A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game (RPG) to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions. While early role-playing games relied heavily on either group consensus or the judgement of a single player (the "Dungeon Master") or on randomizers such as dice, later generations of narrativist games allow role-playing to influence the creative input and output of the players, so both acting out roles and employing rules take part in shaping the outcome of the game. Many role-playing game systems involve the generation of random numbers by which success or failure of an action is determined. This can be done using dice (the most common method) or cards, but other methods may be used depending on the system. The random result is added to an attribute which is then compared to a difficulty rating, although many variations on this game mechanic exist from system to system.
The following list showcases some of the notable game systems, off of which many notable games are played. Utilizing the framework of rules and possibilities of a certain system facilitates the actual playing of a Role-playing Game.
Alphabetically[]
- Amtgard
- Basic
- CODA System
- CORPS
- D6 System
- D20 System
- EABA
- FATE
- Fudge
- Fuzion/Action!
- GUMSHOE System
- GURPS
- Hero System
- Interlock System
- Masterbook
- Mayfair Exponential Game System
- One-Roll Engine
- Palladium System
- QAGS
- Rolemaster
- Saga System
- Savage Worlds
- Shadowrun
- Society for Creative Anachronism
- Storyteller/Storytelling
- Tri-Stat dX
- True20
- TWERPS
- Unisystem
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