RPG Design Patterns

This appendix is really just a scratch-pad containing some concepts noted during the game study that could potentially be written up as Design Patterns in the future. They are listed here for one or more of the following reasons:

1. It is an interesting tidbit of game design, but only a single reference to the concept has been found and we are looking for another instance before we can call it a pattern.
2. I haven’t decided that the pattern is worthy of a write-up on its own, and am hoping to discern some more general pattern that incorporates the concept in the future.
3. I plan to do a write-up, but just haven’t gotten around to doing so yet (possibly because I haven’t figured out anything intelligent to say about it).
4. I’ve already done a write-up on it, but forgot to remove it from this list.

Assist

Multiple characters help out on a roll – InSpectres’ Teamwork – HeroQuest “Augmenting.” Most games have this Pattern.

Balancing Loop

A Balancing Loop exists in a contest if some gauge that feeds into the contest is altered in such a way that the gauge either gains a Failure Reward or a Success Punishment. If the gauge is conflicted, this simply means that the gauge is altered in such a way that future contests are more likely to turn out differently (i.e., more likely to fail if the contest succeeded or more likely to succeed if the contest failed). Capes rewards “Story Tokens” to the losers of conflicts. These are used in future contests to introduce new characters and to buy extra actions during conflicts, increasing their chances of winning those contests. Dogs in the Vineyard inflicts “fallout” when a character

Cascading Gauge

A gauge value has a maximum. If more is added to it, the gauge “overflows” into another gauge. – Fudge and Shadowrun Wound Levels (the “more detailed method” in section 4.57) – HeroQuest “Masteries.” Cause-First Abilities: Ability mechanics are custom designed to generate a desired output based on what the author feels is “realistic” given the game’s premise - D&D, RIFTS, Warhammer. That is, a standard cause/effect relationship is established, where a given cause produces a given effect. Cause-First Abilities are in contrast to Effect-First Abilities.

Cause-First Contests

The end results of contests are determined purely by what the game designer considers to be “realistic” based on the contests’ various contributing factors without regard to the implications of those effects – D&D, RIFTS, The World of Darkness.

Confessional Mechanic

InSpectres (Also, check out Shadows in the Fog).

Conflicted Resource

can spend up in one fashion and spend down in another.

Damage Resistance

aka Absorption, Toughness – GURPS, Hero System 5th Edition, TORG “Toughness,” Werewolf “soaking” damage - as opposed to damage ablation, per say Hero System? Or deflection per D&D (or both of these per GURPS)? Using “Damage” in the name makes it too specific to Hit Points, I think. In any case, all of these examples can probably be adequately covered in my write-up of the Gauge Design Pattern merely as ways in which one gauge can be used to support or detract from another. So, this pattern will probably be pruned.

Death Spiral

a contest failure result that has the effect of making it more likely that future contests will fail – Shadowrun Wound levels.

Degree of Success Contest

a contest where a graduated scale of success or failure is generated rather than a simple win/lose result – HARP, HeroQuest, InSpectres, Marvel Super Heroes, Paranoia xp, The Riddle of Steel, Rolemaster, Shadowrun, Sorcerer, TORG, The World of Darkness.

Diceless

No fortune-based contests appear anywhere in game – Amber, Nobilis, Puppetland.

Dice Pools

Sorcerer, The Riddle of Steel, Universalis, The World of Darkness, Shadowrun.

Drama-Based Contest

Nobilis on initiative, Puppetland on both Initiative and Conflict Resolution.

Effect-First Abilities

The in-game effects of abilities are designed to fit the mechanical output of the contest resolution rules – Hero System 5th Edition powers, Universalis, Dogs in the Vineyard – any trait-based game. Effect-First Abilities first establish the desired outcomes, or effects, of an action without regard to their cause. Once that is determined, an appropriate cause is made up to rationally explain how that outcome was actually achieved.

Effect-First Contests

The end-results of contests are narrated to fit the mechanical output of contests. In other words, situation is modified to fit the results of a contest – My Life with Master, Dogs in the Vineyard, InSpectres (?), Ars Magica magic.

Fortune-Based Contest

Sorcerer conflict resolution, My Life with Master conflict resolution, D&D task resolution, Rolemaster task resolution.

Fortune in the Middle

Sorcerer, My Life with Master.

Fortune at the End

D&D, RIFTS.

Flaws

aka Faults – Fudge, The Riddle of Steel, Nobilis - Restrictions

Free and Clear Initiative

everyone states their actions and can modify them until everyone is satisfied with their declarations, then initiative is rolled (is this just “Drama-Based”?) - Sorcerer

Gambled Resource

Donjon – Wealth, Sorcerer - Humanity (?), HeroQuest – Advantage Points.

GM-less

Universalis, Capes, Discussed as an alternate, or “advanced”, method of playing Amber.

Hacking

Code of Unaris.

Hot Potato Initiative

hand off story telling control to another player based on specific criteria – used in ThemeChaser on the Forge.

Karma-Based Contest

Code of Unaris conflict resolution, Nobilis conflict resolution, Universalis conflicts between players is a bidding process, Call of Cthulhu. initiative uses DEX from highest to lowest & roll d100 in case of tie

Logarithmic Scale

Fudge, TORG, Hero System, HeroQuest?.

Margin

The Riddle of Steel, Sorcerer, Shadowrun.

Margin Rollover

Sorcerer, Werewolf: The Apocalypse on Damage for Firearms (pg. 227).

Megalith

Game designed with a core rulebook to be endlessly expanded with supplements. D&D (d20), Rolemaster, The World of Darkness, TORG.

Monolith

Game designed as single rulebook. Sorcerer, Donjon, My Life with Master.

Narrative Control Contest

a contest where players vie for the right to narrate the outcome of a conflict - Capes, Code of Unaris, Donjon, InSpectres, Universalis.

Never Ending Story

Any game that does not come to a definite ending point.

Nonlinearity

The game abruptly changes in some fashion – My Life with Master has formulas that trigger specific events; The Pool has players gamble dice from their pool so a character can instantly go from being powerful to being powerless.

“One Shot” Game

Great Ork Gods.

Open-Ended Roll

Rolemaster, TORG, The Riddle of Steel, Warhammer – Damage.

Opposed Rolls

The Riddle of Steel – contested rolls, My Life with Master

Purchased Events

Universalis.

Race

aka Species. Similar to Class and Template patterns: D&D, HeroQuest, Warhammer, Rolemaster (isn’t this really just a class?).

Recycled Fortune

Use a dice roll in one fashion by looking at it one way, then use it for another purpose by looking at it in another – Elfs uses the same roll of a dice pool to determine Initiative and Conflict Resolution; Sorcerer the same roll of a dice pool to determine Initiative and offensive side of Conflict Resolution; TORG uses d20 roll for both success and effect by adding different values. Warhammer – Attack Roll and Hit Location.

Refresh

A vital game resource is “re-fueled” periodically to ensure smooth game flow.

Reinforcing Loop

A Reinforcing Loop exists in a contest if some gauge that feeds into the contest either gains a Success Reward or a Failure Punishment. If the gauge is conflicted, this simply means that the gauge is altered in such a way that future contests are more likely to turn out with a similar result (i.e. more likely to succeed if the contest succeeded or more likely to fail if the contest failed).

Relationship Map

Sorcerer

Resource Refreshing

A resource is periodically “refreshed” by giving it more resources to allow the game to flow. It acts as a sort of “fuel.” HP in HeroQuest.

Rolled Initiative

Donjon, D&D, Rolemaster, Shadowrun. Randomized Resource: Rolemaster – resource for setting attributes, Great Ork Gods – resource for setting attributes, starting Gold Pieces in D&D.

Round Robin Initiative

D&D, HeroQuest.

Shared Gauge

a gauge whose value is shared by all characters – My Life with Master: Fear and Reason; InSpectres: Library Card Gym Card, Credit Card, Bank; HeroQuest: Hero Bands.

Shared Power

Donjon, Universalis, InSpectres, Great Ork Gods – the gods themselves.

Skill Defaults

If a skill is not possessed by a character, then it defaults to another gauge - GURPS, The Riddle of Steel, Shadowrun.

Skill Grammar

Combine various skills to arrive at a derived skill rank - Ars Magica spell rank system.

Skill Package

lists of skills rising at similar level – Rolemaster Skill Category Rank, Hero System 5th Edition – skill levels can apply to groups of skills. Solitary-Die Rolls: Roll a single die for contests (as opposed to Dice Pools) – D&D, Rolemaster, HeroQuest.

Steamroller

a contest success result that has the effect of making it more likely that future contests will succeed.

Story Reward

a reward going to a player for introducing story elements. Capes converts “Debt” into “Story Tokens” in conflicts. Some of these story tokens go to the player who introduced the conflict.

Structured Sessions

Donjon, InSpectres, Paranoia xp.

Tattle

players point out mistakes of other players – Elfs has players tattle on each other when they don’t properly play their Idioms.

Timer

Gauge value changes based on passage of time – The Riddle of Steel “Blood Loss,” Rolemaster Bleeding, Nobilis natural healing.

Troupe

Having multiple characters so that you can play in more situations. GM role rotates from player to player on a story-by-story basis – Ars Magica.

Turnstile

Force players to make an irrevocable decision when designing some game tool, such as a character. Choosing Race in D&D, Priority Grids in The Riddle of of Steel and Shadowrun.

Unopposed Rolls

D&D, Warhammer.

Verb/Noun pairs

Ars Magica magic system, GURPS magic system.

Win/Lose Contest

a contest where players generate simple success or failure results for character actions. Note that some the following systems have both Degree of Success Contests and Win/Lose Contests: Ars Magica, Call of Cthulhu, Dungeons & Dragons, Elfs, Fudge, Great Ork Gods, GURPS, HARP, HeroQuest, Hero System 5th Edition, Nobilis, The Pool, RIFTS, TORG, Warhammer.