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

VHawkwinter · Thursday at 11:43 PM

JiffyPopTart said:
My games always equip the PCs with a SAP (Standard Adventuring Pack). It's contents are deliberately left unlisted, but instead it's considered to be "any mundane items a skilled adventurer would have on hand".

It's been used for torches, rope, chalk, food, water, bedrolls, wedges and a hammer, paper and ink, and many many other items. Most recently some glue for a fake moustache.

JiffyPopTart said:
I do still have room in my game for those oddball items that players want to pick up to do tricky things....like excessive amounts of hot peppers to make tear gas or lots of grease to make slippery traps or whatnot.

Recently someone in my campaign asked if ball bearings were part of the SAP and they were told no. I know that's an ages old trick amongst players but it's not something that I see in universe starting adventurers think to bring with them.

VHawkwinter said:
I was absolutely thinking of a pack for more uncommon stuff like your ball bearings trick.

You know, I think I'm going to need to adapt some kind of contingency item inspired by your deliberately unlisted packs. I'll have to iron out the details, but I kind-of like the idea.

Miscellaneous Gear

Something like an "Assorted Gear" 'potentia box' where the PCs can specify its total financial value and weight (I'll work out the details, possibly storing more of it in the wagon or back at the base), and then when there's a moment of "Okay - I forgot to plan for this, but my character would have known to get..." Then they get a 'diligence' / 'preparedness' / 'organisation' roll of some kind, and if they pass, yep, correct, their character thought ahead, now you extract the item from the "potentia box", reduce its weight and value by the price of the item you pulled out of it (those ballbearings, or pitons, or alchemical silver because the character knew there was a risk of werewolves, or alchemists fire because you knew you were heading into troll country, or whatever), and add restocking the thing to your shopping list next time you're back in town (I could automate that with a macro as well). If you fail only by a bit - maybe "yeah, you bought it, but you forgot it in the wagon you traveled in which is outside the dungeon and guarded by your hireling".

Scott Christian · Friday at 12:32 AM

VHawkwinter said:
Just out of curiosity, also for context:

How long have you been gaming?

How long have you been GMing?

How many different systems have you played / ran?

Have you ever analysed the math behind how your systems work, with spreadsheets or AnyDice or something?

You don't have to answer publicly, but your answers to that question will likely explain your level of comfort in knowing how something will play in advance and knowing how you would want to change it.

I have been gaming for over thirty years. I have been DMing the same amount of time. I have played campaigns in maybe a dozen systems and tried a bunch more as one-shots in all my convention experiences. (In fact, that is one of the main reasons I go - to try other systems from people in the know.)
As far as the math, I analyze almost all the math superficially. Then, if we are running a campaign, I map out the math. That said, I try very hard to not get too concerned over it because I understand the insane number of variables RPGs bring to the table. For example, there are way too many variables to worry about a +1 in a system like modern D&D. (Of course that doesn't stop me from wanting it sometimes.) I also understand that behind all the math, there is also a feel to these numbers. I believe that for the enjoyment of a game, that is equally important.
Considering how something will play. I can definitely get a feel for it after reading the rule book. I mean, one of my hobbies is literally reading rule books. That said, I don't pretend to see all the scenarios and variables. That is the reason why I think playing a game as written is a good idea. Maybe not a necessity for some, especially for those with extremely predictable tables. But for some tables and GMs, it pays to "watch and feel how it works" prior to getting in there with a wrench.

JiffyPopTart · Friday at 12:39 AM

VHawkwinter said:
You know, I think I'm going to need to adapt some kind of contingency item inspired by your deliberately unlisted packs. I'll have to iron out the details, but I kind-of like the idea.

Miscellaneous Gear
Something like an "Assorted Gear" 'potentia box' where the PCs can specify its total financial value and weight (I'll work out the details, possibly storing more of it in the wagon or back at the base), and then when there's a moment of "Okay - I forgot to plan for this, but my character would have known to get..." Then they get a 'diligence' / 'preparedness' / 'organisation' roll of some kind, and if they pass, yep, correct, their character thought ahead, now you extract the item from the "potentia box", reduce its weight and value by the price of the item you pulled out of it (those ballbearings, or pitons, or alchemical silver because the character knew there was a risk of werewolves, or alchemists fire because you knew you were heading into troll country, or whatever), and add restocking the thing to your shopping list next time you're back in town (I could automate that with a macro as well). If you fail only by a bit - maybe "yeah, you bought it, but you forgot it in the wagon you traveled in which is outside the dungeon and guarded by your hireling".

Sounds like a really groovy idea for a minor magic item.

Toss in some treasure and out comes requested equipment of whatever value.

It reminds me of a magical coin changer a GM gave us on a particular campaign. All it did it let you insert coins if whatever value and eject different coins of that same value.

Great for all those copper and silver pieces.

VHawkwinter · Friday at 12:49 AM

Scott Christian said:
I don't pretend to see all the scenarios and variables. That is the reason why I think playing a game as written is a good idea. Maybe not a necessity for some, especially for those with extremely predictable tables. But for some tables and GMs, it pays to "watch and feel how it works" prior to getting in there with a wrench.

Fair. And if I'm not sure how something will play, or if it's a totally new mechanic to me, I'll do that too. But if I read it and see "Oh. This mechanic is a metacurrency scene editing mechanic. I have seen a dozen of these played out, hated all of them, and this doesn't look different in any way that would make me like it. It's most likely just designed for a different audience that liked those sorts of things." Sometimes I don't need to play it out to know if it's not for me. Like Cilantro.

(But yes, you can't always know just by reading it.)

JiffyPopTart said:
Sounds like a really groovy idea for a minor magic item.

Toss in some treasure and out comes requested equipment of whatever value.

It reminds me of a magical coin changer a GM gave us on a particular campaign. All it did it let you insert coins if whatever value and eject different coins of that same value.

Great for all those copper and silver pieces.

That's much more powerful than what I had in mind. I was just thinking more of a core mechanic that just allows you to earmark a portion of gold / weight for "and whatever I'm forgetting that my character would have remembered to buy". With a check to see if your character remembered to get a thing that you forgot. A transmogrification machine like you describe would be a cool magic item to play with though.

500 Toads · Friday at 1:26 AM

Schrodinger's inventory. Think Blades in the Dark takes that to an extreme, where you have a certain amount of "load" points that you can assign to equipment at the moment you decide such would be useful, in addition to the separate flashback mechanic that also reflects prior planning at the cost of Stress.

For something like Call of Cthulhu, the general expectation would be that again you're not micromanaging gear (or money, for that matter; Credit Score is quite abstract). You'll be presumed to have access to various things depending on your credit level, occupation and so forth. Things that might be less likely, significantly affect NPC reactions etc. should still be declared. Ex: if it's 1920 NYC, characters should tell the Keeper whether they're carrying handguns, and whether they think their characters would have the required permits and why (at least, if encounters with police are plausible), for instance. When it's not at all obvious whether or not a character might have thought to bring something, or be able to find something at hand, or maybe how quickly they could do so -- the Keeper is encouraged to asking for a Luck check.

Pathfinder 2E generally expects more attention paid to such things (both budget and encumberance). There's actually feats that support retroactive planning, i.e. allowing the character to declare that he had in fact purchased something prior, subject to limitations ofc. Not sure how popular those feats are. And alchemists, of course, can create short-lived consumables as the day goes on and thus also reduce the need to predict what will be useful in any given adventuring day.

I think Dungeons and Dragons has had the Robe of Useful Items as far back as AD&D 1e -- definitely in 2e, anyway -- which also provides a mechanic for allowing a party to have a decent amount of access to... items of varying degrees of usefulness, anyway.

VHawkwinter · Friday at 4:54 AM

500 Toads said:
Credit Score is quite abstract

I don't think I've done much purchasing in CoC. It's always been a system we used for one-shots with pregenerated characters who had their gear already. I've played some CoC 5? (maybe 6) and 7th. I think I remember the Credit Rating on character sheets, but I doubt I ever used that mechanic.

500 Toads said:
When it's not at all obvious whether or not a character might have thought to bring something, or be able to find something at hand, or maybe how quickly they could do so -- the Keeper is encouraged to asking for a Luck check.

Yeah! Something like that!

500 Toads said:
Schrodinger's inventory. Think Blades in the Dark takes that to an extreme, where you have a certain amount of "load" points that you can assign to equipment at the moment you decide such would be useful, in addition to the separate flashback mechanic that also reflects prior planning at the cost of Stress.

I don't think I would want the full flashback mechanic, but some amount of Schrodinger's Inventory yes.

500 Toads said:
Pathfinder 2E generally expects more attention paid to such things (both budget and encumberance). There's actually feats that support retroactive planning, i.e. allowing the character to declare that he had in fact purchased something prior, subject to limitations ofc. Not sure how popular those feats are. And alchemists, of course, can create short-lived consumables as the day goes on and thus also reduce the need to predict what will be useful in any given adventuring day.

The PF1 alchemist did the same thing. I was less of a fan of that. Mostly because it never made sense to me that if you passed them to your friends they would go inert as soon as they left your hand, but you can throw them and they don't become inert midair - and I couldn't reconcile how meta that was. I would generally want more attention paid to budget and encumbrance (my general systems of choice are GURPS 4e, d20 3.x (mostly 3.0 & Pathfinder), Shadowrun 4e, Rolemaster 4e, The Dark Eye, and Mythras, they all skew toward keeping track of the things), but a limited universal Schrodinger's Inventory mechanic of some kind could be good to reduce the "oh crap I had intended to grab such and such but forgot to say it in town, but my character wouldn't have forgotten while we were there for three days."

I dunno. I will have to mull over what version of "Schrodinger's Inventory (if any) I want to start adding to systems I run and my own that I'm making.

zarionofarabel · Friday at 8:52 PM

I tend to use all knowledge skills in all games the way knowledge skills (Wises) work in Burning Wheel.

In most games a knowledge skill test is just a prompt for the GM to provide more information. In Burning Wheel a knowledge skill test is to check the validity of information the PLAYER is about to add to the narrative/setting.

A passed test means whatever information the player provided is factually accurate. A failed test means the intent of the information is preserved but the accuracy of the specifics of said information is not, so the GM has final say as to how the intent is realized.

I've been using knowledge skills that way for many a year because it allows players to have a hand in worldbuilding and relaxes the pressure off of me as GM to constantly add new details to the setting. It also helps increase player interest and engagement because they have a hand in helping create the imaginary world and particular aspects of it, instead of that only being the purview of the GM.