RPG Engine Elements

1 - 2 minute read

This is an ongoing list of RPG engine pieces that I like and want to document in a sort of "palette"

• Sanity meters from UA
• Risk Factors from Gumshoe
• Combat from HexPrint
• Jenga from Dread
• Attribute + Ability from WoD
• "I know a guy" house rule
• Settlement/factions with their own character sheets / stats
• Deadlands assembling-hands as a push your luck mechanic (blackjack?)
• Relations to characters
• Spontaneous magic from UA
• Each ritual requires a ritual sheet, the more slots are filled in the better
• Moments changing the rules of the game and creating narrative stuff (legacy games, KT campaigns)
• Rewarded for playing flaws (Mouse guard)
• Beginning relationships between players and environment (Quiet Year)
• Supplies / Population management (Battlestar Galactica)

The beliefs system in Burning Wheel. Players write down the things they believe and the GM's central job is just to challenge those beliefs in interesting and painful ways. This leads to very player-centric stories, where the PCs can control the kind of story they are in by deciding what they believe.

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