Finding Styles
A downloadable TTRPG
This is inspired by kumada1's An Abomination, specifically the idea of four separate approaches based on the vibe you're going for in your game. Here, I attempt to squish all of them into a single (or perhaps, dual) mechanic for a game, or system. Do with it what you will. It is completely untested!
For this game, you will need:
A pool of six-sided dice
A pool of tokens in three distinct colours or patterns.
The concept probably works best with 4-5 people, but experiment and see what works with your dynamic.
At any time, players can choose to "Try/Test", "Learn/Discover", "Know/Decide" or "Express/Feel", each action using a different style of TTRPG action: Dice, Shared description, being the GM, and Pure RP.
Suggested adventures take the form of "In a particular style of world, your characters just want to do 'x', but the forces of 'y' keep getting in the way of them achieving their dream." Three d6 tables to generate suggestions are included.
(Logo compass rose generated with watabou's Compass Rose Generator.)
Download
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This is absolutely glorious is all Imma say. It blew my mind big time.
Finding Styles is an experiment in squishing the various systems of An Abomination into a unified game.
It's 3 pages, with a bare but perfectly readable layout and clearly communicated gameplay information.
Content-wise, Finding Styles is a quickplay unisystem. You can learn and teach it fast, you can use it run just about anything, and it's got enough knobs and dials to fiddle with that if you like designing games you can easily make stuff with this.
For PCs, you have both stats and tokens. Stats are used to resolve rolls, and fluctuate as a result of those rolls. Also, when you're starting out, you have one stat you decide for yourself, another you roll for, and a third the rest of the group assigns to you---which is neat. Tokens are a little more GM-y, and you spend them or pass them between players to add details to the narrative. Notably, if your PC dies and you still have your tokens, you can keep playing without rerolling.
For GMs, there are some roll tables to help set up or chart the direction of a story, but this isn't a game that necessarily needs a GM. If everyone's comfortable passing the spotlight, you can skip the GM role entirely.
Overall, this is a rad lightweight system hiding in a relatively unassuming layout. It's cohesive, it's flexible, and it mixes story and dice nicely. If you like stuff like Risus, No Dice No Masters, or lightweight storytelling in general, give this a look.