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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stalker0" data-source="post: 5737127" data-attributes="member: 5889">I think Savage Worlds has one of the more innovative ways to do it that I have seen recently (as far as the shaken mechanic), though I find that game relies too much on bennies for straight up survivability imo.That said, I do believe that any game should seriously consider the "PC get out of jail free card mechanic". Often called hero points, fate points, destiny points, etc etc.One of the design concerns with a damage system is around the PCs. Most games want to make damage exciting and interesting, but keep the variability or "spike damage" in check so that PCs are not slaughtered due to an unlikely die roll.Each game does this to a certain extent, the amount depends on your choice of style (gritty vs wuxia). However, doing so requires compromises to your system.I feel that one of the more elegant solutions to this problem is the mechanic I mentioned above. It basically lets the PCs cheat the system. You can create a system where a crit can be devastating, but the PCs have point mechanics (or some other version) that allows them to partially or completely mitigate those rough patches of damage.What is so amazingly simple about this mechanic, is that it frees you from worrying about PC survivability as much when designing the system. You can mechanically create a death trap, but still allow for PC to survive "Just because they are that good".I personally felt that Savage Worlds uses the mechanic far too liberally (everytime I played I felt I was throwing bennies into the pot just to stay alive), but from a design standpoint, I have been continually impressed by that type of mechanic.</blockquote>

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