Single mechanics from an RPG you love

[billd91]

Mutants and Masterminds - Alternate effects for powers and being able to spontaneously use them via Extra Effort.
Superhero comics are famous for characters pushing their powers in new ways to accommodate for specific plot issues. That's hard to model in a game where the character needs to be built ahead of play. But M&M makes it easy.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Traits in The One Ring. They are elegantly designed to reward narrative use, but there is little (although not quite non-zero) incentive to try to min/max or otherwise optimize them while selecting them.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Color-related everything from Paranoia.

 

[Yaztromo]

I absolutey love the "sight duel" from Oriental Adventures: the two opponents, before starting their fight, stare at each other in the eyes and "live" the battle to come in their minds. The outcome of the sight duel might mean that often the duel isn't really fought with physical weapons, but one of the duelists withdraws before spilling even a drop of blood.
Very cinematic!
Of course I stole this concept with pride and used it very successfully with several other rulesets and settings where fighters have the right kind of ethos.


I had so much fun with the Paranoia concept of having a "traitor" hidden in the group. You always have to stay alert to all detail.
...and you may not know it yet, but it might well be you!


I like 2d6 mechanics: simple and elegant. Why looking for any other option?

 

[Guest 6801328]

I like 2d6 mechanics: simple and elegant. Why looking for any other option?

That reminds me of another candidate: Dungeon World's 2d6 "below 6/7-9/10+" system.

 

[pemerton]

I like systems that limit retries (other than just by way of GM fiat). (There are a lot of different ways to do this. At the moment I have active campaigns in 4e, Classic Traveller, Cortex+ Heroic and Burning Wheel, and all of them manage this in different ways - and, in the case of 4e and CT, with varying degrees of success.)

 

[aramis erak]

For me, symbolic dice. Especially FFG's SW/Genesys dice. I also like fudge dice.
All of them much easier than resolving the similar pool in numbered dice, and especially the 2-axis and 3-axis results of SW/Genesys & L5R.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One of the greatest games within a game: original Traveller’s character generation system that included “life experiences“ that could actually result in PC death. Not only is it one of the earliest systems that can result in PCs in a party being unbalanced in comparison to each other, it’s very much a risk/reward ChaGen system that can make for some very interesting characters.

It’s because of Traveller’s system that I had to buy the Central Casting books that came out years later.

 

[Imaculata]

I really like Spy-Crafts chase rules.

 

[practicalm]

I've always liked GURPS Roll for attack then roll defense. I just like both sides having something do roll in each attack. Not always easy to manage but I enjoy it.