Five tabletop RPG mechanics that video games should definitely steal
Somebody call the cops, because GDC 2023 just became the scene of a crime. Taking to the stage at the annual conference with more confidence than you'd expect from a barefaced bandit, Obsidian senior area designer Evan Hill made every attendee an accomplice by pilfering a bunch of brilliant tabletop RPG mechanics in front of their very eyes.
The aim of Hill's wonderfully chaotic narrative summit session was to help game developers understand how a bunch of strange and brilliant tabletop RPG mechanics can be transferred to the world of video games, providing a springboard for designers to experiment with their own projects.
As you'd expect, there are plenty worth stealing, and fortunately for you we managed to document a few of the choice artefacts Hill pocketed before making his getaway.
An iconic mechanic from John Harper's industrial-fantasy tabletop RPG, Blades in the Dark, flashbacks allow players to meet an obstacle, and then, instead of actively trying to solve it in the moment, jump backward in time to find a solution. In a video game, this mechanic could be used to let players change their present by, for example, hopping backward in time to bribe a guard they've just alerted, resolving the conflict before it has even begun.
"Already we can see the opportunities this provides, and a lot of games have started to do this rather successfully–where we take an obstacle and instead of just letting the player figure it out with the tools in-hand, we give them this rich cornucopia of options," said Hill.
The designer notes it would be a powerful ability if left unchecked, but explains Blades in the Dark balances it using a system called "Stress." In-game, every time a player flashes back they accumulate stress, which is a
Read more on gamedeveloper.com
