Tabletop roleplaying games are full of mechanics that shape how stories unfold, how players make decisions, and how groups create meaning together. While there are countless rulebooks discussing specific systems, there are surprisingly few resources dedicated to the mechanics themselves as reusable design patterns.
Patterns of Play is a reference project for narrative roleplaying game mechanics. Its goal is to document, analyze, and compare the tools that game designers use to solve common design problems. Instead of organizing information by game, this project organizes information by mechanic.
Why This Project?
What is a Clock? Why does Stress work so well in Blades in the Dark? How do Crowns in Brindlewood Bay encourage character development? What problems do these mechanics solve, and how have different games adapted them?
What You'll Find
Each entry examines a mechanic through a consistent lens:
- Its purpose and intended effect
- The design problem it addresses
- Common variants and implementations
- Related mechanics and design patterns
- Examples of games that use it
Scope
The project focuses primarily on:
- Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA)
- Forged in the Dark (FitD)
- Carved from Brindlewood
- Related narrative game families
While the focus is on these traditions, the project remains open to influential mechanics from other TTRPG design spaces.
Who It's For
Patterns of Play is intended for:
- Game designers
- Hackers
- Homebrewers
- Curious players
Anyone who wants to understand not just how a mechanic works, but why it exists.
By collecting these patterns in one place, the project aims to make game design knowledge easier to understand and reproducible.
Design Philosophy
Rules are not just procedures. They are design choices that create specific experiences. Understanding those choices is the first step toward creating new ones.