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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 3311838" data-attributes="member: 1645">A number of games introduce a cool mechanic (or meta-mechanic) that can be used in other games without too much work.For instance, Ars Magica introduced the notion of troupe play, where each player has multiple characters of different power levels and plays one of them each session.Buffy the Vampire Slayer took the idea of drama points and added a twist: weaker, "supporting cast" characters get more drama points than powerful characters like the Slayer.Pendragon introduced stats for personality traits, in opposed trait pairs: Chaste / Lustful Energetic / Lazy Forgiving / Vengeful Generous / Selfish Honest / Deceitful Just / Arbitrary Merciful / Cruel Modest / Proud Pious / Worldly Prudent / Reckless Temperate / Indulgent Trusting / Suspicious Valorous / CowardlyThese stats can be used descriptively, to reflect how a character has acted, or prescriptive, to determine how a character should act.  Characters with high (or low) enough scores in the right traits can gain bonuses for being, for instance, a good Christian knight.Also, between adventures, Pendragon characters go through a winter phase, during which they age, advance their personal lives (court a lady, marry, sire heirs), maintain their lands, etc.Champions introduced the idea of separating special effects from game mechanics.  It doesn't matter what kind of energy blast your superhero uses -- fire, mutant eye beams, magical bolts -- under the hood, the game relies on the same basic mechanics.Feng Shui espouses the notion that the game should encourage, rather than discourage, "cool" actions, so stunts suffer no penalties for difficulty.Feng Shui also suggests plotting your game to include three action sequences in "awesome" locales and to  think up a short list of cool things that could happen at each location -- bits of the scenery that might explode, good spots for people to fall down from, stuff that can be picked up and thrown, etc.Sorcerer recommends that every character start with a kicker, something that just happened (before the start of play) to kick the character into action.In The Shadow of Yesterday, characters have keys -- motivations, problems, connections, duties, and loyalties -- and are rewarded (with experience points) for acting on them. Further, a character can earn a particularly large one-time reward with a buyoff -- acting opposite the key and giving it up forever.In D&D, a player can Take 10 on a d20 roll, automatically succeeding at easy enough tasks without risking a die roll.  Also, a player can Take 20 on a d20 roll for an action with no negative consequences, rather than rolling the die repeated until a natural 20 occurs.In Stormbringer, each character begins play with a single trinket of personal significance.Unknown Armies introduces multiple madness meters -- Violence, Unnatural, Helplessness, Isolation, and Self -- for different kinds of mental trauma.  Failing a stress check forces a character to fight, fly, or freeze while accumulating a failed point on that meter; 5 failed points means temporary insanity.  Succeeding at a stress check forces a character to accumulate a hardened point; 10 hardened points mean the character has become a cold-blooded sociopath.In 7th Sea, disadvantages grant bonuses only when triggered, not at character creation.</blockquote>

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