What interesting mechanics exist out there?

I don’t mean just “here’s a new way to roll combinations of polyhedral dice”, or “here’s a new theme overlaid on a standard progress tracker”, or “here’s stress with another name”.

I mean, actual new conceptual mechanics that produce new and interesting behaviours in-game. Things like CoC’s push rolls, or Slugblaster’s Beats/Character Arc, or Blades in the Dark’s Flashbacks (these might not be the first games that those appeared in, but the point isn’t the game, it’s the mechanic).

Interested particularly in what those new mechanics bring to the table in terms of player interactions or story development.

  • Samdell
    3·
    9 小时前

    Its a lot of work to deal with it, but in theory I’m a huge fan of Avatar Legends’ Principles system. Basically, every playbook has an internal struggle between to extremes - compared to an Yin/Yang - and work to find their own Balance in that. The Center of this Balance starts on 0, but over the course of the game players will move towards one side or the other, to a max of +3/-3 (moving positively towards one side means you’re moving negatively towards the other)

    The Guardian, for example, struggles between Self-Reliance Vs. Trust; They want to protect others not just to keep them safe, but also because they don’t believe they’re capable of doing so. A Guardian shifting towards Self-Reliance is more cynical, while a Guardian shifting towards Trust will rely on their companions more often.

    Aside from the narrative meaning, the Balance can be used for rolls; if a PC performs an action in accord to their Principles - say, the Guardian attempting to Comfort someone not out of sympathy, but because they believe they’re the only ones capable of doing it - they would roll with that Principle instead of the Attribute that the Move requires. That way, if your Self-Reliance is higher than the Attribute, it might be a good idea to pitch the scene in that way.

    Characters can also be called out on acting/not acting according to their Principles, or Lose their Balance (basically have a mental breakdown) if it goes past one of the extremes.