You seem to have forgotten AD&D's psionics. Completely different power structure and resource management.
Any good examples of TTRPGs with high degree of "Asymmetry" I might have missed?
- Thread starter happyhermit
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You seem to have forgotten AD&D's psionics. Completely different power structure and resource management.
The Crimson Binome
Hero
If you want to include obscure supplements or appendices, then that's when spontaneous spellcasting came around. It was still unified before that point, regardless of whether that point came in 1E or 2E or 3E.
The psionics appendix in the AD&D DMG wasn't exactly obscure, since you needed to use it to run critters like Intellect Devourers, Mind Flayers, and Demons. (Possibly Devils and other extraplanar beings as well- don't recall.)
I haven't looked in my Eldritch Wizardry in decades, but some of the groundwork for AD&D psionics in that book when they introduced Mind Flayers with their Psi Blast- don't recall if it fleshed it out beyond that, though.
In contrast, 2Ed's version of psionics was much closer to the core magic system, thought it still varied significantly enough to be asymmetrical for purposes of this discussion.
I haven't looked in my Eldritch Wizardry in decades, but some of the groundwork for AD&D psionics in that book when they introduced Mind Flayers with their Psi Blast- don't recall if it fleshed it out beyond that, though.
In contrast, 2Ed's version of psionics was much closer to the core magic system, thought it still varied significantly enough to be asymmetrical for purposes of this discussion.
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Its worse than that: it's in the PHB for every player to find! Also thought eaters, most extra-planar beings -- even grey ooze has a chance for psionics.
There are rules in the DMG about how to adjust a campaign for psionics, like 1 in 6 wandering encounters should come from the psionic encounter chart (mindflayers are on that chart!) if any psionic ability or spell analogue is used in the preceding timeframe (like any cure spell, for example!).
TwoSix
Everyone's literal second-favorite poster
Weren't earlier versions of Shadowrun fairly asymmetric? The magic system and the hacking system all operated at pretty different levels than the normal combat system. I think the fact that the decker was always running his own minigame was even shorthanded as the "Decker Problem".
I think Saelorn mentioned that. But repeating it reinforces: the Decker problem was very real. It even killed some campaigns.
TwoSix
Everyone's literal second-favorite poster
If Saelorn mentioned it, I can't see it.
happyhermit
Adventurer
Thanks for the Shadowrun suggestions, I got that elsewhere as well. The game itself has never really interested me but on this topic it certainly seems worth a look. The problems with this type of game interest me as well.
Storminator
First Post
Mutants and Masterminds. It's a point buy Supers game, and getting a different power suite makes your character play radically differently.
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