Role-playing game system
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A role-playing game system, is a set of game mechanics rules used in a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions.
History
The staff of
Steve Jackson wanted to design a role-playing game rules system and had three goals in mind: this system must be detailed and realistic; it must be logical and well-organized; and this system must be adaptable enough to be used with any setting and level of play; this system of rules was eventually released as GURPS (1986).[1]: 104–107 The Palladium house system was initially derived from Dungeons & Dragons and was ultimately used in all of the Palladium Books titles.[1]: 156 Mekton II (1987) by R. Talsorian Games debuted the full version of their Interlock System of rules.[1]
: 208
TSR was a universal game system, intended as a simple system for beginners.[1]: 27 Hero Games partnered with R. Talsorian in 1996 and worked together to create a simpler rules system to draw new players, by merging the Hero System with the Interlock system and calling it Fuzion.[1]: 150 Dragonlance: Fifth Age (1996) was built on the SAGA storytelling game system from TSR, which used a resource management system involving cards instead of die rolls.[1]: 29 TSR published the Alternity (1997) universal game system, which was intended only for science-fiction games.[1]: 29 The Masterbook system had failed to catch on as a house system for West End Games, so they published the D6 System which was based on their successful Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.[1]
: 194
Development
While early role-playing games relied heavily on either group consensus or the judgement of a single player (the "Dungeon Master" or
narrativist
games allow role-playing to influence the creative input and output of the players, so both acting out roles and employing rules take part in shaping the outcome of the game.
An RPG system also affects the game environment, which can take any of several forms.
King Arthur Pendragon, Unknown Armies, and Don't Rest Your Head
, aspects of the game system are designed to reinforce psychological or emotional dynamics that evoke a game world's specific atmosphere.
Many role-playing game systems involve the generation of random numbers by which success or failure of an action is determined. This can be done using
Storyteller/Storytelling System and the One-Roll Engine) use dice pools instead of individual dice to generate a series of random numbers, some of which may be discarded or used to determine the magnitude of the result. However, some games (such as the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game and Nobilis
) use no random factor at all. These instead use direct comparison of character ability scores to difficulty values, often supplemented with points from a finite but renewable pool. These "resource points" represent a character's additional effort or luck, and can be used strategically by the player to influence the success of an action.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.