Meta-Mechanics Worth Stealing

[mmadsen]

Yep, me too. I used these ideas to get my players to round out their wfrp characters in my present game. BW is a goldmine of gamemaster theory.

Could someone explain beliefs and instincts from Burning Wheel?

 

[painandgreed]

I like GURPS quirks.

 

[Jeph]

Could someone explain beliefs and instincts from Burning Wheel?

Beliefs are exactly what they sound like. Write down three things that your character believes. Typically, you have one representing your character's past, one tying you into the situation at hand, and one to act as a flag for how you want the story and your character to develop. When your beliefs cause interesting things to happen -- for instance, if your "I am the rightful heir to the throne" belief leads you to throw down in a duel against another contender -- you get Artha, which is kinda analogous to Action Points in some d20 games.

Instincts are three things that your character does, even when you don't specify them. You don't have to tell the GM your character is doing their instinct. It is assumed that they always do. Examples: "I always carry enough coin to buy room and board for a few nights at a good in," "I always start combat in aggressive stance," or "if I'm surprised, I cast Blade Bind at the enemy." They're usually I Always, I Never, or If/Then deals. They can also help you get around roadblock actions in combat. For instance, if an instinct says that you draw your sword whenever you detect a threat, you don't need to spend an action getting out your weapon. When Instincts make trouble for you -- say, you end up casting Blade Bind on the maid when catches you off guard and the master of the house kicks you out as a result -- you get a slightly-less-kickass type of Artha.

 

[Wik]

Could someone explain the d6 System wild die?

Sure.

When a player rolls his skill dice, one of his dice is the wild die. It's usually a different colour. If that roll comes up as a 1, the player either a) takes away the highest die result he rolled, or b) some sort of critical fumble has occured. If the result is a 6, you get to roll another wild die (but these new wild dice cannot roll critical fumbles, only critical successes). In essence, the wild die means that 1/3 of all die rolls result in some sort of critical element, bringing a healthy dose of "the dice are out to kill me" to the table.

 

[Wik]

I like the "Keep the players in the game" mentality found in a lot of the new D&D rules.

Reserve Feats allow wizards to make actions every round. Dragon Shamans can keep the group at least partially healed for every encounter - there's no limit to how often they can do it. Marshalls have boosts that are always in effect. Warlocks have unlimited spells.

I love the idea behind these, because they function to keep the players into the game - whereas a wizard might only have a handful of "top-notch" spells that he has to save for what he figures will be the "Big" encounter. Any mechanic designed to keep the action of the game high is all aces in my book.

***

DARK SUN had the character tree variant, which had players roll up 4 different characters that were connected in some way. Thus, when a character dies (which happens often on Athas), a player can rather quickly have a new character that is already grounded in the campaign as opposed to the "you meet a new adventurer in the tavern a day later who shares the exact same goals as you" syndrome.

***

SHADOWRUN awarded XP for players who made the tabletop experience fun, even if their characters were absolute rubbish. It's one of the few games I can think of that says "A player who makes the game more fun to play deserves an extra point or two"

 

[Slife]

Can't remember what RPG it was from, but...

If an opposed check between a PC and a NPC is a tie, the PC wins it.

 

[GreatLemur]

Also, I don't really think you can call Champions' effects-based mechanics a 'meta-mechanic' in the same sense as these others. It's a design philosophy that has to be implemented from the ground up, not something you can bolt onto an existing system.

I disagree. By it's very nature, it's an idea that's separate from--and thus can work independent of--a system's mechanics. You can easily apply the same idea to D&D, and let a character's throwing axes be awesome, African-style throwing irons, or let a Sorcerer's powers be the result of weird, techno-magical implants instead of a draconic heritage. A magic missile can look like a little flying demon that shrieks through the air towards its caster's target, if a player wants it that way. Whether you call this a meta-mechanic or a design philosophy, it's definitely something that can be applied to other games.

 

[mmadsen]

Beliefs are exactly what they sound like. Write down three things that your character believes. Typically, you have one representing your character's past, one tying you into the situation at hand, and one to act as a flag for how you want the story and your character to develop. When your beliefs cause interesting things to happen -- for instance, if your "I am the rightful heir to the throne" belief leads you to throw down in a duel against another contender -- you get Artha, which is kinda analogous to Action Points in some d20 games.

Thanks, Jeph, for explaining the meta-mechanic (and thanks to everyone else who has done likewise).

So the interesting twist is that Burning Wheel has the player define three beliefs: one past, one present, and one future. I like it.

Instincts are three things that your character does, even when you don't specify them. You don't have to tell the GM your character is doing their instinct. It is assumed that they always do. Examples: "I always carry enough coin to buy room and board for a few nights at a good in," "I always start combat in aggressive stance," or "if I'm surprised, I cast Blade Bind at the enemy." They're usually I Always, I Never, or If/Then deals. They can also help you get around roadblock actions in combat. For instance, if an instinct says that you draw your sword whenever you detect a threat, you don't need to spend an action getting out your weapon. When Instincts make trouble for you -- say, you end up casting Blade Bind on the maid when catches you off guard and the master of the house kicks you out as a result -- you get a slightly-less-kickass type of Artha.

This is perfect for D&D.

 

[Pbartender]

Thanks, Jeph, for explaining the meta-mechanic (and thanks to everyone else who has done likewise).

So the interesting twist is that Burning Wheel has the player define three beliefs: one past, one present, and one future. I like it.

I'd forgotten about that... I'll have to remember it for next time.

Here's an example from one of player-characters from my current Iron Heroes game:

Mirzah The Thief, aka "Arshama the Spice Merchant"

Adjectives*:
sly, devious, extravagant, witty, adaptable, resourceful, easygoing

Beliefs:
Life is short, then you die. Make the most of it while you can!
Fools are soon parted from their wealth.
He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day!

Instincts:
Always return a favor.
Never trust a stranger.
Never admit guilt!

*I also have the players list seven adjectives that fundamentally describe their character. The idea is that with those seven adjectives, the beliefs and the instincts anybody should be able to roleplay this character true to form.

 

[Ry]

Totally worth a *bump*