Description: Spellcasters may perform some form of self-sacrifice to convert some of their life energy into magic. This translates into either an upgrade to the power of a magical effect, resistance to harm caused by magic or a bonus to spell rolls at the cost of ability score points, hit points or spell fatigue.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Keywords: Dark, Fantastical, Gritty, High-Magic, Pulpy, Tense, Weird
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Superhero, Sword and Sorcery
Description: When casting spells, a magician takes an amount of non-magical damage based on the level or intensity of the Spell. Excessive use of Magic can cause the spellcasters penalties or fainting. Characters may be allowed to save to resist some of the damage. It is often used in conjunction with Spell Rolls.
Find it in: Shadowrun
Keywords: Fast-paced, Tactical, Weird
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Superhero,
A.K.A. Inner Strength Points, Psi Points
Description: Characters have a pool of magical energy that they spend to cast their spells rather than spell slots or exterior fuel for magic. These are often based on magic and replenished with rest.
Find it in: Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game, The Dozen Dooms, Dungeons & Dragons 3e Unearthed Arcana, AD&D2e Player's Option: Spells & Magic, Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e Psionics Rules
Keywords: Fantastical, High-Magic, Weird
Genres: Epic Fantasy, High-Fantasy, Pulpy, Sword & Sorcery
Description: Rather than using pre-defined spells characters describe a desired magical effect, and are assigned a level to determine difficulty to cost, cost in energy or spell slots, etc. Often used in conjunction with Spell Rolls or Spell Points.
Find it in: Mage: the Awakening, The Dozen Dooms, Sorcerer Alternative Class for Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Epic, Fantastical, High-Magic, Weird
Genres: Epic Fantasy, High-Fantasy, Superhero
Description: In lieu of the standard spell component for a magic item, a rarified and exotic item with the right resonance can give the Spell a boost to its casting time, area of effect, duration, range, or effect. For example, coffee beans harvested from a treat prevents haste from aging the target.
Find it in: Dungeons & Dragons 3e Unearthed Arcana
Keywords: Fantastical, High-Magic, Weird
Genres: Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy
Description: Characters receive less treasure, especially items that grant special abilities. Instead, they gain more regular boosts to their abilities. In its original format, players recieved 20% less treasure but gained twice as many ability score increases.
Find it in: The Official Dungeons & Dragons blog circa 2006
Keywords: Epic, Heroic, Low-Magic, Swashbuckling
Genres: Epic Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Martial Arts, Pulp, Superhero, Sword & Sorcery, Western
Description: Match-, wheel-, or Flint-Lock weapons take too long to load to be reloaded in battle without a hireling to load it, thus they may be fired only once per battle unless the character also carries (potentially explosive) pre-prepared shot, wadding, and powder bundles (called "apostles.")
Find it in: Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Keywords: Exploration, Fast-paced, Gritty, Pulpy, Rules-light, Swashbuckling
Genres: Crime, Dark Fantasy, Pulp
Description: Used primarily in settings where firearms are rare and a new innovation. The sound of a firearm being discharged around creatures that are not part of a firearm-using culture can force a morale check or similar fear effect.
Find it in: Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Keywords: Dangerous, Exploration, Gritty, Tactical, Tense
Genres: Crime, Dark Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Pulp
Description: Instead of gaining entire levels at once, a character earns one component of their next level at once. For example, hit points, spell slots, re-roll pool increases, etc. are gained separately, creating a gradual power increase.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming, Cypher System
Keywords: Rules-light
Genres: Any Genre
Description: When a character is knocked out of commission (such as at 0hp), their status is unknown unless an ally checks on them to see if they are living or dead. At that time the character makes a single saving throw or Luck Checks to see if they are alive, at which point they can be restored to consciousness.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Low Fantasy Gaming, Troika!
Keywords: Cinematic, Dangerous, Gritty, Pulpy, Rules-light, Tense
Genres: Crime, Low Fantasy, Pulp, Western
Description: When lacking any other tool for decision making as to which character is attacked, targeted, or hit by a trap, choose the character with the lowest current Luck Score.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Keywords: Fantastical, Pulpy, Rules-light, Weird
Genres: Crime, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Pulp, Sword & Sorcery
Description: Used in TTRPGs that use a Luck Scores. When a party of PCs is attempting to fled a battle they make Luck Checks, if more than half the party succeeds, then the party shakes their attackers and winds up in a relatively safe location that the GM chooses. Alternatively, everyone who succeeds escapes. This removes the need for chase mechanics.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Cinematic, Fast-paced, Pulpy, Rules-light, Swashbuckling
Genres: Crime, Low Fantasy, Pulp, Sword & Sorcery, Western
Description: As well as a standard value in coin, gear is valued based on its survival utility as an abstract trade unit. Food, fuel, ammunition, medicine, tools, books, and things easily dismantled for parts have high values. Gold, jewels, luxury items are low to no value. When bartering in a survival situation compare the Trade value of what is asking for and what is offered. May be modified by Gear Quality.
Find it in: Delve 2e
Keywords: Exploration, Gritty, Survival
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Low Fantasy, Survival Horror, Military, Western
Description: Through heavy use, a weapon can become damaged, weakened, or harder to use, resulting in lower accuracy or less damage until repaired. This is usually found alongside Gear Quality rules.
Find it In: Delve 2e, The Black Hack, Tiny Dungeon 2e
Keywords : Cinematic, Dangerous, Gritty, Pulpy, Survival, Tense
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Horror, Survival Horror, Sword and Sorcery
Description: Equipment has a means of tracking its quality and state of Repair. As it wears down it lowers in its quality rating. Often uses Depletion Dice, and often includes Depleting Armor.
Find it in: Delve 2e, The Black Hack, Tiny Dungeon 2e
Keywords: Dangerous, Exploration, Gritty, Horrific, Tactical, Tense
Genres: Crime, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Military, Post-apocalyptic, Survival Horror, Western
Description: When a character spends an action to watch an ally perform a skill that they do not possess, they may make a test to learn it at the lowest possible level of ability. (5% in a percentile system like Warhammer Fantasy, 1 rank in D&D3e or Pathfinder) Characters must improve the skill further using standard character advancement.
Find it in: Delve 2e
Keywords: Cinematic, Exploration, Pulpy, Survival
Genres: Crime, Dark Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Military, Pulp, Science Fiction, Survival Horror, Western
Description: Rather than rolling twice and taking the higher result, you roll an extra d6 and apply it as a bonus to your current roll. Likewise, disadvantage involves rolling 1d6 and subtracting it from the roll.
Find it in: Shadow of the Demon Lord, Rogue 2e
Keywords: Fast-paced, Rules-light
Genres: Any Genre
Special thanks to Scott Weber for pointing me to examples of TTRPGs that use this as a core mechanic.
Description: As a PC is dying, there is a chance, if they might not otherwise recover of bein approached by Death, a demon, or otherworldly entity in a vision, and offered a chance to return to the world of the living, but they must agree to a quest. If they fail to keep up their end of the bargain in a timely fashion, they will die and be unable to return to life again.
Find it in: Dungeon World
Keywords: Dark, Epic, Fantastical, Heroic, High Magic, Weird
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, Eldritch Horror, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Superhero
Description: A character who spends time in companionship (not necessarily sex) in a safe place with a lover or spouse gains non-cumulative bonus of+1 to Constitution or a similar measure of health and vitality for one week.
Find it in: The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence (NSFW)
Keywords: Light-Hearted, Pulpy, Romantic
Genres: Any Genre
Description: When a PC or important NPC dies, there is a chance that they can be resurrected.This entails rolls to check on which magic or technology was used to bring them back. Each method has drawbacks and a chance or rejection, which leads to permanent pentirs.
Find it in: Alpha Blue (NSFW)
Keywords: Fantastical, Light-Hearted, Pulpy, Weird
Genres: Cyberpunk, High Fantasy, Pulp, Science Fiction, Superhero
Description: Characters may once per day recover from a small amount injury by drinking alcohol.
Found In: Age of Conan, D&D3.5
Keywords: Pulpy, Swashbuckling
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Western, Martial Arts, Crime, Military
Description: Magic items are exceedingly rare. They begin with a single ability, but gain more abilities as their wielder levels up, allowing magic items to grow with PCs, rather than having PCs find many of them.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Weird, Pulpy, Dark, Heroic
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Low Fantasy
Description: Spells are replaced by relationships with spirits that have broad spheres of influence. The spirit may be called on to create any plausible effect that fits with its domain, allowing PCs to come up with inventive magical effects within a narrow scope.
Find it in: Pacts and Blades, World of Dungeons, Aer
Keywords: Rules-light, Dark, Pulpy, Weird
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Low Fantasy, Pulp, Horror
Description: Task resolution rolls that do not indicate success do not mean simply failure that halts forward momentum; instead it means the PCs suffer loss of equipment, injury, or discover another way to progress that creates even more obstacles. A failed roll leads to a narrative complication, not a halt to the action.
Find it in: the Black Hack, PARANOIA 2017,
Keywords: Heroic, Light-Hearted, Pulpy
Genres: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Pulp, Superhero
Description: Treasure is abstracted from numbers of coin, gem, jewels, and artifacts into a Wealth statistic that a character checks against to buy items, often depleting on a failed roll. Often used in conjunction with depletion dice.
Find it in: the Black Hack, Tombpunk
Keywords: Rules-light, Epic, Pulpy
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Epic Fantasy, Pulp, Superhero
Description: Characters trapped without light underground experience extreme terror that can cause confusing, trauma, or even death from the fear.
Find it in: the Black Hack
Keywords: Dark, Horrific, Dangerous, Gritty, Survival
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Eldritch Horror, Survival, Horror
Description: Hit points are abstracted either into the number of Wounds that the target can take (in OSR games this is equal to HD). Any hit doing 4 or more damage deals a wound.
Find it in: Dungeoncraft
Keywords: Rules-light, Heroic, Fast-Paced
Genres: Any
Description: Game masters do not roll for attack, instead PCs have a defense ability they roll when attacked to beat a set attack value from a monster.
Find it in: Knave, Maze Rats, Four Against Darkness, the Black Hack
Keywords: Rules-light, Heroic, Tactical, Player-Facing
Genres: Any
Description: Characters may spend a randomized amount of treasure to go on a bender, earning XP or other rewards. Causes a roll on a random table to describe events and the Fallout of the character's wild debauch.
Find it in: Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City, DCC HUBRIS, GLOG
Keywords: Exploration, Light-Hearted
Genres: Sword and Sorcery, Western, Post-apocalyptic
Description: Armor is subject to depletion dice or a similar mechanism to become weaker over time as it is used.
Find it in: the Black Hack, Shadowrun
Keywords: Gritty, Dangerous, Dark, Survival
Genres: Sword and Sorcery, Cyberpunk, Western, Post-apocalyptic, Horror
Description: Rather than having armor make a PC harder to damage or letting them take more, armor reduces the amount of damage taken on each attack, or allows characters t soak more damage if resistance rolls are used.
Find it in: the Black Hack, Shadowrun, World of Darkness, Into the Odd
Keywords: Heroic, Epic, Pulpy
Genres: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction, Superhero, Pulp
Description: Used in games that use hot points, wound levels, or damage tracks, Armor adds additional damage to the total the character can take that cannot heal unless the armor is repaired.
Find it in: Blades in the Dark, Tiny Dungeon 2e, Pacts and Blades
Keywords: Fast-paced, Tactical, Cinematic
Genres: Crime, Military, Sword and Sorcery, Low Fantasy, Science Fiction
Description: Stands in for a planning session, this roll allows a battle, heist, or similar planning-intensive adventure. The roll establishes the danger level and task difficulty as the adventure begins in media res.
Find it in: Blades in the Dark
Keywords: Fast-Paced
Genres: Crime, Military, Cyberpunk
Description: This system allows PCs to expend resources and risk harm to have an action occur in the past that gives the PC an advantage or potential solution in the present. Allows the PCs to dive directly into action and get the benefits of an extended planning session.
Find it in: Blades in the Dark
Keywords: Fast-Paced
Genres: Crime, Military, Cyberpunk, Western
Description: When leveling, a character rolls randomly for mechanical advancement, to make individual characters more unique.
Find it in: Lion and Dragon, Star Adventurer, Gamma World
Keywords: Old-School
Genres: any
Description: A staple of Lovecraftian Horror, madness rules can be fairly easily ported to other systems. Some rely on a limited sanity resource, are connected to injury tables, or magical misfire effects. All add role-playing constraints and mechanical consequences.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming, Call of Cthulhu, Tiny Cthulhu
Keywords: Dark, Weird, Horror
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Eldritch Horror, Dark Fantasy, Horror
Description: Using a modification of the depletion dice, combustible light sources can be given a variable duration.
Find it in: The Delve 2e
Keywords: Rules-Light, Fast-paced, Dark, Tense
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Western, Low Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Horror
Description: Any task that requires more than a single roll, or a hazard that players may accidentally manifest through their action, are expressed a multi-part counter with 4-8 segments depending on complexity. A character fills 1-3 based on a degree of success with tasks until the click is filled, at which point the task is complete or the hazard comes to pass.
Find it in: Blades in the Dark
Keywords: Fast-Paced
Genres: Any
Description: Once knocked out of commission in combat, a character has a chance of suffering lingering or permanent injuries that create penalties to the character or stat reductions.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, the Black Hack, GLOG
Keywords: Dark, Gritty, Pulpy
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, Pulp, Military, Post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Description: Players have a single per session ability to force the re-roll of a single die.
Find it in: Common House Rule
Keywords: -
Genres: Any
Description: Characters have a depleting pool of Luck that may or may not Regenerate over time or as a RP reward. When no other roll seems appropriate to determine outcome, Luck can be rolled to see if a PC catches a break. It may be spent for bonuses. May replace saving throws.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Troika!
Keywords: Pulpy
Genres: Any
Description: A character may sacrifice their turn to run their movement speed and block another moving character from reaching their destination.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Tactical, Swashbuckling, Heroic
Genres: Any
Description: During Combat characters may declare special effects of a combat attack, like disarming, knock back, tripping, blinding, etc., and on a successful attack, a die roll may resolve this effect. More severe or permanent effects may require special Luck checks or limited resources. Missed exploits prevent further exploits against a target until players gain new tactical advantage.
Find it in: Low Fantasy Gaming
Keywords: Tactical, Swashbuckling, Heroic, Pulpy
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Pulp, Superhero, Western
Description: Combat-oriented characters may declare special effects of a combat attack, like disarming, knock back, tripping, blinding, etc., and get variable success based on a roll of a die.
Find it in: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Keywords: Weird, Fantastical, Dark, Tactical, Swashbuckling
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Pulp, Superhero
Description: Instead of measuring gear by weight, give PCs a limited number of slots, either fixed or stat-based, in which items can be carried. Small items might fit in a single slot. Armor and very large items in multiples.
Find it in: Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Knave, Maze Rats, Mausritter
Keywords: Rules-light, Cinematic,
Genres: Any
Description: Sacrifice Armor effectiveness to reduce damage.
Find it in: Right Here
Keywords: Fantastical, Tactical, Heroic, Cinematic, Swashbuckling
Genres: Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Science Fiction, Post-apocalyptic, Pulp