Favorite game mechanics?

[Malkavian Grin]

2 minutes ago, TheFred said:

12d1

[Vladim]

That is very true! I think they thought about it, and I think they have some way or rule to deal with this in Lex Arcana, but since I'm not an expert on that system, I am not sure how they did it. I'd need to read up to answer.

[Suzuki Stumpy]

IIRC D3 is the lowest allowed die in the Lex Arcana system, so you roll a d6 and divide by 2 for the result.

[mykesfree]

I really enjoy the 2d20 task resolution system.

[Papa Bear]

There are a lot of things I like. There are a lot of things I like in the Hero System and some have already been mentioned. But I also like the speed chart. It is difficult to use in play by post because of posting rates and things that mess with them from RL. But in FtF, it really embellishes the feel of a normal guy trying to fight a trained combatant... the normal guy gets two attacks while the trained guy gets one or two more attacks in the same amount of time. And a speedster with a speed of 8+ makes sense when they get 2 to 5 times more attacks. The chart spreads the attacks over a turn so that its not just character A attacks twice on their turn while Character B attacks 8 times on theirs. Players, however, can make this a PAINFUL process when they are not paying attention and don't think at all about what they are going to do with their next action. If you have a high speed in champions, you really owe it to the other players at the table (and yourself) to be prepared for your next action, which could be very soon, sometimes even immediately following your current action.

That's a player problem, not a system problem. It happens all the time in normal 'initiative based' systems too.

Along that line, Hack Master has their 'count up' initiative system. Weapons and characters have a speed that, when added together for an action, determines when they character gets to next act. It is also more difficult for the GM to manage but a good GM who is good at quick record-keeping makes it awesome.

an example For those who don't know how it works...

Your character might have a speed of 5 (so a lower speed is better) and uses a great sword with a speed of 10. You attack on round 1, +15 speed later, you attack again on round 16. Your buddy who is faster (speed 3) is using a dagger (also speed 3) and attacks on round 1 but then gets to attack again on round 7 (1+6) and again on round 13 (7+6) while you just stand there. Ideally, the speed 10 weapon should do three times more damage than the speed 3 weapon (but doesn't in that system... it really favors fast)

I also like the Marvel Heroic Dice. I like how different powers and skills are attached to a given die. I enjoy making a roll and 'roleplaying' out each of the die choices that I make instead of just using the highest die available in the category... which I believe is the point of the different die sizes.

This isn't anything new, but Hero Points, which have now been around for a long, long time in various systems, like fate points and the many other names they've been given. As already mentioned, they give us (the players) a chance to do something great with our character from time to time (or avoid blundering too terribly much)

There are a LOT of game mechanics that I really like but that's enough for now 😄

[Jedaii]

I hate when I want my character to do something they're good at but the dice layeth the smackdown. This is why I love the d20 Skill Mastery feat: it's like Taking 10 but you can do it under most conditions without the cost of the task taking longer. It's the Anti-Dice cheat-code 😉

[Malkavian Grin]

20 hours ago, Jedaii said:

d20 Skill Mastery

Have you heard of a little thing called Star Wars SAGA edition? :3

Despite a couple areas where one-trick ponies can abuse the rules, that system feels like D&D 3.5/D20 Modern's Ultimate Form ™

[hakootoko]

5 minutes ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Have you heard of a little thing called Star Wars SAGA edition? :3

Despite a couple areas where one-trick ponies can abuse the rules, that system feels like D&D 3.5/D20 Modern's Ultimate Form ™

 

One book of D&D 3.5: The Book of Nine Swords

It's different enough that some GMs still don't allow BoNS.

 

[Jedaii]

1 hour ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Have you heard of a little thing called Star Wars SAGA edition? :3

Despite a couple areas where one-trick ponies can abuse the rules, that system feels like D&D 3.5/D20 Modern's Ultimate Form ™

I didn't like SAGA because it reminded me of SEGA Genesis, which I hated. I'm a petty gamer 🙃

[Malkavian Grin]

1 minute ago, Jedaii said:

I didn't like SAGA because it reminded me of SEGA Genesis, which I hated. I'm a petty gamer 🙃

[Shen]

For me, the one core rule/mechanic that I love most is the way Moves work in many/most PbtA games.

The way that every action a player takes necessitates some sort of change in the fiction is huge to me. Whether you succeed or fail at a roll or action, it won't just result in someone's health going up or down, or worse, nothing happening at all and play moving on to the next person. Something happens, every time, whether good for the player or bad, as described by the various Moves both the players and the GM have. A new complication comes up, or a new opportunity arises, or new information is revealed, or the action moves to a new location. It's something, and that engages me way more than simple pass/fail, yes/no, plus/minus mechanics.