So far in this discussion, I've been dealing with the 'testing' aspect of RPGs as "Character A attempts Action X and with varying degrees of chance either succeeds or fails. While not entirely wrong and certainly representative of any number of RPGs, it doesn't take into account all of the grey areas of success and failure.

In the last installment, I wrote about how 'modern' RPG design had taken to focusing on a single core mechanic for task resolution. While this has the benefit of reducing the need to look up rules (and slowing down the game), I think there are times where it is a good idea to break away from the main mechanic particularly if it helps emphasize a certain aspect of the game. For instance, if you're using a dice based mechanic for the majority of the game but you want to place particular emphasis on moral ascension (say the characters are fallen angels trying to get back into heaven) then you might use a deck of cards for modeling that just so that they player's "feel" like they're doing something special.

One of the fun things about the release of an RPG is a chance to look through the new rules and see what the latest 'state of the art' to this system is. The thing about role playing is that you don't really NEED rules to do it. Many of us have been doing it since we're kids ("I get to play He-Man this time!") and a number of us have rediscovered it in our adulthood ("Tonight I'll be the naughty school girl.")