What mechanics or subsystems do you use regardless of the game you are running/playing?

[CleverNickName]

I always end up using the old Siege Engine rules (from BECM) for handling mass combat. I know there are other, newer options out there, but they're also far more complicated than I need. Sometimes it's nice to resolve army-vs.-army combat with two dice throws.

 

[aramis erak]

Do you have a favorite mechanic or subsystem that you port into most or all of the games you run (or play, but this is usually a GM level decision).

No. Doing so defeats the point of having different rulesets.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

It's more narrative than mechanical, but I've taken to using 13th Age's One Unique Thing for many games these days - although usually not for games with "life path" systems, which already flesh out a character and make them special enough.

 

[Reynard]

No. Doing so defeats the point of having different rulesets.

How so?

 

[MNblockhead]

I always add, and frequently ad to, rules for fame and infamy.

 

[John Dallman]

Replacement PCs come in at same xp as last character (retired, dead, whatever). Seems like a house rule because so many systems have "player punishment" as their standard.

That depends on the game system, a bit. With complex point-buy systems like Hero or GURPS, adding character points in small tranches after each session or each adventure tends to be less efficient than designing an entire character to a fixed budget. So if you're replacing a character or adding a new player after the campaign has been going a while, a newly-designed character would be significantly more capable than the ones who have played through the campaign to date. So we build new characters on 5% to 10% less points than the most-played PC. This does not cause problems.

Of course, some may feel that this is (another) reason not to use such systems, but I like them.

 

[Theory of Games]

Do you have a favorite mechanic or subsystem that you port into most or all of the games you run (or play, but this is usually a GM level decision).

For example, I use a 2d20 inspired metacurrency pool in almost every game I run: whatever the currency is, the PCs start with a set pool (maybe based on level or other metric, usually adjusted for the size of the group). Whenever they spend one to do whatever it does, it doesn'd get discarded, but instead goes into the GM metacurrency pool (usually the same thig, but some games makes distinctions). it goes back to the player pool when I use it, and so on.

I have successfully used this with 5E Inspiration, Savage Worlds Bennies, Star Wars d6 Force Points and more.

I find it really improves the fun at the table and enhanced choices around metacurrency.

Do you have a mechanic you like that you import most or all of the time?

Side-based initiative & unless surprised the PCs always go first for combat. #RiseoftheFringe

 

[payn]

I like rolling the body from DCC for a final shot at staving off death. I wouldnt use the mechanic exactly as is from DCC, but adapt it to make sense to the system im playing.

I make players guides that suggest the best skills, traits, class, etc... for players for the upcoming campaign. I try to make it simple selections, but ones that will have depth throughout the campaign and not things quickly forgotten once the dice are rolling.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

That depends on the game system, a bit. With complex point-buy systems like Hero or GURPS, adding character points in small tranches after each session or each adventure tends to be less efficient than designing an entire character to a fixed budget. So if you're replacing a character or adding a new player after the campaign has been going a while, a newly-designed character would be significantly more capable than the ones who have played through the campaign to date. So we build new characters on 5% to 10% less points than the most-played PC. This does not cause problems.

That's a good point, at least for Hero/Champions - not sufficiently experienced with GURPS to say. I'd have thought 5% would be sufficient, but maybe the effect scales up at very high point values?

 

[hawkeyefan]

I use Clocks a lot. Pretty much in any game I GM. They’re just an easy way to track things, simple to share, and unobtrusive to most systems. They also can easily turn a binary pass/fail situation into something more dynamic.