Tinkering With the Toolbox

— Gustave Brion, mid 19th century

About a year ago, I wrote “Toolbox Design,” in which I discuss my appreciation for games that make slot-based inventories a major focus of play (Into the Odd, Knave, Mausritter, Cairn, etc). This fascination has endured as I’ve continued work on my own contribution to this family of games. Here are four modular mechanics that embrace toolbox design.

Burdens

I appreciate how Mausritter includes both physical conditions, such as “exhausted” and “hungry” as well as an emotional condition in “frightened.” I conceived of burdens as a way to further emphasize the emotional toll of adventuring life. Like a condition, a burden occupies an inventory slot and is incurred and cleared under specific circumstances. A burden may provide a unique benefit upon being cleared. For example:

Survivor’s Guilt: Incur this burden when you flee a deadly encounter. After you place yourself in harm’s way to save a companion, clear this burden. Henceforth, you may sacrifice your shield to negate an attack against a nearby ally.

Feverish Greed: Incur this burden when you glimpse The Blood Garnet and fail your willpower save. After you acquire The Blood Garnet or one fortnight has passed, clear this burden.

Righteous Fury: Incur this burden when you witness an injustice or act of cruelty. After you enact vengeance upon the perpetrator/s or bring them to justice, clear this burden. Henceforth, once per session, you may inflict maximum damage against a target whom you have witnessed perpetrate an act of cruelty or injustice.

An adventurer’s inventory serves as a record of their deeds: plundered treasure, hand-drawn maps, trophies from slain beasts. Similarly, burdens mark the course of their emotional journey.

Stunt Dice

Thief-skills-meet-usage-dice with a push-your-luck element. Your character has a number of stunt dice: the smallest is a d4, the next is a d6, and so on. The number of stunt dice available to your character cannot exceed their free inventory slots. When your character attempts a risky physical feat beyond the capability of an untrained person, roll your highest stunt die:

• On a 1–2, replace the stunt die in your inventory with “fatigue.” Roll the next smallest die or abandon your attempt (and accept the consequences). Rolling a 1–2 on a d4 spells disaster!
• On a 3 or higher, your character succeeds at their task.

I could see myself using this mechanic to resolve risky climbs, difficult swims, acrobatic maneuvers, stealth sequences, pursuits, and more.

Lingering Wounds

They gazed in astonishment, for the blade seemed to melt, and vanished like a smoke in the air, leaving only the hilt in Strider’s hand. “Alas!” he cried. “It was this accursed knife that gave the wound. Few now have the skill in healing to match such evil weapons. But I will do what I can.”

J.R.R Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Lingering wounds are unique consequences of critical damage from certain monsters. Like a condition or a burden, a lingering wound occupies an inventory slot and can be cleared under particular circumstances. For example:

Touch of Death: A character suffering from this wound takes maximum damage from undead. Clear this wound using a salve made with holy water and the petals of the Devil’s Tears flower, which only grows on tyrants’ graves.

Trophies

I found this post by Nova of Playful Void very inspiring. I’d tweak this concept by adding a drawback or complication to most trophies. And after bearing a trophy for long enough or leveraging it a certain number of times, a character might earn a title that permanently links their identity to that trophy. For example:

Baron Stillgut’s Golden Hand: Display the hand to the stork-folk of the Hapless River to gain free passage upon their barges. The bandits of The Snickering Wood will not waylay your party as long as you display the hand prominently upon your person. One fortnight after you acquire the hand, you earn the title of “Baron’s Bane,” and Baron Netherdregs issues a warrant for your arrest within his lands.