Resolutions in the FLAME Imperishable

On my RPG writing roadmap, I have a capsule game of my own, tentatively called Tormented Hills and Unharvested Seas. (I first mentioned the germ of this idea, here).

The underlying system of this game has its own cute, bespoke name: the FLAME Imperishable system. 

Mr. W.F. Smith of Prismatic Wasteland has issued a challenge:

My challenge is thus: In January 2024, come up with a new resolution mechanic for a TTRPG and give it a name. It doesn’t need to be good (in fact, most the good ones have probably already been taken). It just needs to be new! You don’t need to plan to use it in your games; it can be absolute detritus for you. But one blogger’s trash is another designer’s treasure. You never know how great an impact one throwaway idea on a blog might have.

Because I am easily peer pressured, I will debut this system for you now. It will both be an example of capsule game mechanics, and also fulfill this challenge. 

The Flame Imperishable

When you have time, gear, and skill, your adventurer can overcome almost any obstacle. If you lack one of those elements, you must test fate. 

When you test fate, roll a pool of six-sided dice. This pool starts at 0, and you add 1 to the pool for each one of the following you have. 

Fellowship - Add a die if someone helps you with the task.

Lore - Add a die if you have a Lore that is relevant to the task.

Attribute - Add a die if one of your Attributes would be helpful.

Magic - Add a die if you use one of your magical abilities to accomplish the task.

Equipment - Add a die if you have the right tool for the job.

 

Look at your dice:

, : Miss

, : Near miss

, : Hit

If you get at least 1 hit, you succeed. 

For every additional hit, you can add one detail to your success (say "yes, and…"). You might accomplish your task quickly, impressively, thoroughly, effortlessly, and so on.

You can stress one of the assets you rolled (Lore, Attribute, Equipment, etc.) to turn a near miss into a hit. Stressed assets are refreshed during downtime. 

And there you have it. A simple dice pool system. The goal of this system is to never do math. No addition, no subtraction, no derived stats, no counting HP.