nice for PC characterization and narrative-steering.

Which one's yours? Pendragon's virtues/vices? Clocks from Blades in the Dark? 3.5e's grappling rules? Let me know, I am curious to read it!

[eltorin]

There are many...just a few off the top of my head:

- MSH/Faserip: the actual roll mechanic with the universal roll table and the use of Karma to make up for a failed roll

- Ascendant: other then the CHART itself, the Team Attack mechanic (decrease the AV based on the number of enemies, if the roll is successful, you hit all of them with your roll result - Green, Base damage, Yellow, Base damage x2 and so on)

- OpenQuest: "Acrobatic attack", when you want to do something flashy, you can roll an Athletics check in lieu of the attack roll and if it's successful, it counts as an automatic critical, if it fails, an automatic fumble (say, "I swing myself from the chandalier" kind of attacks)

- Hero System/Champions: Presence attack, when you're so charismatic that it affects the enemies

- The Dark Eye: the 3d20 skill rolls, with the Skill Ratings

- Genesys: the Narrative Dice System, no question here

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by eltorin (see edit history)

[yxanthymir]

That I remember from the top of my head.

- Fate: I also love fate aspects.

- 13th Age: I really like the escalation die, the mob rule, and the rules for grid-less combat. The game feels like an improved D&D 4ed.

- Shadow of the Demon Lord: The boon/bane mechanic is so elegant, and the Shadow of Demon Lord effect is so flavorful. 

Edited May 11, 2023 by yxanthymir (see edit history)

[hakootoko]

Fate Aspects and Fate Points are great, and you don't have to play Fate itself to use them. We added them to our crunchy homebrew ruleset a few years ago and they really improve things.

 

I like systems with a single roll for attack/damage (the higher the attack roll, the more damage you do), but there aren't many of them. It was one of my favorite things from Rolemaster.

 

I like the concept of Modiphius "2d20" games' concept of Momentum. If you roll more successes than you need for a task, the others become Momentum that other characters in the party can take from the Momentum pool to roll more dice on their turn. But I don't know how well it works in practice, because I haven't been in any of those games long enough.

 

[BBK]

The PF/3.5 Psionic Powers mechanics of Augmentation rather than the arcane/divine spell hardcapped counterpart scaling off caster level alone.

Using a variation of the Spellpoint variant system, and house-ruling scaling based on point values in the same way as psionic power augmentations (including replacing spell level increases for point values for metamagic), old spells that normally go unused or replaced at higher levels due to being ineffective in lieu of better options suddenly become useful and valuable forever.

• Mage Armor? Use the same point values as Inertial Armor for augmentation.
• Magic Missile? 1 point to cast a 1d4+1 missile. +2 Points per extra missile.
• Fireball? 5 Points to cast a base of 3d6 damage. +1 point per extra +1d6 of damage.
• Applying the Silent Spell Metamagic Feat? +2 points.

I really wish they'd have used the psionics power point system for spells in the first place. It flows and scales soooo much better. But, some simple rules changes can make it happen. :)

• If the spell has a psionic counterpart, use points per the psionic power.
• If there is no psionics counterpart, base cost is the same per the Spellpoint variant, and 'base' damage is set to minimum caster level.
• Upscaling hit point damage dice, number of targets, or defensive or save bonus values by 1 is +1.
• Upscaling iterations (rays, missiles, etc) by 1, upscaling ability damage die by 1, or upscaling negative levels lost by 1 is +2. 
• Upscaling negative levels lost by an additional die (i.e. 1d4), or changing size by an additional size category is +3.
• If a metamagic increases the spell level, the additional point value is 2 * Spell Slots Increased. The inverse is true for metamagic reducers.
• Heighten Spell metamagic feat simply adds and augment that costs +2 points for each +1 additional DC to the spell.
• For all other spells that have a 'gain x per caster level', just make the minimum CL effect the 'base' and replace +1 CL with +2 points.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by BBK (see edit history)

[DarkisNotEvil]

Pendragon's Traits and Directed Traits are excellent, the whole resolution system is RPG gold standard in my book. I think 6e's decision to change the Weapon Skills to Weapon types is an improvement.

Delta Green: Spending permanent POW. In a game with such limited resources, it really drives in the 'pound of flesh' aspect of things.

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying's SFX/Limits and Milestones are all good, with Limits being the best of the bunch and SFX coming second. MHR has a number of flaws but that's one of the best way to implement superhero weaknesses in any system I've seen.

Mutants and Masterminds: Ranks and Measures table. It's simple and it resolves quickly: Good idea.

Fighting Fantasy: Test Your Luck. Somewhat limited by the failure to refresh Luck on a failure, but the basic mechanic is a good one.

Ryuutama: Condition. Fantastic idea, perfectly fits the setting.

[Malkavian Grin]

Randomly off the top of my head, and which hasn't been mentioned yet:

Ironsworn: The Momentum mechanic.
It is a resource every character has, which only has one use; to overcome a bad roll by spending it down to a "reset state." To be generic about it, Momentum is gained by doing things well towards some goal; you are building on your successes and "building up steam" to put it another way. Sometimes a bad roll will make you lose Momentrum, because you've hit some kind of setback in your goals.

Star Wars SAGA: The Condition Track.
Okay, this one is weird because it seems people either love it or hate it. Basically, the track represents wounds you've taken which affect your overall combat effectiveness. Once you hit the bottom of the track, you've taken so much punishment you go unconscious, regardless of your current Hit Points.

Powered by the Apocalypse (and variants) & Mythic GM Emulator: Expanded yes/no mechanics.
Essentially your success/failure rolls now are gradients from "Yes and, Yes, Yes but, No but, No, No and" so you get additional effects based on the circumstances. This not only has great flavor, but it can help drive the narrative if suddenly a bunch more goons roll up or you talk a group into something very helpful. Even the GM doesn't really know where the story will go, because the dice have a say in the matter. Love, love, love this mechanic.

[Actana]

I'm not feeling like writing a lot today, so I'll keep things brief:

Popularized (if not invented, I don't know the precise history ) by Powered by the Apocalypse games, GM moves, to me, are one of the greatest mechanics added to RPGs. They make the game a whole lot more dynamic and responsive, whilst still giving a lot of freedom for the GM to keep things making sense in the fiction.

They're also fairly system neutral and easy to adopt into any games, even though they lose a bit of their focused oomph when taken outside the rest of PbtA mechanics. But still a great mechanic that has elevated my GM thinking.

For those unaware of GM moves, here's some reading from Dungeon World, the most immediate resource I can think of (despite the rest of the game not being something I tend to recommend for reasons that are too lengthy to go into and boil down to DW not being the best example of a PbtA game despite being an okay game in its own right); anywhere where was I: https://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/gamemastering/

[Vladim]

Another one that's cool and could be adapted to many games: Passions from Blade of the Iron Throne/Riddle of Steel. Old, a bit niche games but with some interesting mechanics.

These are dice pool-based systems, but in addition to the usual attributes & skills (e.g. Strength + Sword skill), characters get points to allocate to Passions of their own creation. Basically, these are their goals that they work towards fulfilling. Then, when pursuing said goal, they get to add their rating in said Passion to all dice pools. 

It's a simple but powerful mechanic that rewards pro-active players and makes the game feel a lot more character driven. I could see it easily applied to any other game. If I recall correctly (it's been a while), Passions are also connected to the way PCs get XP, and fulfilling them does that, though I don't remember all the details.

[Butchern]

I love any mechanic that allows players to treat success like a resource to be managed. Nothing is more frustrating and antithetical to role-playing to me than 1) to be the character that is supposed to be good at X, 2) to reach the point in the story where X is the most important thing in the narrative, and 3) to fail to do X because I rolled a a frikin' 1 on the D20 and failed with absolutely no genre-appropriate story reason to explain the failure.

That's why I love Fate Points and Aspects so much and why Fate will probably be my favorite RPG forever. In just about any (but certainly not every) Fate rules interaction, the player can succeed, if they want to badly enough and are willing to sacrifice enough (Compels) and spend enough of their ability to influence the narrative (Fate Points). It makes game far more satisfying to me and far more interesting.

[cailano]

It's not really a mechanic but I love that the OSR has embraced the idea that many character actions should just succeed automatically and not require a roll.

As much as I bag on 5E, even I have to admit that advantage/disadvantage is an elegant mechanic.

I like how character attributes go up as they level in 3E and later editions.

From the HERO System, I like resolving rolls with 3D6 instead of a D20 or percentile dice. Bell curves FTW.

Also from HERO, the Stun/Body split for damage.

Great discussion, Vladim!

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Definitely love the clocks from BitD. Makes encounters (especially non-combat ones) much more dynamic and interesting.

I also adore the Negotiation mechanics from Red Markets, which is basically a little mini-game all in itself.

[GaryD20]

I love the OSR inspired rulesets of games like Into the Odd, Knave, and Cairn. I like the idea of the fiction taking precedence over dice rolls, rules, and mechanics. I like the classesless nature of these systems, where the equipment characters carry and their in game experiences define them, not the class assigned to them and a list of skills they may or may not have. 

And I love the dice mechanics of Tunnels & Trolls. It's just so different than anything else out there. Probably the most fun you'll have rolling dice. In my opinion, anyways. 

[cailano]

Oh, speaking of dice, the exploding dice from Savage Worlds are a lot of fun.

[GaryD20]

Yeah, I'm not familiar with Savage Worlds, but I like the exploding dice from EZD6.