Your favourite gaming mechanic?

[LordEntrails]

I like exploding dice and the RQ skill advancement mechanic.
But my favorite is advantage/disadvantage.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

The dice mechanics designed specifically for FFGs Star Wars RPGs is by far my favorite thing in years. Not meant for the simulationists or tactically-minded gamers, but it embraces the story-telling aspects with solid mechanics that most RPGs barely touch. It is very easy to learn, but takes some time and effort to truly master.

 

[Anselyn]

Sanity mechanic in Call of Cthulhu

 

[Geeknamese]

I'll second the love for FFG's Star Wars narrative dice mechanics.

Also, love 5e's ability to use different abilities for skill checks.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[Lawngnome4hire]

Is there a mechanic from a tabletop RPG you really love?

I'm fond of 5E's advantage/disadvantage. It is so much more intuitive than a ton of fiddly modifiers.

Shadow of the Demon Lord has a similar, but in my opinion better mechanic. Instead of rolling another d20 and picking the highest or lowest to keep, you roll a number of d6s as set by the GM and take the highest d6 and add it for boons, or subtract it for banes, to the d20 roll. Still has a big impact on your chances of success or failure, but dials down the crazy randomness a bit. Also gives the GM a bit more control and lets them assign stronger or weaker bonuses/penalties instead of just a flat extra d20 roll.

My favorite mechanic is legendary actions in 5e, or end of round actions in SotDL. Essentially the same mechanic. It's great for amping up the difficulty of monsters and preventing the PCs from locking them down and beating them just because they have more actions a turn.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Low Fantasy Gaming:

1. Major Exploits, including Rescues
2. Party Retreat rule
3. Improvised Chase table
4. Short/Long rest mechanics (not the same as 5e)

 

[JeffB]

Another vote for exploding dice.

One thing I forgot to mention- I guess it is "mechanics"...maybe not.

I love in Dungeon World how as the GM, I never roll any dice. All I do is setup the scene and then react to everything the players do and how they do with their dice rolls. I don't even bother rolling damage for monsters. I let the players do it.

I find this incredibly liberating, and makes me feel like more of a player/participant than traditional RPGs.

 

[Arilyn]

I always liked the way HERO handled martial arts. Each maneuver was a distinct "skill", so you could mix & match to solely whatever martial art you could think of. In addition, they could be purchased in such a way as to work only "unarmed", only with a weapon, or both.

Yes, I had totally forgotten how martial arts worked in Champions. I had a martial artist and it was great fun.

 

[Blue]

Exploding Dice from Lof5R and 7th Sea 1st edition.

It's interesting seeing this. I'm likely in the minority but exploding dice annoyed me because of how much it slowed things down, especially on other's turn. Roll your dice, work out what you have,then pick up some and roll again. Took twice as long.

 

[Jeux Fictifs]

It will be another matter to know which playful mechanics or game rules that slow down playing time.

But roll dice and less time than listen to a player tell the story of his character every time he meets a new non-player character.

'Eh! The bard ... You buy this dagger, no need to know why you need it or what you're going to do with it. Decide for I have horses shod. If you want to talk, go to the tavern.' Said the pressed blacksmith