Things I Like in Various TTRPGs

This post was originally posted on Cohost in November of 2022 Making a list of various mechanics, features, design choices, and so on in different Tabletop RPGs I’ve played, ran, or read the book for.

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 (Character Creation) - Of the games I’ve played, D&D 3.5, and by extension Pathfinder 1e, have some of the most extensive character creation that sticks within thematic classes. I dislike a lot about these two games, but I can’t take away some of the wild builds and synergies that the systems allow.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition (Martial/Caster Parity) - Some people didn’t like how this game felt, or how gamey it looked, but it was so much fun to play. In 3.5, it was very easy for a caster to be a better melee combatant than the Fighter or Barbarian through either summoned creatures or through things like Polymorph, and then you have the other bag of tricks that casters had on top of that. Those games led to a phenomenom called “Quadratic Wizards and Linear Fighters” where casters scaled in power so much faster than martials, and because they used Magic, they weren’t bound by constraints of reality. 4e basically made everyone a flavor of caster, by giving everyone set amounts of abilities that did different things. Fighters could now push or pull enemies that were in reach easily, while still dealing damage. They could mark enemies so that if they attacked someone other than the Fighter, they took damage or suffered some effect. It gave those classes more room to just exist as these cool heroes that often never happened in other editions because “Well you can’t cut a fireball with a sword, it’s a SWORD, and that’s magic”, despite things like that being cool as hell and flavorful with the type of fantasy D&D references. If you COULD do it, it required a very specific set of feats to do and a high enough level that made it almost useless to pursue.

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (Advantage/Disadvantage) - This one’s easy. I dislike bookkeeping fiddly bonuses and figuring out if Bless stacks with this positioning buff, or this aura or a luck bonus and so on. Advantage/Disadvantage. Roll 2d20, take the highest/lowest result respectively, boom done. Good.

Shadowrun (The World) - Shadowrun puts a twist on normal Cyberpunk style settings by adding back fantasy elements of Magic and Metatypes like Orks, Dwarves, Elves, and Trolls. The return of Dragons as these mythical creatures that wield tremendous power and influence in the world bring a bit of fantasy flare to the futuristic cyberpunk world.

World of Darkness (The Political Intrigue) - I’m a sap, and this is partially influenced by Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, but I really enjoy the Camarilla and the Anarchs, the tenuous nature of the Masquerade, and the various clans all vying for power. It’s fascinating in it’s own way. The rest of the politics of the games and world can be a little more dicey.

Numenera (Cyphers) - Cyphers are such a cool item type in Numenera. Cyphers are these one time use items that have tremendous effects. Like Scrolls in D&D, they’re meant to be used and discarded, but unlike scrolls, these things are EVERYWHERE, and they’re juuuust unstable enough that you don’t want to hoard them. This encourages the player to use these weird items they find to find interesting solutions to their problems. Having an item that basically makes you invulnerable for one combat is no big deal because it’s just One Combat, it’s basically non-replicable due to how many different types of cyphers there are, it’s unlikely you’ll get the same one multiple times. Hoard these things though, and bad things can start to happen, from making checks harder due to some weird heat or humming from them being so close, to passive radiation damage, to, at the worst end, creating a singularity focused on you and being torn asunder at the molecular level.

Lancer (Licenses) - I really like how getting stronger in Lancer is about unlocking new licenses and license tiers. If you like company A’s mech frame but company B has a melee weapon you like and C has a rail gun you want, you can spread out how you level up to work towards those items, instead of capping your License in A before being able to move onto B and so on. It feels like a very “Build your mech progression horizontally instead of vertically”, gaining flexibility and options over straight power in numbers. It can also be used Narratively as you look to say, change out aspects of your Factions mech you started with, to show your growing distance between them, but you keep their Frame as sort of a reminder of where you came from. That sort of thing.

Blades in the Dark/Forged in the Dark in general (Engagement Rolls) - I could have went with the general Stress mechanic, because I like how it’s a resource you balance between using proactively and reactively, but the Engagement Roll taking out so much of the prepwork that can create a ton of friction in games is so nice. Normally people will hem and haw over how they’re going to approach their mission, looking to minimize every potential issue that they spend hours just trying to think of something for every contingent so nothing bad possibly happens. With an Engagement Roll you simply pick your approach and apply the missing detail. If your approach is Stealth, for example the approach may ask you to provide, in only a couple words, how you get in. Then roll the dice pool, and determine your starting position, and if you’re starting in a Controlled, Risky, or Desperate position. Then, if you need to say “oh could I have prepped this? Didn’t know we were going in this way” then you can use the Flashback system to show that yes, you obviously planned for this method of entry of course, you’re talented at your jobs.

I need to read more on Dungeon World, Star Trek Adventure, Blades of Ether, and a few more games before I do the next one of these, but it’s always fun to think about your single most favorite aspect of a game and try to explain to others why you like it so much.