Role-playing game system
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A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game (RPG). While some generic role-playing game systems, such as the d20 System, GURPS system are used in many games, many RPGs have their own systems. Some, such as the D6 System, are refinements of those used in earlier games. A game system is roughly analogous to a game engine in the video game industry.
Most role-playing game systems involve rolling dice in order to introduce a random element into the process by which success or failure in an action is determined. Usually, the total of the numbers on the dice is added to an attribute which is then compared to a difficulty rating, or (as in World of Darkness games) the attribute is used to determine the number of dice rolled, and the number of successes (die rolls above the difficulty rating) determines the degree of success. Some games use a different randomising element, such as Castle Falkenstein, which uses playing cards. However, some games such as the Amber Diceless Role-playing Game use no randomising element at all, instead directly comparing ability scores with difficulty ratings (as is often the case, the difficulty rating in Amber DRPG is usually the opponent's ability score).
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