Meta-Abilities

 

 

Which is in where the players influence the world not through the actions of their character, but by writing the narrative around it. 

I've been using this kind of things more and more every year, and I love how much crap they cut, how many problems they solve and how many good ideas they inject into the sessions. 

As for now, I have "codified" them in separate skills, which must be picked up by characters alongside the combat skills and the spells. I think about them as the "rogue" moveset; solving some problems I had here.  Translated from my spanish rules, they are: 

 

)) FLASHBACK: Every character can roll 1d6 to declare having done a simple action retroactivelly (alerted an NPC, bought a item, took any specific precaution...). If you have the FLASHBACK skill, you roll 2d6 instead. If your character has a relevant backstory, this can involve specific items such as antidotes or lockpicks

On a 1-3, it didnt work. Deplete this skill

On a 4-5, it worked, but deplete this skill until downtime

On a 6, it worked

)) ALCHEMY: You are expert making a specific alchemical product that you normally have on yourself. If you have this skill, you can roll to produce any alchemical product you have seen in the game or just describe it, and your GM will give you the closest to it as possible. Roll 1d6:

1-3 you have that amount of your alchemical compound doses. Exhaust this skill until downtime

4-5 you either have your classic compound, or get any other but exhaust this skill

6 you get any alchemical thing but exhaust this skill

Normally I rule that health-related items are not alchemical, though poisons and acids are.

 )) INVESTIGATOR: You can ask the GM any question related to a presented mystery, and as always roll 1d6. The GM will tell you the answer but you must roleplay a moment of epiphany watching whatever random shit there is at the game location.

As always, roll 1d6: 1-3 means change your question. 4-5 means you have it, 6 means you do not expend this skill. It recharges by downtime resting.

 

These skills are tied to a specific character and I like that they are tied to specific archetypes. They can be meta, but are not dissociated and you can understand how they did work in-world, or what the character did to achieve those results.

 
I also have some other examples which are more or less open to everyone at the table, which are:

)) An In-game bestiary: a book with 1d4 pages, which will answer some questions about monsters and then be depleted. It can be ported to any other topic, though. 

)) Spend downtime in the marketplace searching for a specific item and roll 1d6: On a 6, you find the item 1 tier cheaper than its normal value, you can decide why it is so cheap. On a 4-5, the GM will tell you, though maybe when it is too late and you are far from civilization.

)) I want to incorporate a new one, which now goes like this: Once per session, ONE of the characters can state something he/she did, someone he/she met or something he/she learnt at some point before the adventure started. On a 6, it is mostly true. On a 4-5 it is too, but nobody can use this move until the next session. 1-3, you cannot use this move until next session. The GM will note what you said, though, and play along if he wants. 

The once per session per party is a limit so the game doesnt devolve into making up PCs pasts every session: the first character to speak, does it. However, another player may also declare the move at the same time: the one who rolls higher, prevails. 

The statements must not contradict previous information and of course, the GM can say no i guess. The kind of things you can alter includes:

"I know one of the NPCs in the crowd, its an old friend/lover/relative"

"I know the king of this land" 

"This city has a clandestine casino somewhere" 

 "We are safe, Owlbears do not wander the forest on Christmas"

Basically anything that speaks about what the character has done or learnt on his early life. Young characters can portray this skill as carrying and reading an elder relative's diary, for example. 

With this skill, I want to give my players some agency into introducing random things they want to see in the game at any given point. They do it many times without any rules, just organically. But I like to make rules to codify their behavior because thats how autistic I am. 

No, I want to explain me better: I want those rules to be a way to invite them to inject more random things on the campaign, because I've learnt that many good things come from it: They are more interested on the things happening, and it makes the world richer because it normally pushes the game to places I would not have gone.