JohnnFour
Game Master
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Gamer Lifestyle
Demonplague Author
Borderland Explorer
RPT GM James Cunningham shares thoughts on using genre points to allay bad luck and other game frictions:
Hi Johnn,
I've mentioned in the past a game system called Silhouette CORE. It's the 3rd edition of Dream Pod 9's silhouette system, for games of theirs like Heavy Gear and Jovian Chronicles among others they have.
We love to use Genre Points no matter what game system we play or what type of game it is, because it's an out of game mechanic between the GM and the Players, and every game every system has some sort I'd Genre flavor to it.
You can tailor them with specific in game mechanics or abilities, but there is one huge part that is transcendent over all games:
It's a currency between GMs and Players.
In relation to your law, not fudging rolls even out of fairness, we use Genre Points.
Character make a bad roll? How critical will the failure be? Letting them spend a point to fudge it a category less severe? Maybe two points for a reroll. Maybe three points to turn the loss into a win? It allows a great opportunity for the GM and Player to craft a narrative as to how that happened, fitting the genre of the game, and we leave the mechanics out of it for this instance. It greatly improves role playing over roleplaying.
Same goes in reverse. GM makes a terrible roll, but would rather see it go differently? Then the GM can bribe the players in Genre Points to change the outcome. More points of course for more change.
Gm want a reroll? Player in question can have a point. GM want to change the narrative? Bribe the entire party a point. Sometimes even offering the PCs a point to fail at something can launch into to great opportunities for role play.
The party itself could even have a separate pool from the players, more for big game changes and the like. Like, give the party a point after they defeat an enemy boss, he lives instead, and makes it away. The party still wins and gets a point for the party pool to be cashed in later, and the GM gets to keep a (now) recurring minor antagonist who surely will be back again another day, probably with scars, a blood debt to settle, and probably better reinforcements.
The points can also be representative of other things, like money, influence, reputation, favors, things more nebulous in nature that aren't well defined, but they can cash in to make things work out a certain way to move the game forward when the players themselves are unsure how to proceed but have a goal in mind. Another great roleplaying and narrative opportunity for the group to craft together, and a great way to spend points earned like in the previous example to launch a new adventure in a different direction.
This also greatly helps systems that are more combat related in nature but have poor mechanics otherwise (DnD I am looking at you)
All of this helps with the issue of fudging rolls, because then it becomes an opportunity for both the players and the GM to move the narrative despite the rolls, and no one feels cheated for the dice being fudged because an indirect gain happened to compensate.
Hi Johnn,
I've mentioned in the past a game system called Silhouette CORE. It's the 3rd edition of Dream Pod 9's silhouette system, for games of theirs like Heavy Gear and Jovian Chronicles among others they have.
We love to use Genre Points no matter what game system we play or what type of game it is, because it's an out of game mechanic between the GM and the Players, and every game every system has some sort I'd Genre flavor to it.
You can tailor them with specific in game mechanics or abilities, but there is one huge part that is transcendent over all games:
It's a currency between GMs and Players.
In relation to your law, not fudging rolls even out of fairness, we use Genre Points.
Character make a bad roll? How critical will the failure be? Letting them spend a point to fudge it a category less severe? Maybe two points for a reroll. Maybe three points to turn the loss into a win? It allows a great opportunity for the GM and Player to craft a narrative as to how that happened, fitting the genre of the game, and we leave the mechanics out of it for this instance. It greatly improves role playing over roleplaying.
Same goes in reverse. GM makes a terrible roll, but would rather see it go differently? Then the GM can bribe the players in Genre Points to change the outcome. More points of course for more change.
Gm want a reroll? Player in question can have a point. GM want to change the narrative? Bribe the entire party a point. Sometimes even offering the PCs a point to fail at something can launch into to great opportunities for role play.
The party itself could even have a separate pool from the players, more for big game changes and the like. Like, give the party a point after they defeat an enemy boss, he lives instead, and makes it away. The party still wins and gets a point for the party pool to be cashed in later, and the GM gets to keep a (now) recurring minor antagonist who surely will be back again another day, probably with scars, a blood debt to settle, and probably better reinforcements.
The points can also be representative of other things, like money, influence, reputation, favors, things more nebulous in nature that aren't well defined, but they can cash in to make things work out a certain way to move the game forward when the players themselves are unsure how to proceed but have a goal in mind. Another great roleplaying and narrative opportunity for the group to craft together, and a great way to spend points earned like in the previous example to launch a new adventure in a different direction.
This also greatly helps systems that are more combat related in nature but have poor mechanics otherwise (DnD I am looking at you)
All of this helps with the issue of fudging rolls, because then it becomes an opportunity for both the players and the GM to move the narrative despite the rolls, and no one feels cheated for the dice being fudged because an indirect gain happened to compensate.