Awesome mechanics

[Adam]

Anyone encounter a mechanic in a system, or have an idea for one, that was truly awesome and fun?
Share it here!

[djkester]

One mechanic I have always loved is the roll for damage. I've seen systems put attacks into a single roll. This has many advantages in terms of speed of turns but the systems I like the best had "to hit" and then "to damage"

Damage in my mind is something that a player takes joy in.

I've noticed in 4e to speed up combat people are being instructed to roll the dice all at the same time. To me this mechanic is lost in that case.

[Adam]

Do you think it's fun due to the additional chance to excel (as in, getting a surprisingly high roll)
so it's a hit that got 20 damage! as opposed to a 20 damage attack that hit (as if rolling all together)

Or is it just pausing for a second to acknowledge that damage was done?

If damage was preset, but hitting was more critical (like, say, a person who is critically hit dies, but only gets hit rarely) be more, less, or as exciting?

[djkester]

I'd like to keep the conversation of damaging solutions separate from the idea of rolling for it. There are various mechanics I like depending on the Genre, style, and goals of a particular game.

[wrathofzombie]

I really like the goals mechanic and complications/twists/conditions mechanic from Mouse Guard and the Aspects goal from FATE.

I have already talked, at length about C/T/C and Aspects. Goals are awesome because it gives both the player and the GM a clear idea of what that person hopes/wants to accomplish in regards to the session/story that night.

[djkester]

Next awesome mechanic.

Problem solving with tools.

I like building a character with the right gear and the right training to solve problems.

One thing I'm not very fond of in a lot of RPGs is the reduction or simplification of tools. For example, when faced with a locked door most players are totally unaware that a crowbar (if they had one) would help them get in faster.

IMO, trying to solve a problem without the right tools is like trying to bake a pie using dirt, pine needles, and some water.

[wrathofzombie]

I agree with that D. I've played in game where the rogue failed to pick the lock and the DM wouldn't let us use objects to break through the door. What's the point of creating a room and not letting people in, especially if the players are actively and excitedly problem-solving on how to get in there?

I like when my players take initiative and try to come up with creative solutions to problems.

[anarkeith]

Dec 6, 2010 19:18:09 GMT -5 djkester said:

IMO, trying to solve a problem without the right tools is like trying to bake a pie using dirt, pine needles, and some water.

Yum, dirt-needle pie!

I think the failing here is not the mechanic, but the GM. No reason I can see not to reward awesome or logical solutions a party offers. Now, if the door were magically sealed, that's another story. But it'd have some glowing runes on it, or be vibrating in some arcane spectrum, something to give the players a clue.

[djkester]

My observation is that some system's tend to abstract the play of problem solving over the play of combat. So they short you on the equipment and details. For example the original rules for skills were published in the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide. In that book are also a lot of rules about equipment. Stuff like air bladders etc...

In later additions they have kept the equipment lists and other stuff to a minimum because they devalued those types of rules.

One of my favorite things used to be equipping my character. But since I came back to PB RPGs I've been more focused on the mechanics provided instead of figuring what additional i wanted. Now that I'm working free of the D&D mechanics on a campaign world i realize how important equipment is to me as a player. So I listed it here.

I don't think any of my current DMs would begrudge me adding equipment to my character sheet and using that even if said equipment wasn't listed in the books, provided that I worked out cost and rules for the equipment ahead of time with them.

The thing is we have to extend the rules for this. Its not part of the 20+ D&D books I have.

However, this is not a rip on D&D. It just has other focuses and leaves out what I think are fun mechanics from the core rules. Except as minimal cases like a crow bar which my Half-Orc Ranger Duragalis has.

[anarkeith]

Dec 7, 2010 18:32:40 GMT -5 djkester said:

The thing is we have to extend the rules for this. Its not part of the 20+ D&D books I have.

That seems like the kind of thing that could be ruled on a case-by-case basis, maybe with a precedent rule, but without need for extended rules. As a DM, I hope my players feel comfortable bringing creative equipment into the game...

[djkester]

Another Awesome mechanic I've always liked in RPGS.

Character stats. There is something wonderful about a numeric rating of my stats. I'm not sure at what point the stats started taking a back seat to other mechanics for me. But in the original D&D stats ruled much of the game for me.

Having and 18/54 STR is long missed. There is something not as cool about a 20 str. Especially since the progression above 18 is linear.

[wrathofzombie]

I have no problem with the way Attributes work now. I like it a bit more streamlined.

I also like how Attributes work in Savage Worlds and that it is linked to a Die type. Everyone starts with a d4 in every attribute and can raise it with chargen points to a max of d12+2.

[djkester]

Enhanced gear. One thing that I know is not as true in life as it is in games is gear enhancement. There just isn't that much difference between a $50 gold club and $200 club. At least for the average skill level.

One thing I think would be awesome though is to try a more mimiced reality.

If like in real life the ability to enhance yourself with better gear is a skill at using the gear than you can balance the progression.

For example:

I could have a skill, "use enhanced long sword" and depending on my level with the skill I could get more benefit from better long swords.

My basic premise is that if you don't have any skill with a long sword a better long sword wont make you that much better.

but if you are great with a long sword the quality of your ability is enhanced by the better weapon.

I am open to your ideas on this.

[wrathofzombie]

Are you going to have a system, maybe percentile, that factors in skill? Instead of d20 where you have a list of weapons you can use, then you get to apply your blanket base attack bonus + attribute will you go the I have a 10% in daggers, 15% in bows, and 20% in longswords?

The first thing that pops in my head about your system/suggestion is, while there should be some resemblance to real life, we play RPGs to be heroes and a little bit larger than life and making use factor in the more mundane can bring a player down and give a sense of disappointment.

[djkester]

The mechanic you've described is not the mechanic of Hero System. Since most people here don't know Hero System I'll try to explain using a system most of us know (DND) and where possible try to describe how Hero actually works in a way that compares to those mechanics.

The mechanics of combat in RPGs is managed typically in two rolls (ToHIT, DAMAGE). With perhaps a 3rd (CRITICAL)

The value of +HIT and +Damage is always a calculation.

Hero system has at least 2 roles but I've read various methods for supporting additional roles through customization of powers.

For our example lets consider the +HIT value calculation.

STAT + 1/2 LVL + PROF + ENH + MISC (misc can include feat bonuses etc...)

Hero System uses a similiar mechanic. Your +ToHit is called your Offensive Combat Value (OCV). OCV = STAT/5 + Modifiers

Modifiers can be:
1. WPN Prof
2. ENH
3. "Expertise"

NOTE: The reason I say can be is that you can label a modifier with any term you like and you can design new reasons for modifiers. For example: You could have a character concept where you get a bonus based on lighting conditions.
+2 OCV in dim light. This could be simply to reflect the nature of your character.

In Hero System since your character doesn't "level" there is no generic bonus to all you attacks so that is captured in the single mechanic of "expertise."

What I was trying to say earlier was that based on what weapons you decide to increase expertise in is totally open. You can buy, with character pts, Expertise in all weapons. You can buy Expertise in a weapon group. You can buy Expertise in a single type of weapon.

In addition you get expertise that is limited to certain situations. For example +2 OCV when within 1 M of an ally. To represent group tactics.

Unlike other systems you aren't generically gaining capability. Instead you are gaining specific capability in ways that you find interesting. You get to determine how you spend your points and what you buy is how you increase in power.

As a final note on this I'll try to convey the main advantage of Hero DnD.

Lets say that one player decides they want to increase to hit by "Training" and another player wants to just be super fast and agile. In the first case the player can buy "Expertise" with their points and the other player can use their points to increase STATS.

In both cases the player gets the character concept conveyed in the mechanics as closely as possible to their concept. And if you spend some time playing with the chargen crunch of Hero System you'll discover pretty quickly that there are many ways to accomplish the same results all depending upon the way you want to achieve this.

I understand that some players will no like the complexity this system will allow. For those players I'll be constructing premade templates, and options to make chargen much less "open" and therefore likely faster.

Although with my players i think they'll respond very well to the "open" construction capabilities even with the learning curve.

On a note. I am considering a mechanic for my campaign for criticals. Because I think critical hits are a great mechanic. In Hero System what I'm going to do is create a list of "critical effects" that when your character makes a roll to hit if you roll a 3 or 4 will allow you to roll a criticial (remember Hero is 3d6 to hit.) But this is something I'll be playing around with for a while.