Item Generator

Here is my take on a tool to help DMs come up with items.  I'm assuming that qualities of the items would be handled by a separate chart.  And if the items are magical that would be a separate chart as well.  This is just meant to help you come up with a random thing.

Drop two different colored d4 on it.  Choose one color to correspond to the figures and one to the triangle shaped categories.  Where the figure die lands on the silhouette indicates what it is related to.  So, a die on the hand has something to do with hands or fingers.  The other die will tell you what type of item it is.  If it is aesthetic, the item might be a ring.  If it is warfare, it might be a gauntlet.

A die that doesn't land on either figure can be read as items that aren't directly related to the bodies: furnishings, wall-coverings, urns, coffers, statues, etc.  A category die that falls off the page will still be in one of the category triangles, which stretch to the horizon.

Most of the categories are pretty self-explanatory.  I see "Learning" as information storage and retrieval: calendars, zodiac charts, royal successions that are incorporated into an item (like this), or scientific tools-- astrolabes, magnifying glasses.  It could also be a book about what the other die is pointing to.  "Daily Life" is meant to be tools, toys, musical instruments, etc.

You can read the number on the figure d4 if you want to.  So, a Daily Life item for a child on the hand might be a top, or a small spoon, or doll, for example.  An aesthetic result on the horse head could be a fancy falcon hood, a dog collar, a wreath for sacrificial oxen, or a bridle of some sort.

You don't have to use d4.  They are pointy and flat, though, which makes for a good choice here.  And the small number of results should be memorizable with use.  But you could potentially drop d10s or d12s or something and have whole subcharts of specifiers.

I playtested this a bit with my buddy and using it in conjunction with the object qualities chart really helped.  Mostly knowing what it was made of helped you figure out what kind of thing it might be too.  (I plan to revise the object quality chart soon).

RPG Taxonomy

I don't think taxonomy is the right word here, maybe you can help me out with a better one. I think it would be cool to have an extensive look at the various approaches to the fundamental RPG situations. I'm sure parts of this already exist. For example, it seems Forge gamers have spent a lot of energy thinking about different mechanical approaches to Task Resolution in RPGs. I remember the 2e era D&D book Player's Option: Spells & Magic went into various systems of handling magic- spell points, at will, Vancian, etc.

But I would be fascinated with a book, or maybe a wiki would be more appropriate, that systematically looks at these common RPG elements and how you might approach them, and how they have been approached historically.

Lets take saving throws as an example: First what do you call this? Last Ditch, maybe. And how might it be/has it been handled?

1. A general buyout where players have a kind of trump card or fate point-- Did Marvel Super Heroes do this? How about Savage Worlds?
2. A general "luck" roll equal to all characters of all abilities-- examples?
3. A more general roll modified by ability. So, the more dexterous characters, regardless of archetype, are more likely to dodge a fireball-- Norman, you said C&C's SIEGE system is like this?
4. A general roll modified by severity, i.e. how Last Ditch it is-- Delta's system that Chris kindly pointed out.
5. A general roll modified by archetype. So, wizards are considered more resistant to magic-- Swords & Wizardry
6. A more specific roll based on archetype. So, wizards are considered more resistant to wands, spells and petrification, but less so to breath weapons-- classic D&D. Jeff lays out the classic D&D save categories here.

The last might be considered a roll modified by archetype and severity, but I think there is a distinction between Delta's idea of severity and that of save category types. What I mean is, you could have equally severe categories, which you felt different archetypes should have different chances at surviving. Also, traditional D&D seemed to have mixed feelings about this, thinking Death Ray from a wand and Death Ray from a magic-user, though equally instantaneously severe, were somehow differing in survivability. (unless I'm misunderstanding, did wands, staff, rods apply only if there was no more specific save category?)

This is why doing this is really interesting to me, when you start trying to categorize and lay something out in a system you are forced to encounter dimensions you hadn't seen before. When I started the numbered categories above I was working with the general assumption that they would progress from more abstract to more specific. In actuality, the different ways games have handled Last Ditch mechanics vary in different dimensions: the actor (wand, creature), those being acted upon (ability, archetype, experience), and severity (poison vs charm person).

One interesting thing this tells me is that we have competing features in our minds for what makes something more "realistic" for us. As DIY DMs we may feel that abilities seem much more important in the scheme of Last Ditch things than archetype or vice versa. And this is separate from how the mechanics play out in the game system. And these can be deviously hard to predict. Trollsmyth has a great post on trying to achieve certain goals through different mechanics (bonuses vs dice rolls).

Although, there may be general rules we can say are true, for example, the more of these categories a Last Ditch mechanic tries to incorporate the more complex it becomes. But then, perhaps that complexity can be "cooked in" or moved around various places in the system.

And Last Ditch is just one example. In trying to categorize and systematize all RPG situations, surely we would encounter some we hadn't even noticed. I think one example is the generation of hireling traits, which I've mentioned before. That is typically considered part of pre-play preparation, but that I've brought into play and handed off to players at Jeff Rient's suggestion.

So, hope that is more productive than my last post on saves.