In this post, I’m going to discuss the most prevalent game mechanic that nobody seems to talk about.  The most important game mechanic in roleplaying games is not about dice rolling and target numbers. It’s about how we share information - the conversation where we describe and act on the world we present. I haven’t landed on a name for it, but I’d like to refer to Chris Engle’s concept of “verbal analysis” - more on that later.  Image by  Pexels , used with permission.

I’ve been running and playing in various 2400 and Into the Odd games lately. These are two games that exist in the rules light part of the roleplaying games spectrum. Both games are quite ruthless in their approach to combat. 2400 doesn’t have combat rules per se, but offers a catch-hall saving throw rule. Into the Odd famously has auto-hit with some damage reduction based on armor. I've got some thoughts about both games. Illustration by Richard Duijnstee , used with permission.