Player Skill Lockpicking

While running an experimental one/two/three shot dungeon crawler with some new players who had limited experience in TTRPGs; I decided to forgo normal game mechanics in favor of a more streamlined OSR-ish experience. No skills or classes, just basic character stats and most importantly, items. Starting as nobodies with limited starting gold; the players had to make tough choices early on like to enter the dungeon without armor in favor of healing items, balance encumbrance with how many specific tools they wanted to bring versus how likely those tools would actually need to be used, and a good range of ammunition or specific weapon types. Without telling them anything and simply presenting the list of equipment they could buy with starting gold, they correctly deduced that multiple damage types may be useful and light sources would be crucial. We even got some character and group progression via purchasing new items in the shop after each delve and loot found in the dungeon. However one tool a player absolutely made sure to get and tell the others not to waste their gold on? The humble lockpick.

Now this came up to be quite a challenge for me. At the time, I didn't really know how I wanted the lockpicking to work. With no Rogue or Thief class, no desire to add a skill system, I didn't really consider using roll-under-Dex even though it work fine simply because of the annoyance of a player wanting to lockpick but being "stat deficient" to do it, plus the added annoyance and simple fact that the players would never interface with the mechanic anyway; since you aren't lockpicking in combat it's always just going to be the highest Dex character performing the check. This is boring. Given my desire to run a fairly OSR experience; involving feeling around for traps and pressure plates, careful "puzzles" that can be solved by studying the environment, and rewarding out of the box thinking; I decided to say screw it and make lockpicking an interactive and simulated element. Like the rest of the "game".

Player Skill Lockpicking
When you approach a locked door or chest, you will be told its basic size, shape, and other features. Some locks can't be picked (like gemstone locks or magic "metal shape in hole" locks, though you could probably make a forgery in town with a chance to break upon use and seal you in as soon as you pass through the opening), but for a traditional pin-and-tumbler lock you can pick it. Also we know these locks were not invented in the roughly middle age time period and technology most fantasy games are set in but Ward locks are boring so ignore that and roll with it.

Whenever you want to pick a lock, you have to say what tools you're using for the job. Lockpickers (usually) only have two hands, and most locks only have enough space for two tools inside at a time anyway. These tools are in order from most common and inexpensive, to specialized and only able to be made by master craftsmen (or as loot).

Tension Wrench is a thin but much stronger and broad piece of metal meant to go in along with a lockpick to help turn the lock once the tumblers are past the shear line. While it can't pick the lock on its own; allows you to open heavy duty locks (which regular lockpicks are too thin to turn) and also prevents your lockpick from breaking when trying to turn a rusted lock. I'm not sure if it should help with springlocks because I think the idea of having to find a more interesting solution (like putting a tiny stick inside to be broken instead) is more interesting. 

Probes are the second most basic tool. They are a long and very thin metal rod with no hook on the end. They are primarily used for getting information on the lock and "scouting" it out before attempting any moves to open it. You can probably bend a probe into a lockpick or vice-versa with a hammer but this has a chance to break it (1 in 6) and the resulting pick or probe will be structurally much weaker and have a 2 in 6 chance to break every time it's used or always breaks in a springlock mechanism.

When a probe is inserted into a lock, you can get a hint on what is inside. This is based on the noise and sensation it gives.

Under tension or has some give : Tension lock. Will snap your lockpick if you try to open it by itself; the intended key is beefier and won't break apart. You can prevent this by putting a thicker piece of metal in the lock (like a thin stiletto, or a specialized tension wrench)

Strange groves along the side : Carvings inside the lock that line up into a magic symbol or rune when fully rotated into open position. Can be any spell, but usually Fireball or a Death spell for a Wizard more serious about his security. 

Hard roughness and a "Click" : Tiny lodestone hidden inside the mechanism. When you pick this lock, will snag onto one of your tools randomly and won't let go. That tool is just stuck in the lock under extreme magnetic force; breaking if you try to yank it free. Intended for a nonmetallic key.

Hard smoothness and a "Click" : Tiny crystal prism inside the lock. Likely has a spell enchanted to activate when the lock is opened without the cancelling crystal on the end of the intended wizard key. Or maybe shoots a laser.

Hard smoothness, a "click", and faint light inside the lock : Mirror magic light trap. Harder to detect then others, maybe the probe feels different since it hits a flat smooth surface instead of bouncing off the facets of the crystal. 100% shoots a laser when opened. You can destroy this by breaking it; you can hit it hard with a probe (but has a 1 in 6 chance to break the probe off in the lock) or with a Springpick.

Hard and a "Tink" :  Glass vial of acid or poison; acid vial melts the lock into uselessness making it unable to be picked again, and probably takes your pick too. Pretty similar to below; but I think the cork is more interesting.

Soft with some give : Cork of a tiny bottle. Maybe used in special locks that release a rust cloud to degrade all your equipment (but the lock's mechanisms are all made of bismuth or something so they're immune) or a cloud of gas erupts from the lock-hole when you try to open it without its intended key.

Something flutters and/or light chiming sounds : Noise trap. Musical chimes may attract monsters, or ghosts. You can stuff a small amount of clay or cloth down the lock with a probe to silence this trap.

Soft with a rustling sound : Dried grasses and tinder for a firetrap. Don't ask how the lock still functions with that deep in; there's like a special metal compartment or something. If you turn the lock without the intended key, it sparks the tinder and lights the chest on fire or maybe explodes.

Light tugging or muffled swearing : There's a gremlin in the lock. Gremlins love to break things and cause misfortune; and was probably waiting to grind down the teeth of the intended key to this lock the next time it got put in. You can beat it by putting in a fake key in the lock (will confuse it with the real one and bite it) or by shoving a very thin and small sword into the lock to kill the little bastard.

Wet and Squishy : That's a mimic, dude. Extra comedy points if the chest starts purring and getting really warm while you're playing around in there. It only attacks when you stop.

Lockpicks are the basic tool required to pick all locks. They are long and thin metal rods with a hook on the end to pick tumblers. Standard lockpicks require an exploration turn to open a regular lock. If a random encounter is rolled, you have a 1 in 6 chance to break the lock off when ambushed in the surprise. Broken lockpicks get stuck in the lock and mean you can't pick it open anymore; meaning you'll either have to bust it open (making noise) or leave it for later. You can have a 1 in 6 chance to break a lockpick when you attempt opening a rusty lock (locks in wet places) from the friction and rust. Calling every standard lockpick a "lockpick" seems a bit basic but in the way that players are incentivized to carry more then one of them; you can still have the fantasy of a master thief with a whole set of tools. 

Rakes are lockpicks with a wave pattern, used to hit multiple tumblers at once. Unlike in real life and within the confines of this simplistic setup, we'll be changing their function to let you pick simple locks in a hurry (no longer need to roll a wandering monster check) OR prevent you from breaking a lockpick or losing progress when surprised by monsters while picking. Also if inserted in the lockpick of a complex, clockwork clock that resets its pins every turn; prevents this.

Moon Picks are shaped like a thin crescent moon on the end of the pick. Used to catch poison needle traps that come out of the keyhole and prevent them from stabbing you in the hand and cut any strings inside the lock. You can also use it as a double headed lockpick in a pinch, but will be bent out of shape more likely then a regular lockpick (2 in 6 chance).

Ward Picks have a smooth metal circle at the far end of the tip inscribed with a holy word or magic symbol of luck. Used to disarm or weaken magical curses and effect when the chest is opened. Much be inside the lock when the lockpicking is finished; cancels out one spell level or die worth of effect.

Corkscrew Pick is a type of lockpick with a sharp corkscrew on the end. Designed to counter Labyrinth locks; a type of lock with multiple false tunnels and tumblers that only the real key is supposed to spin into the correct position. Trying to pick one without a Corkscrew pick increases the time it takes to open this lock to an hour instead of a 10 minute turn. They can also be used to unplug the cork of a bottle trap, letting you siphon out or expose the solution to air gently before it can be fully activated by picking the lock open. In the thieves cant, they are called "Duck Dicks".

Pincers are not lockpicks but are extremely useful for the trade. Let you pull out small objects from the lock you're working on like tiny venomous spiders, flammable tinder, or broken lockpick parts.

Eye Pick is a long and thin pick with a very small metal loop on the end. Used to put things inside the lock like a small bit of cotton (to soak up oils or poisons), pull a tiny switch inside, or tie a string to it and place inside the lock to act as a wick for a fuse (to explode the trap at a safe distance) or maybe a metal wire put inside and redirected so you can ground an electric trap before it zaps you.

Windup Pick is a lockpick with a thin but flat edge that can be wound up and thrust forward to deliver a small kick of force. Can be used to wind up clocks with timers in them (which will activate a nasty trap if not finished in time), break a mirror or a weakened glass vial inside a lock, or knock out an annoying gremlin living in a lock without killing it (like if you want it to keep protecting the lock for future people).

Lightning Pick is like a little miniature lightning rod with a glass vial at the opposite end of the handle. If you prick an electrical trap with this, it gets stored inside and prevents it from zapping you when you pick the lock. You can also use it as a probe. However once it has a charge, it will discharge the next time it touches someone; so if you disarm a lock with it you could stab somebody like a little mini wand of Shocking Grasp or something like that; always dealing a minimum damage roll.

Water Picks are little metal straws with a tube attached and a crank. You have to connect the tube to a water source and have an extra set of hands to turn the crank and squirt the liquid inside. Can be used to wash out fine powders (that would get kicked up by picking the lock, usually choking or poison), or retard fire/explosive traps and reduce the maximum amount of damage they can deal to 1 per die (ie; 4d6 becomes 4 damage). However will ruin anything inside the chest that can't handle water (paintings, spell scrolls, spices, gunpowder, etc.) and create a huge puddle that would make any electrical traps that discharge hit everybody in the room instead of just the guy picking the lock. Usually more trouble then its worth to carry around. 

Crystal Picks have a tiny magic crystal on the end; used specifically for countering magical traps or curses placed on the lock. Can also deliver a light charge more discretely then a lantern. Crystal picks are unlike other picks in that they have limited uses before needing to be mystically recharged again. Crystal picks are very fragile however and any trap that breaks picks or has a chance to destroy your tools will always break the crystal on the end and spoil the magic.

Skeleton Keys can open any type of lock. That sounds extremely cool but that doesn't mean they can't be broken, protect you from traps or curses, won't lock in place, etc. You have other tools for that.

The main idea behind this system is to add interesting decisions and a more engaging system for lockpicking. While each individual part is simple; combining them creates some interesting mechanics. It also creates a slight bit more engagement in the world and connects what the players are doing in the setting. I just thematically really like the idea of a player bringing along extra lockpicks and tension wrenches when exploring the Dwarven Tombs, since their locks are going to be heavy duty and prone to being mechanically trapped, where as ancient Elvish strongholds might have thin gold plated locks that seem easy to open but are layered in magical wards and traps. In the same way you should have to bring different weapons to deal with different enemies; you should have to bring different tools to pick different locks. 

You can also still have the classic masterwork lock you can't pick (by making an alternate form of lock, like a magic gemstone) to gate progression, or the slightly artificial super-hard lock you aren't supposed to pick now and come back to later but instead of it being because your characters progress their skills instead you progress your equipment. I also quite like the idea of this implied setting's "master locks" to not be one lock at all but multiple build in to a single item; like a chest with three keyholes requiring all three of its original shared owners to be present with their plot-important keys to open up; this way you can still include locks that take longer to open, but done with an in-universe reason (multiple keys) instead of an arbitrary "this lock is extra complex".

Dirt Simple First Aid

Whenever you are in a dungeon, out in the wilderness, or in an adventure location, you can take a short rest (exploration turn) to perform various actions. One of these is healing.

In order to heal another party member, you must expend bandages (or healing herbs) to heal them. You heal them 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier and the healing item is consumed. Your character can also be trained in the arts of healing, either as a class feature or as training that can be purchased in downtime (similar to weapon training, or studying for new spells). Every time you train your healing, you can increase the amount you heal by +1.

Certain hazards, rusted blade-traps, the undead, and complex injuries become aggravated. This means that the injury deals its normal Hit-Points effect of damage, but any healing roll made to heal that character is now made at a minus, and subtracts the amount you heal with your healing action by that amount. For example, a triangular bayonet is very difficult to stitch up, and has a aggravated wound value of -3, the touch of a Wight would be -7. This means that attempting to heal it while unskilled can actually make it worse. (This acts as an incentive to have dedicated healing-focused characters to be able to safely restore health, and reduce healing effectiveness overall).

Additionally, certain items like healing potions and food heal when consumed, which do not trigger aggravated wounds. Regular rations consumed on a short rest restore +1 Hit-Points. This means that even if you're cursed and burned with acids and all other sorts of shit, you can still recover a little bit of HP in a safe if time-inefficient way.

This system is the trimmed down version of this.

Hits as Perils (Hit-Points Rework System)

But aren't they though? Hit Points are kind of unnecessary beancounting that gets in the way of fun.

Note; This blogpost is partially a shitpost based on the above comment, which is in itself a bit pretentious and shitposty. I don't seriously have a problem with hit points, nor any disconnects they may cause with the verisimilitude of the game world- such as high level characters being not threatened by lesser weapons. This can be explained away easily. Plus in terms of it being beancounting- I've personally never experienced any annoyance at keeping track of HP. If anything, players seem to enjoy having a rolling HP total to keep track of, the one figure on their character sheet that is the most pressing and important of them all. After all, if that number reaches zero, you'll die- it's more important and interesting to keep track of then say weight or rations. Plus, Hit-Points are probably one of the strongest metrics of risk-vs-reward gameplay and the most obvious "resource" of the resource management common in roleplaying but especially in OSR play. You have a clear and obvious sign of how much danger you are likely in at any given time simply by knowing how damaged you are- knowing roughly how much damage a failed roll or an enemy monster will do gives you more tactical decision making then if, say, a game simply had every hazard have a small chance to kill you.

However, especially in progression-based games with growing health pools, combat encounters with multiple damage and healing events in any given combat- monster attacks and spells, healing potions or allied spells, inspirations and temporary HP, etc- these can be a bit distracting and take away from the immediately interesting part of simulating a game world; the threat in front of you. This concept made me think of how to streamline or move the Hit-Points and damage system of a generic roleplaying game into being something simple and easy to understand, quick to adjudicate, while also being able to plug in to as many existing systems as possible to avoid friction.

One system that has a non Hit-Points systems is Into the Odd. Now technically it does have Hit-Points, but these are more like a shield before you take damage to your Body stat, which also reduces your ability to fight or take further damage. (At least, that's how I remember it working- I could be totally wrong. Been a long time.) I actually like this system for a lot of reasons over a traditional Hit-Point system, since taking damage also impacts your ability to deal or sustain further damage- a more realistic take on injury that, while it can result in a death spiral, makes taking damage more meaningful. Traditionally; a character with full HP and one Hit-Point remaining have the same ability scores, same movement speed, same power of spells or attacks, and so on. It doesn't have to be realistic by any means but I think it gamifies the concept of taking damage or injury TOO much, making it harder to simulate and create situations that feel at home in the game world itself. As such, these combined factors lead to this very rough concept; The Peril System.

The Peril System
Whenever you are hit by an enemy attack, struck by an offensive spell, caught in a trap, encounter a natural hazard, or otherwise take any form of damage or risk- you encounter Peril. There are two types of Perils- Peril and Mortal Peril. Standard Perils essentially make your situation worse, requiring valuable time, resources, or inflicting nasty status effects or weaknesses that will harm your ability to continue fighting or exploring. Mortal Perils work differently. When you are struck with a Mortal Peril, your character is essentially toast- the same as a monster with a very powerful attack or instant-death spell. So for example, a dragon's Fire Breath would deal enough damage to kill most characters, so it would be considered a Mortal Peril, as failure against it would be deadly. 

I also feel like I should mention here; all of this applies to the Players' Hit-Points, not monsters or NPCs. They still use normal systems. The idea is to get rid of player bean counting, but GM counting is par for the course.

This may make Mortal Perils sound extremely dangerous- but remember that the Peril is always done after your other form of mitigation or chance to avoid the danger. ie; Perils are the replacement for hit-point damage. So if a monster hits you on an attack roll vs your AC, then you are hit with a Peril. If you fail a saving throw, you might get hit with a Mortal Peril, and so on.

So if a monster hits you, instead of dealing damage, what negative thing happens to your character? It depends on the monster and situation. The general idea is that instead of standard damage, each infliction of an attack or spell does something negative and harms your character's abilities in some way. Some of this could be more mechanical (ie; dealing damage to stat points or causing morale checks), but the intention is that these are more flavorful, essentially roleplaying or game-world-simulating problems that crop up to make your adventure more difficult.

For example- a Goblin stabs you with a punji stick. Instead of dealing 1d4 damage; the wound washed clean or else you will get very sick and need to amputate the limb or die of infection. In mechanics terms, that means the party must have access to clean water in order to wash out your wound. They can expend a ration or a spell to use some water, or in some dungeons it would be trivial to find a clean stream to use instead. Note how despite not being a mortal peril, regular perils can still be very serious, it is still putting you in peril, just not immediate. It still represents a loss of either resources or weakens your party in some way, which is the point of HP loss, simply abstracted from numbers.

Instead of saying "my character's down twenty five Hit Points" in this system, you'd say something like "I'm sick, my shoes are melted to the floor, I'm blinded, and my damn hair is on fire". Both characters have taken the same amount of punishment and aren't looking too good.

Mortal Perils
Mortal Perils are a bit of a strange one. The idea behind Mortal Perils is to replace attacks that are dangerous enough to kill characters anyway; so attacks or spells that deal enough hit point damage to kill outright and that don't have another mechanic (like Save v Death) would feel about the same, but it may feel bad for a high level character to get instantly murdered by one bad hit against an otherwise regular enemy if it was strong enough to be considered "mortal". One simple concept would be that if the player characters are equal or higher level to the threat, then the 'Mortal Peril' becomes a regular Peril instead. ie; if you get bonked over the head by a troll's club as a staring character, your head gets smashed and you die, but if you're a high level character, the injury just stuns you for a round, dents your helmet, and makes you lose 1d4 points of Intelligence permanently. If you get hit in the head with a dented helmet, then it would be treated as a Mortal Peril instead, and so on. Simple way to incorporate player level into your survivability without using hit points.

The second Mortal Peril concept is to either use a simple lives system, or bennies, as an exchange to prevent instant character death. For instance, if you would take a Mortal Peril, you can give up one of your characters life tokens to just barely avoid death. You only have a limited amount of these and they do not come back per rest or even session- probably just per character. I really like the idea of starting with none of these actually, getting one per level up, and maybe healing or magic spells (such as Healing Potions) essentially restore these instead of healing hit points. So in-universe the healing potion is knitting together your wounds and restoring your vitality but in rules it's giving you back the one bit of protection you get from a one hit death. This is still basically a hit point system, just a much simpler and easier to track, so it doesn't 100% follow our guideline at the top, but I think it's a concession that makes the game more fun. I also think certain mechanics, monsters, or character classes could really add to a system as simple as this. Imagine if Paladins using Lay On Hands doesn't heal hit points, but instead just lets them give you their own life tokens as a way to protect their party members while sacrificing their own safety. Imagine if undead creatures that use drain life don't take away or restore their own hit points by suck away your "soul" temporarily, which means they basically steal a life token. But if you slay that undead, you can get it back, meaning you might be stuck in a dungeon in a lose-lose situation; do you go chasing after the ghost holding your last life token or do you take a risk on your return to the surface; with one lucky crossbow trap could kill you?

Final Mortal Peril concept- the DM picks a stat most fitting based on the Peril you are in and you can choose to half that stat permanently or die. Fail a save vs acid breath? Charisma halved. Yes, half, and the reason why it is a choice is because some people would rather just kill off their own character then continue on like that. I don't blame them. This could be its whole own post but for as much as the OSR/New-Weird/blogosphere loves their death and dismemberment tables, mutation tables, spell cataclysm rolls, their "scar" and "trauma" systems- people don't want to go on playing gimped characters, so just give them a choice to accept it and move on with a fresh character to roll. At least, that's what I would do with something this nasty.

Perils in Combat
The idea behind perils is to replicate the effects of HP. How do we do this in a fight? If you can take an unlimited number of perils, then characters can just fight forever without going down, right? Not necessarily. The idea is that perils put you in enough danger that you could be killed, but typically you'd need to get hit by a few or expend other resources (armor, one-time use abilities, lucky rolls, etc.) that eventually you could get worn down. As with the above example, higher level characters can downgrade certain Mortal Perils into regular ones- you could extend this concept to lesser Perils of a certain type. So in the above example Peril of getting stabbed by a nasty, shit-covered spear- a Paladin of a certain level may become immune to all earthly diseases. This means that for them? They can just ignore that Peril entirely. Would that make him totally immune to a goblin encounter? As per RAW, yes, which I think is fine. It's the equivalent of a high level character with tons of healing and action surges and the like all going into a fight against much lesser opponents; they realistically can't die from it so it's the same as not needing HP at all. But for most combat encounters, Perils work as a time, turn, and resource pressure as an HP replacement.

Regular Perils are also dynamic and can lead to character death and real danger. For example, a common peril of man eating monsters like Giants or Dragons may be a grab move. That Peril ties you up, meaning you can't attack and need to struggle to break free OR have a teammate come free you. But on the dragon's next turn, if you're still grabbed, it will attempt to bite your head off and kill you. The regular Peril has progressed to a Mortal Peril. The idea is the same as if you had been hit by a strong attack, and the same tension of being down to 1 HP and the next attack will kill you is the same here.

Status effects not specific to spells or abilities are also somewhat uncommon, but could be employed here. The difficulty is in keeping track. One example for a common catch-all sort of mechanic is whenever your character is bleeding. Since it doesn't have HP damage, whenever you bleed at all; the effect of the blood loss doesn't matter unless it's lethal amounts of blood loss or isn't bandaged (Mortal Peril?) so in this case, I would say that anyone who is suffering from a bleeding wound now enrages bloodsucking creatures; making them more likely to be targeted by them or having higher To-Hit rolls, stacking on more Perils, or potentially having the chance to upgrade a regular Peril into a Mortal Peril. Once again, we're starting to get into simulating the exact same thing as an HP system, so this still needs more ironing out, but I feel like there is a creative space here where this works. 

Next; Weapons. Weapons are interesting here because player weapon choices tend to be more impactful, where as NPC weapon choices are less important since it's typically just the numbers that matter. Some games or systems may include alternate rules as weapons vs AC To-Hit tables, but the idea of players switching up what armor they wear or protection they bring along vs specific weapons (if they even know what they're going against) seems extremely niche and silly. In this regard, the Peril system actually offers more interesting gameplay, because Perils could be unique to weapon types or even individual enemy weapons. Normally you don't care if an Orc is smacking you with a d8 Axe or a d8 Longsword unless you have some special feature that gives you an AC bonus against that weapon type or some extremely niche scenario like that. Having Perils fixes that and could make fights more interesting. An example being the triangular wounds of a bayonet being less immediately deadly then say a sword or axe, but being much harder to stitch up makes them an interesting peril on their own. Once again, this is an NPC thing- players will still have all the fun of normal weapons since they're still rolling damage dice and all that.

Finally; Armor. The removal of HP means that Fighters or tank-type characters are going to be less effective in this system, being as vulnerable to standard Perils as other characters are MINUS the normal effectiveness of their AC, their saves, etc. since Perils happen AFTER normal mitigation. With that being said, I still think making Fighters more durable even when they fail their rolls or protections is fine and fits the theme of the game. Maybe it's a class feature, maybe it's just inbuilt in the system. As mentioned above, common Perils will often do things like "dent your armor" or "give you a scratch", which are not dangerous in an of themselves, but a second Peril of the same type will likely have a much worse effect. This means that the strongest armor (worn by Fighters) still grants additional protection as would having a higher HP pool, keeping the class roles and feeling of gameplay similar.

The Big Peril Table
Finally, to round out this blogpost, here's a big list of Perils. These Perils are listed alphabetically based on the type of damage or spell, with possible monsters that use these attacks listed in the parenthesis. Use the search function to find a relevant list of Perils. 

To keep it interesting, each one has also been split into a d6 table, which you could randomly pick (whichever is most interesting) or roll on to keep encounters fresh. Higher numbers are also associated with more dangerous or costly Perils, so you could apply a simple modifier of +1 or -1, or have all enemies of a lower HD then the player character hit roll a 1d4 for the Peril instead of a 1d6, with higher HD enemies rolling a 2d6 and taking the better of the two rolls, etc. You get the idea.

Editing Note; about 80% through writing this table I realized I was just writing death & dismemberment instead of the idea of Perils that I had originally thought of. However, I think in the end it works, because perilous situations are too specific and situational to the fiction of the game world to be written in table format like this. In such a case, use the Peril concept as a method to weaken and add challenge to the game, and then this could be an additive version for more ideas, or an alternative De&Dis table for funsies. In any case, I hope you find some use out of it!

Acid (Slime, Ooze, Traps, Spells, Black Dragon)
If you're covered in oil OR can splash water on yourself immediately (takes a combat round if you have a bucket or can jump into a stream, etc.) you can lower the roll result by -2, but with a minimum of always 1.

[1] Your skin is red and blistered. You get -1 to Finesse/Lockpicking/Dexterity rolls until it has time to heal. If you roll this result while already blistered, reroll and take the new result.

[2] You jump away from the acid, narrowly avoiding it splashing on you, but you bump into the nearest large and fragile precarious object (like a giant urn) causing it to fall, shatter, and make a tremendous noise. If no large precarious objects are nearby, you bump into an ally instead causing them to get accidentally splashed with some acid and blistered (roll result one for them).

[3] You get a bit of acid on you. Each round you don't wash it, it burns through another layer. First round, puts a hole in armor and lowers your AC by -1. Second round, burns through your clothes and ruins your whole outfit. Third round you lose -1 Constitution as it burns your skin and flesh. You can also avoid this peril by spending a combat round throwing your armor off, but it will corrode away and be lost by the time you can recover it safely.

[4] Pool of acid forms around your feet as you jump onto an elevated surface like a table or large paving stone. The object is slowly sinking into the now weakened ground. You cannot move around to dodge or attack in melee. You can jump off yourself if you have Dexterity modifier of +1 or better, otherwise you need someone to rescue you. Requires a round from each of you to pull them to safety. 

[5] Nasty burn in an obvious place; hands or face. It heals but not right, -1 Charisma modifier the first time it happens. Every time after, simply causes immense pain and makes unable to do anything but roll around in agony until cool water or ointment is applied.

[6] Some gets in an eye. You go blind in one eye. If it happens again, it's the other one.

Arrows / Crossbow Bolts (Bandits, Elves, Demihumans, Archers, Traps)
Whenever you encounter an Arrow/Bolt Peril, your shield can block it if you're aware of the danger. Lower the roll result by -1 per AC bonus of your shield. If you get to 0, the arrow is stuck in the shield and has no other effect. Getting shot at by one archer is a regular peril, getting hit with a volley or an ambush by a group of highly trained archers is a mortal peril.

[1] The arrow misses you, but causes another problem. Flame arrow hits something explosive, giving you a round to run and jump or be exploded. Regular arrow hits your lantern you are holding, causing you to drop it and start a small fire. If you have a nearby animal or retainer that is not from a class feature (ie; not animal companion), the arrow hits them instead causing immediate serious but non-fatal wounds.

[2] The arrow narrowly misses and lodged itself in the hem of your robe, the soft part of your cap, or the end of your cloak and pinned you to the ground or wall. You can only move away if you pull the arrow out (takes a round) or by pulling yourself free, which rips the article of clothing.

[3] The arrow grazes your arm or leg. You are now suffering a minor bleed. The wound can be tracked by hounds, sharks, and intelligent humanoids if it is not bandaged up.

[4] The arrow hits flesh on an extremity. To remove it, you must push the arrowhead through the flesh and bandage up the wound. The cries of pain will be enough to alert nearby patrols of your presence or attract predatory animals unless you can succeed a save.

[5] The arrow lodges itself in your achillies tendon. You are temporarily unable to run or walk. After removing the arrow, your overland travel speed is halved for the next few weeks until it is fully healed- either taking longer to travel or rolling for two encounters per hex unless you have someone to carry you or you're riding a horse.

[6] The arrow has pierced a body cavity or was glued on the shaft with honey and now cannot be safely removed. Once the shaft is pulled free, the arrowhead will remain inside the body for the rest of the person's natural life, causing them a small amount of pain when moving that area. (If you want a more mechanical impact: -1 Dexterity permanently.)

Blunt Damage (Ogres, clubs, living tree branches, falling rocks)
You can receive the same perils in this category multiples times each with stacking effects.

[1] Bruises to the arms and legs. -1 Strength until you get a good's night sleep.

[2] Bruises to the chest and torso. -1 Strength AND Constitution. Heals after a few days. Alternatively? You can't hold your breath for the rest of the day. Doesn't sound that bad until you have to run across the poison gas pits, or hide from the scary revenant black riders, or swim down the one-way-water tunnel of death.

[3] Knocks one object you're holding out of your hand. The object is as damaged as it would be if you threw it against the floor as hard as you can; since that's what basically happened. You get to pick the object.

[4] Dents your armor or chestplate. You can't breathe right until you take it off, giving disadvantage on all rolls until you do and losing protection once you do. Requires a noisy bit of hammering over a day (or a turn with a Dwarf) to buff the dent out. If you aren't wearing chest armor, it just breaks a rib instead, making you lose -1 Constitution permanently.

[5] Crunches one of your hands. You have to bandage it and wait for it to heal up for a season before you can use it effectively again.  You get to pick the hand.

[6] Hits you in the head. You lose -1 Intelligence permanently and forget your name, how to get home, and favorite magic spell. If you're wearing a helmet, pick one of those three things and you'll remember it a few weeks later. If you're wearing padding underneath the helmet, you get to pick a second one, but you always lose the third.

Cold Damage (Ice magic, frozen enemies, ice fairies, abominable snowmen)
Every Cold Peril you are suffering from causes the next one to get worse, increasing the result by +1. If you get duplicates, just take the one above the one you rolled.

[1] You shiver, causing you to shake around anything you're carrying or holding. Only a real problem with a lit bomb. If you have a source of heat (torch) or are wearing heavy winter clothing, this only lasts one round, otherwise, one turn.

[2] Your teeth chatter from the cold, causing stealth to become almost impossible unless you can put something in your mouth to stop the noise. If you have a source of heat (torch) or are wearing heavy winter clothing, this only lasts one round, otherwise, one turn.

[3] Any liquids you are carrying (potions) freeze inside their bottles. This doesn't damage or waste them, but you do need to make a fire and spend a turn warming them up by it to thaw them out.

[4] One object you are wearing or carrying becomes brittle. Your warhammer is only good for one more attack, or it will shatter apart. Your breastplate cracks and deforms the next time you are hit, and so on. The object becomes dusted in ice and frost; if you can avoid using or damaging it will regain its normal toughness after it warms up in one turn.

[5] You develop hypothermia, losing -1 Dexterity per turn before you get warmed up. This requires at least a long rest to fully recover from.

[6] You are frozen solid. One solid attack by a blunt weapon or strong creature will shatter you into pieces (Mortal Peril). Until then, your party has to carry you around as a very heavy piece of "treasure" or encumbrance until they can find a place to thaw you out safely or use some sort of magic to restore you back to normal.

Curse Damage (ghost touch, cursed items, dark spells, ominous fog, witches, hags)
Most of the time, the effects of a curse or touch are already spelled out. This is more for getting his with dark magic or generic "damage" from occult sources. Armor offers no protection, but a protective talisman or holy symbol lets you roll twice and pick the least-worst result.

[1] Bad Aura. Everyone around you thinks you feel off and there is a feeling of unease. You make horses nervous and flighty, cats hiss, and babies cry. It goes away the next time you go to church.

[2] Three laughing skulls, bats, little devils, or inky black crow spirits start flying around your head. You get disadvantage to aim or spells and you can't look up as they are going for your eyes until you manage to shoo them away. 

[3] Supernatural Fear. Make a morale check or flee. Even if you succeed the check, you are still scared or nervous and get disadvantage on the next one until you calm down.

[4] Depression. Like a Dementor's kiss. Everything feels gray and meaningless. Character cannot do any kind of performance checks and will automatically fail any magic item or effect that requires a "will to live" or "force of personality" to be used. Chocolate helps, but can only be cured by the next time you or your party achieves a major victory.

[5] Your life-force was drained, causing you to look older and your hair to turn white. Whatever hit you with this peril has an object imbued with a glowing light, and you can restore your life-force by retrieving that object. If you're more hardcore, this can just cause premature aging that you can't really do anything about; this only becomes a mortal peril if you age up enough times that it could theoretically kill you from old age.

[6] Voodoo Doll. The next time it makes sense; you find a voodoo doll that looks exactly like you. You're stuck taking care of it; as any damage it receives is reflected on you. Any Peril that damages or messes up your inventory will effect the voodoo doll. If you drop your pack into the river, you will start drowning on land as the doll sinks, and so on. This one needs a curse-breaker to get rid of it.

Fall Damage (Birds, dragons, rickety bridges, air magic, shot out of a catapult)
I imagine most fall damage would count as a Mortal Peril, since there are few outcomes depending on the height and few ways to save yourself. However, if you want a more Perils-As-Hit-Points way to simulate fall damage, here are some ideas.

[1] Collapse into a heap of dust. When you get up, you need to dust yourself off, else leave a small smoke trail or cough and mess up your next spell incantation from the dirt on you.

[2] You fall onto your side and feel something crack. It's not you; but it is a fragile item on your person. Usually, just a single healing potion or a wand if you're magically inclined; but a more specific or important item can be broken instead if you don't have anything that could realistically break on impact.

[3] Crash through an awning, top of a wagon, or bundle of trees and carefully curated glassware. Besides being stunned for one round so you can't run away, the owner of the store or traveling merchant you just got flung into is going to be very angry and wants to implement a "you break it, you buy it" policy. If you're traveling or in a dungeon, just have yourself fall on your own camp or something idk.

[4] Breaks a leg. Requires an actual skilled healer to bind it up, and takes a season to heal. You can't flee combat and travel at half speed without a horse or wagon.

[5] As [3], but instead of into an allied or neutral force, you get thrown into a nest of vipers, a river of crocodiles, or dropping into the nest of a giant bird to be fed to her babies. You're still stunned for a round.

[6] You manage to catch yourself from a greater fall (mortal peril) but on an object that is slowly breaking or can't handle your weight; like a tree at the edge of a ravine or the last rope from the rope-bridge. Somebody needs to pull you up within the next turn or else it will give and you will plunge to your death.

Fire Damage (Flamethrowers, elementals, burning oil, dragon breath)
Fire hazards are the most chaotic. If you gain one of these perils while adjacent to an ally, they gain one too unless if they are fighting defensively or have some fire resistance. While this peril could be any that fit, I'd just make it a result of [1] to make it less harsh.

[1] Your hat, hair, or headdress is on fire! It will go out on its own in one combat round or in a few seconds unless if you jump, run, tumble (make a saving throw), etc. If you do this, then the fire spreads and get worse. Easiest way to fix it is to throw your hat on the ground and stomp on it. If it's not a hat you can easily remove, you'd better get our your knife and cut it off then instead.

[2] Singed. Eyebrows burnt off, black soot, cartoonishly blown back hair. You're coughing a lot and it stings; you cannot cast spells until you can wash it off in a cool clean stream or expending a water ration.

[3] Your whole body is tender and turned red from the flash-fire, meaning you cannot wear any clothes without extreme discomfort. Remove your armor and lose all magic properties and bonus AC until you cool off in a day.

[4] Crispy! Your outer clothes and skin are charred black or heavily burnt and singed. You leave a black trail of soot wherever you go and have a permanent black mark on anything you touch for the next 1d4 days. Any clothes you wear or objects you touch are permanently ruined and stained.

[5] You are engulfed in flame from head to toe. Stop whatever you are doing and run to the nearest source of water, fine sand, or something else to put out the fire. If you perform any other action the flame engulfs you and kills you. No, stop drop and roll doesn't work in medieval times, it wasn't invented until way later or something.

[6] One piece of metal touching you closely like a ring, helmet, or piece of armor is heated up so much it turns red hot. Your skin is burnt and fuses to the metal, meaning it cannot be removed without a skilled surgeon; akin to a cursed item. This is probably the most gross and unrealistic Peril on this list, but I think it's a cool way to do fire damage that isn't just "more burnt". 

Fists (Unarmed strikes, monks, martial arts, punching traps)
If you got your own fists up and are in a fighting stance, you can reroll a roll of [6] on this table. That's only if you get hit with a suckerpunch.

[1] Arms, wrist, or body blows of little impact. You are folding back from the assault, but otherwise unharmed. You have -1 AC against this attacker but only for the next combat round.

[2] Hits you right in the side. You get -1 Constitution until you sleep it off.

[3] Take it on the chin- your footwork is wobbly. -1 AC from all attacks for the rest of this combat and you can't make any complex maneuvers like tumbles or dodge rolls.

[4] Stunning strike! Karate chop to the sternum! You can step back and be stunned for one round OR you get hit in the head and see double; you have a 50% chance to miss your intended target. You also can't read any spellbooks or count up treasure for at least a day.

[5] Your attacker can disarm you and either take your weapon, throw it away in the most inconvenient place, or redirect your strike into the nearest ally; whichever is worse for you.

[6] Out cold. Takes a few hours or smelling salts to wake you up. You're totally helpless if you're in combat, and your party members will have to drag you around until you can be helped.

Lightning Damage (shocking grasp, lightning bolt, thunder magic, storm giants, static discharge, Diablo 2 beetles)
Lightning damage can only effect you if you're grounded (have at least one foot on the ground), if you are hit with a lightning peril while flying it doesn't do anything until you become grounded or the next time you are struck with a metal item (in which case it hits whoever hit you instead).

[1] Your hair goes spiky and you get a little singed. Doesn't do much but makes you look ridiculous, -1 Charisma until you can groom yourself.

[2] Uncomfortable buzz. Anyone who touches you gets a mean static shock and disrupts any healing or blessing spells used on you. Lasts for a day or until you touch water.

[3] If you're holding a metal object like a sword or lantern, you have to drop it as it sparks wildly. If you're not holding a metal item, then you just get a nasty shock and your armor gets a little magnetic; lowers your AC by -1 against metal weapons.

[4] Temporarily electrified; you shake and are stunned for one round. If you've gotten hit by another Lightning Peril this combat encounter, it bounces to your nearest ally and stuns them too. If they were hit by another Lightning peril before, then it chains off of them and so on.

[5] Knocked off your feet backwards from the source of the Peril in an arcing electrical explosion; 20 to 30 feet. Anyone you are directly next to or anything you were riding also gets blasted back but only half as far in a different direction.

[6] You get zapped really bad. Knocked prone, your heart stops beating. You'll die if someone doesn't do chest compressions for a turn (can't revive you during combat). Even if revived, you'll have seizures for the rest of your life unless restored by a powerful healing spell. (Once per session, the GM/DM can make you roll a save or you shake uncontrollably for two combat rounds. This is bad enough to make you fall off your horse.)

Magic Damage (Magic Missile, Arcane elements, Wizards, Familiars, Runic Traps, Spellbooks)
This Peril type is specific to flashy, arcane, wizard-y style attacks and spells; like magic missile or generic glowing energy beam wand/staff attacks. If you are hit by a spell that is elemental, then that element should be used first. If it's a telekinesis shove, use Blunt or Fist damage, If it's dark magic or from an evil witch, use the curse damage table instead and so on.)

[1] Blinding colorful lights flash before your eyes, causing you to make your next attack roll at disadvantage.

[2] Your skin is burned with arcane sigils and runes that glow in the dark. You can cover them with clothing. They seem really mystical and spooky but it's honestly just swearwords. Take multiple months to go away or if you know the trick you can just rub a crystal over them to scratch them off. You get -1 to saving throws vs spells while these runes are on your body.

[3] Random magic item that can be activated you are carrying goes off. To prevent this from being an easy TPK; the person holding the item can make a check to direct the magic spell towards enemies or in a direction where nobody can get hurt as long as they aren't distracted by another effect.

[4] Summons a 1 HD creature from another dimension either from your belongings, next to you, or jumping out of a portal to attack you. Its temperament and relationship to you is determined by a reaction check; it's permanently stuck on this plane until its killed or hit with another spell to send it back.

[5] One spell you know or have prepared at random has its effect reversed. The DM makes a secret note of this, but tells you that one of your spells HAS flipped,  just not which one. If you study your notes and spellbook you can remember the spell the right way to do it and the trap is no longer set.

[6] You are turned into an animal! Roll a d20 vs your Charisma. If you roll under, you get to pick something small, harmless, and maybe useful like a rat or a bat. If you roll over, the DM gets to pick instead. While in this form you can't talk or attack but have full control and memory over your old self, but are vulnerable to being stepped on or eaten. You also drop all your items and otherwise become mostly useless. Your party members can keep you in their backpack to keep you safe. The next time you sleep and wake up, you're back to normal.

Piercing Damage (Spears, dagger points, rapiers, Monster teeth, spike traps)
If you're carrying a shield, you can have that pierced through or shredded to avoid any one of these effects.

[1] Grazes you, leaving a scratch. Next time you roll for any Peril result add +1 to the roll just to make it a little worse.

[2] Presses hard into you, stopped by a small trinket that takes the brunt of the force instead. Minor damage to a spellbook, bed roll, or medical bag you are carrying.

[3] You get bitten or poked in the neck. The force was only enough to break the skin, but you still have trouble breathing and make all rolls at disadvantage and you cannot cast spells. You must spend a round to catch your breath to end the effect. If you're in a dusty tomb, a smokey tavern, or breathing in foul miasma or ash it takes three combat rounds instead.

[4] With a sharp point coming at you, you drop what you're holding and grab it with both hands in a life-or-death struggle. You get stuck holding a spear (or the jaws if it's a big monster) by the shaft with your hands and can hold it for one round until it overcomes you and pierces your chest (Mortal Peril). Somebody else must succeed an attack roll to force the enemy off of you. You can hold the spear for an extra round per positive Strength modifier you have.

[5] The tip pushes into your flesh, causing you immense pain. If you're getting bitten instead, the creature latches on. You're stuck in a lose-lose situation; prevents you from moving. If you do pull yourself off the spear, suffer bleeding and make all rolls at disadvantage until you can be bandaged up.

[6] You get stabbed or bitten right in the torso, causing you to go into shock and require immediate medical care or your condition will worsen. You will recover after one season but only with a warm bed, good food, and a dedicated healer. If you're missing one of those things, lose -2 Constitution permanently. If you're missing two of things, you suffer complications and die.

Poison Damage (Snakes, Poison Darts, Dart Frogs, Assassins)
If the poison is bad enough that simply touching it can hurt you, probably go with the Acid table instead. If an arrow or other similar threat is poisoned, you only have to deal with the poison peril instead of the arrow peril; not both.

[1] You just start throwing up everywhere. If you ate today, you lose that ration and will need another later once you can stomach food again.

[2] You start turning green and lose -1 points of Wisdom or Strength, whichever is most fitting to the poison. If someone sucks on the wound and spits it out, you'll recover in a turn, otherwise, 1d3 days.

[3] Your veins turn black and travel up to your face and eyes. You become unable to speak for a day, which means no spells.

[4] You become extremely feeble and sickly the next time you have downtime, losing -3 Constitution which you slowly recovery over a season. If you don't drink an antidote or chew medicinal herbs in the next three days, then you lose -1 point of Constitution permanently.

[5] You feel a looming sensation of dread, but no other ill effects thinking maybe it missed. If you don't do a folk remedy, drink an antidote potion, or have a healer watch over you constantly; you'll die in your sleep from the insidious, slow-acting poison.

[6] Immediately putrefies the extremity that was bitten. Every round, it spreads to the next part of the body towards the heart (finger to hand to elbow to shoulder to chest). Somebody has to cut it off before it spreads too far.

Psychic Damage (Aboleths, Mind Flayers, Horrorterrors, Magic mirrors, some magic items & traps)
"Psychic damage" in this case could mean actual psychic spells or enemies, or it more means emotional or brain/mental assaults as simplified and flavored through a fantasy lens. While the idea behind this Peril system is to avoid hit points, I think having points of sanity or whatever is fine as a way to soak the character-changing effects listed here. Maybe something like the roll result on this Peril table is absorbed with minor, curable effects equal to your Wisdom score, but once you exceed that, then the effects happen as written. Since these effects are purely mental and mostly roleplayed, they are more severe then the physical effects written on other tables.

[1] Your character becomes terrified for 1d4 rounds, being forced to run away or cower each round they fail a moral check or saving throw. If you're not in combat, save or scream and attract a wandering monster roll.

[2] You gain a minor phobia for whatever is causing the psychic damage or the last Peril category you rolled on. The phobia just makes your character intensely dislike and avoid it, but causes no other rolls or effects. If you get this a second time for the same peril, object, or creature the phobia gets so bad you run away screaming every time you encounter it.

[3] Your character becomes an amnesiac and forgets who they are or what they are doing for 1d6 exploration turns. During this time, their class abilities are removed and they can only do actions as an untrained commoner. They cannot cast any spells beyond first level/cantrips.

[4] You gain an imaginary friend. You must share half your treasure with the friend.

[5] Character's face is frozen in fear, rage, despair, or rapturous joy. This causes no loss of charisma, but they always act like this chosen face and cannot order or express things that go against this emotion until a remove curse is used on them. 

[6] Your mind is swapped with the nearest living thing, an ally, or the creature that caused this effect. You gain the abilities of that creature and vice versa, but are distinctly not them. If one of you dies, the other will be stuck in the original body. The two creatures must be kept in each others presence for about a year before they swap back to normal, and both must be present if cured with a remove curse spell or mindswapping power.

Sharp Damage (Swords, claws, cutting winds, blade traps)
Probably one of the most common types of damage in a game, so it's going to be the most common peril. All of them except a roll of one require a bandage item or strip of cloth to bind up in addition to their usual effects.

[1] Merely a scratch! Has no effect on its own, but the next time you roll for any Peril result add +1 to the roll just to make it a little worse.

[2] You dodge out of the way at the last second, but the cutting edge finds the nearest and least convenient bit of rope or fabric to sever. Could be the hood hiding your identity, the rope to the chandelier that now comes falling down towards your head, the leather strap keeping your quiver attached to you, or the jungle vine dropping a nest of killer hornets. Whatever it is, it's probably as inconvenient for the cutter as it is for you.

[3] Bleeding Cut. Persistent wound that drips a trail of blood that can be tracked by blood-seeking creatures. Adding an extra bandage can stop this effect for one turn, but it resumes afterwards until it fully heals.

[4] Deeper Cut. Lose a bunch of blood in a big pool, making you feel woozy. You roll for disadvantage to climb, cross a balance beam, jump a gap, etc. for the next day or so.

[5] Deepest Cut. You must use one arm to press down on the wound else you will faint from rapid blood loss. You can still fight or run or whatever but one of your arms is disabled the whole time.

[6] Pick your nose, ear, tail, or boob. Whichever one you pick has been cut off almost completely, and is barely hanging on by a thread. It can be saved, but only if you don't get hit by another peril before you can stitch it back on. If you do take another peril, replace it with that body part falling off and being permanently lost.

Tentacle Damage (Kraken, Giant Octopus, Mind Flayers, Lovecraftian monsters, animate rope,  giant snakes, animate jungle vines, giant prehensile tail, rubber blob monster, etc.)
Most damage here could be used as bashing or fist; but this is specifically for flexible tentacles, worms, or other such creatures that could grab you, constrict you, etc. Anyone with a Strength modifier of +1 or better can resist some of the worst effects of this and gets to lower the result of their roll by -1

[1] Wraps loosely around a single arm, preventing you from using it or moving away unless you thrash it away with a successful attack against the creature with your other arm or pull away, taking a combat round and forcing you to move.

[2] Slaps the floor next to you or brushes against a leg. If you're in any way slippery, wet, on uneven flooring or not wearing good shoes you fall to the ground. Otherwise, your movement is halved for this round.

[3] Constricts around both lower legs. Arms and mouth are freed, but you must be cut free to be loosed. If the creature is stunned in any way, you can also slip free.

[4] Constricts the neck or head. You can move and attack, but cannot see or cast spells. If you attack, you attack a random target, which can include your allies or the creature grabbing you. All ranged attacks miss while grabbed this way.

[5] Grabs and flings you or bats you aside as a giant fleshy whip. You get thrown back in a random direction against a wall (stunning you one round and denting your armor) or flings you into 1d2 other party members (all are knocked prone for a round and must untangle themselves to do anything)

[6] Full constriction. Arms bound at the sides and legs dangling uselessly; you begin to get squeezed. Each round you lose 1d4 Constitution until you drop to zero, in which case your spine is snapped and you die. No mortal peril for this, you just have to get saved quickly enough.

Toxic Gas Damage (Toxic gas traps, Dragon farts, fat undead, demons, mushroom spores)
If you have a bandana covering your mouth or a free hand to reach up to cover your mouth you only roll a 1d4 on this table, though you can't use that hand for anything else for 1d4 rounds as you cough around the gas. This table is also specifically for toxic gases that could kill or seriously damage people in them; corrosive acid clouds or poison gases from evil swamps are more for the Acid and Poison table respectively.

[1] Cough a lot, not much else. You can't cast spells for the next 1d4 rounds.

[2] Blisters form all over your face, nose, and lips; but you thankfully avoided the worst of it. You lose -1d4 Charisma temporarily until it heals in a few days.

[3] The gas itself makes you cough, but it's also extremely flammable. Any spark from a spell, parrying a weapon, or an open torch flame could cause it to explode (Mortal Peril). Get out of the room or let it air out to avoid this hazard.

[4] Edema. After exposure, your hands and feet swell up and double in size. You can't wear gloves or boots until the body parts are drained, can't pick locks, and can't sneak. You can still fight in melee, but you can't use "fancy" weapons like rapiers or whips with your meaty flesh mitts.

[5] You inhale sharply, eyes going wide, and fall to the floor. You need your mouth forced open and a breath of fresh air in order to recover; which is easier said then done in a dungeon. Spells or a "beak" of perfumed air can help you; otherwise you will eventually open your mouth and breath again but lose -2 Strength permanently from the clenching. Your skin also permanently has a greenish tint.

[6] Cancerous cysts and growth explode all over your arms, legs, and chest. You will need a clean knife, someone with a steady hand, and a way to manage the pain to cut it off before it saps you of your strength and kills you. This process takes a whole night and if you're missing any of those elements you will die before morning either from the toxins or a botched removal surgery.

Dirt Simple Wealth- Wealth as Treasures Abstraction

I want to make it clear from the outset that any OSR style game, or games with gold for XP, should absolutely not use this system under any circumstance. This concept is more fitting for a generic adventure or high fantasy story game. The granularity and importance of keeping track of individual gold pieces and time is not necessarily something you want for a more casual game; so this method is a compromise between more objective systems and the more abstract wealth-as-a-stat system found in some games.

In some PbtA games, wealth is like an abstract stat. The idea being that anything under your wealth level is not something you need be concerned with; but anything equal to or over your wealth level is a significant purchase and will or has a chance to reduce your wealth level by one degree. The idea behind this system is to more accurately portray a character's lifestyle within the world; a high class noble has no concern over daily lodgings and meals, and can freely buy horses or servants if needed without any impact to their overall finances, but buying a powerful magic spell or a castle would be something they need to carefully consider. On the flipside, a character with a wealth level of one or zero would have to carefully consider how they will make enough money each day to afford their meals or simple services.

The idea is to take the above basic system, but instead of abstract stats or levels, tie your wealth level to each significant treasure you have looted.

Wealth as Treasures
As adventurers explore the world, do quests, and raid tombs, they will eventually come into possession of valuable artifacts. Some of these may be magical or very powerful; as as such will be valuable, but some will be valuable purely for other reasons; great works of art and craft, huge gemstones or precious metals, cultural and historical significant, etc. These are your treasures.

You are only going to be keeping track of significant treasures; typically the namesake of whatever dungeon, tomb, or royal family you're stealing from. If your players make a plan to steal the Mona Lisa, then that would become the significant treasure written on their character sheet. The other paintings and valuables in the Louvre that were stolen fetched you a lot of money, but those are part of the abstraction. Naturally a thief or graverobber will keep the best finds for themselves- so for each of these great treasures you possess, you treat this as one "wealth level".

Your daily expenses are not being paid by these treasures, you are buying your food and servants with the silver coins you looted from the orcs you fought in the dungeon, or you are making a small daily stipend from the local banking guild by stowing your treasure in their vault- but the treasures remains your primary wealth. When you need to purchase something valuable to your wealth-level, you will need to exchange a treasure for it. The DM decides which treasure you are trading away, not you.

So for example; a character with a single treasure; a glorious golden signet ring from an ancient dynasty, will have enough wealth laying around from their previous dungeon haul to buy their daily necessities. But if they suddenly need to buy a good fast horse to get out of town, they will begrudgingly give away this ring, vastly overpaying, to the stablemaster for his finest steed. Now, when you reach the next town over, you will have lost one level of wealth and are struggling, on the run and hungry, until you can find another valuable treasure to add to your character sheet.

Treasures also scale upwards; while the first great treasure you find may be one piece of jewelry or animate portrait, later treasures will be exponentially bigger and more valuable. This is tied together inherently with character progression; more dangerous dungeons have better treasures, so what counts as a "significant treasure" may change based on how many you already have. You can dive into the lagoon and pry open as many giant clams as you wish for pearls; but one or two or a dozen more isn't going to bring you to the heights of wealth and luxury; you'd need something greater.

Once a character has four, five, or six significant treasures; they'll be living like a King and have no issue affording property, income generating businesses, paying servants, and hiring mercenary bands. But if you want a truly exorbitant purchase, like the construction of a new castle, you'll still need to give up one of your precious treasures for it. While your character's liquid wealth has not actually decreased sans one treasure, consider it like losing a bit of the renown and respect they garnered that helped them keep their level of income before; while the local archbishop may be irritated that you won't donate the lost scrolls of the saint to the church; if you lose them again he'd be downright furious, and stop sending rookie healer-priests to your fort for free heals- thus increasing your expenses. Or maybe, you can't get as much money from pilgrims or wealthy nobles on tour who want to see your collection. You get the idea.

The Ultimate Game + On "non games"

This is the ultimate game. The rules go like this. Whenever you try to "do" something in the game, roll a d6. The higher your roll, the better you do. Getting a 6 is like a really good or total success, where as getting a 1 is a total failure. If you get something between, then it has varying degrees of success.

If your character is really good at something, maybe add a +1 to your role do a few specific things. There are no stats or health points or anything, just the roll and maybe a +1 if you're good at something. There's no hit points, but if getting hit once and dying isn't fun then you can do a three strikes and your out kind of system. Everything else that happens in the game world happens because it makes sense to happen.

That was the ultimate game. You're welcome.

On "Non-Games"
Games that have no rules or have only fictional "in universe" rules are an interesting quandary. I've wanted to do a more complete dissertation on them for some time, but it's not a very highly explored or talked about thing, at least in any online circles I happen to frequent. I've written a few things that are close, though the Galaxy Far Away ruleset I talked about before is the stronger example.

In the few examples of these I've read, the most common of these follow the concept of the "game as a conversation", which is a nice way to put it and feels very open and approachable. Obviously this will require a consenting, well put-together group. I feel as though if the entire group are very strongly steeped together in the universal tropes and feel of whatever type of game or genre they are playing, this might one of the best if not THE best method of playing tabletop games regardless of context. Though most groups, even good groups, won't be quite as united together in synchronicity to go into this state of absolute "flow"- I certainly haven't, it is more of a theoretical concept.

Imagine, if you will, a group of people deeply invested in Sword & Sorcery and Appendix N material. They end up making a tabletop game with almost no rules- perhaps only a random table or two or a dice roll such as the "ultimate game" written above. Then, they run a tabletop game-as-conversation where the only real goal is to exactly emulate a Sword & Sorcery story as their own characters. In such an example, the exact rules, guidelines, dungeons, or other things that bog down a regular game attempting to emulate a Sword & Sorcery experience would only get in the way of such exact connection- and in this case I would feel the "Non game" of this concept would be superior.

However, these non-games have flaws and weak spots. I don't think they're some end all replacement for "simulationist" or "gamist" games. For starters, many "genres" are too wide spread for this to work. How would you run a non-game with the only genre concerned being a "generic fantasy adventure"? Everyone brings their own idea and baggage to the table when it comes to fantasy. It would be very difficult to get everyone to run and see the game in exactly the same light. Of course, a strong personality in the form of a DM/GM running the game would be best served here- but there will always be that slight disconnect. Oh, you find a trope of elves? Some people's experiences with elves are different then each other; an encounter with elves could be anything from a whimsical moment to a deadly encounter to a banal interaction in a fantasy kitchen-sink world. Though a group can move past this, there is always that slight hesitation that would come from the minds of those playing the game.

There are also a few games that try to emulate the idea of a "non game" by making a non-game a narrative game built around a fantasy milieu which is the real "game". An example might be something like FATE- which is NOT a rules light game, even though people bill it as. It's significantly harder to wrap your head around then an old edition of D&D or something where you control a single, well rounded character- an opinion of mine, sure, but a strong one. As such, FATE is a game based on the narrative beats of a story or experience, where character aspects and elements to scenes move the action forward; but the game's world is assumed to be the glue that holds it together, in the same way a more gamist game like D&D uses its fantasy game world to be its own glue, or perhaps ground floor where the absurdity of the rules is weighed and corrected. Concepts such as the peasant rail gun don't really exist because they are only "real" if the fantasy world beneath them didn't exist. The idea of a non-game game is to make the game about the fantasy milieu that "grounds" the rules without needing rules in the first place. 

(I am now realizing this turned into Vagueposting halfway through writing it.)

So in conclusion, for a "non game" to work successfully, the real challenge is not clever rules design since there are little to no rules, but moreso the ability to communicate the implied setting, theme, or backdrop of the game. If somebody put in a lot of effort to cleverly write or design a setting introduction, write with a strong theme, or use a pre-established base such as the Star Wars example game above; it would at least do the majority of the heavy lifting. I don't know if "non games" are ever going to be widesspread and popular outside of very insular tabletop groups since, obviously, that is where they flourish best. I don't think we'll ever see non-games as published and sold products since there really isn't anything to ship. The closest thing I could think of is a non-game textbook with lots of story ideas, pre-generator characters, or tables and lists to determine what happens whenever there is no agreement on what would happen next. The great thing about these non games though is that technically ANY book is a sourcebook. Just pick up your favorite fantasy novel, emulate the tone and setting, and that's an RPG source book right there- just for a game without any rules.

Galaxy Far Away - Ultralite Review + New Tables & Rule Ideas

So I usually don't do this, but today I'd like to take a look at this ruleset made by Jim over at the d66 Classless Kobolds blog. Basically he made a super simple Star Wars roleplaying game that I ended up really liking, but it felt a little bare bones. I want to stress here I'm not taking ownership of this game (obviously), but I made some content for it and wanted to share. Also: this one got a lot longer then intended, so strap in.

But first; let me get a little mini review of the game itself. It's very basic, which I suppose is the point since its an ultralight. Some of the ideas here are fun. I like the 1 in 6 chance to be Force Sensitive for player characters, it's not a perk, just a whim of fate. I guess the other nice thing about an ultralike game for Star Wars is you can depict the force in any way you want.

But first; let's discuss the elephant in the room. Some of the only real meat and potatoes of this game is in your starting equipment, rolled on a random table. One of these is a weapon table; which lists "Frag Grenade" as a possible outcome.

Now I don't really like this because I don't really consider a grenade a "weapon", I mean it is but, it's a one-and-done kind of deal. Obviously you're given some starting credits which specifically says you can buy a cheap blaster, so that isn't a serious problem. But I feel like starting weapons should be a little more lasting then that. If it was a bandolier of grenades that would be fine- but I would rather put this in as a "tool", a more generic explosive that can be used to destroy barricades, damage large vehicles, or kill and damage things out of the character's weight class like a Rancor.

But the real problem with this ruleset? Look at the random equipment tables. Frag Grenade? Really? In Star Wars? Why isn't it a Thermal Detonator? Are you kidding me?

Now jokes aside; I get that it's an ultralight, but without any sort of real mechanics to go on I feel it fails a bit as a game. The idea of realistic damage based on where and how you attack is great fodder for good fight scenes and, in my opinion, works fine for tabletop games, but the way you actually go about making the attacks are 2d6 contested rolls. This means pretty much everything is a 50/50 toss up, with a smaller chance to tie then something like a d6 vs d6 roll since you have more possible outcomes. With this in mind, there's no reason player characters wouldn't be ending every NPC they are fighting in a single roll- and vice versa, if the NPCs are smart. Obviously you could argue that you can just adjudicate the low winning rolls of a 2d6 as being weaker successes, with say a roll of 12 over an enemy roll of 2 being a major success- but frankly at that point you're making things harder for yourself.

Art @ukitakumuki

Now obviously there's not a focus on combat in this game, but I like the idea of variable damage rolls; just a little bit of crunch to bring to the combat system, which tends to be the part of roleplaying games people want and need the most solid rules for. So here are some blaster tables. Whenever you hit an enemy with a blaster, roll a d6.

#	Pistol / Holdout	Blaster Rifle	Heavy Blaster
1	Miss / Ineffective	Environmental	Environmental
2	Environmental	Glance	Scorch
3	Glance	Scorch	Injury
4	Scorch	Injury	Debilitating
5	Injury	Debilitating	Lethal
6	Debilitating	Lethal	Vaporize

Explanations-

Getting an Environmental hit means that the enemy is not damage directly, but something around them is damage; if it be their personal combat droid, target they're trying to protect, destroys part of their cover, or hits a door access panel and forces it shut (or open). Whatever the effect, it should be beneficial to the shooter.

Getting a Glance or Scorch means the target was clipped but not seriously injured or brought out of the fight. Glance may just mean a small scorch mark or minor damage- their helmet could be hit on the visor, thus blackening it and making it useless until they take it off or maybe their weapon is damage somehow. Scorch is a more serious version of a glance, causing a small flesh wound and pain. If you want to get more crunchy, maybe getting scorched causes a -1 to future rolls made until it is healed.

Injuries are more serious. If hit on a limb it may stop use of that limb, or if hit in the body will cause you to fall over. If hit by this you can only barely move away to escape, and are not in fighting shape at all- you'd only be able to do a few missing shots as a fighting retreat. Debilitating is the same, except in this version you can't even move or fight back at all- if the debilitating shot hit a limb, that limb is blasted away or charred beyond repair and will need a cybornetic prosthetic. Unless if you have medical attention; Debilitating means you will die within a few hours. Finally, if the Debilitating hit was aimed from the head, the target will die in a few minutes instead, and be totally unconscious.

Any blast marked Lethal will kill if aimed for the head, neck, or chest. Even if the bolt itself didn't go through or vaporize it, it caused enough concussive force to kill. If you roll a Lethal hit but were aiming to capture or stun (and not using the stun setting?), then that happens instead.

Finally, the Vaporize is unique to the heavy blaster and essentially means the target is not only dead, but either vaporized into a smoking cadaver or turned to dust. You can get the same effect with a Blaster Rifle, but only with many repeating shots to an already defeated opponent- just what happened to Luke's aunt and uncle. Any damage this serious will probably cause other opponents to surrender or at least become fearful.

Once damage is rolled, a player may freely flip over a light-side token to a dark side token to go up one slot on the damage table. They could turn a lethal roll into an injury for an important NPC or themselves, but by doing so shift the destiny of the universe more towards the Dark side (DM).

Art @AraxussYexyr

Armor Rules

Armor is unique in this game (and in Star Wars) because it's not at all explained. So instead, we'll go with some guidelines. Basic and mass produced armor up to the Clone Troopers or Storm Trooper level turns a result of 5 or 6 on a table to a 4 on its corresponding table. This is also the level of armor I'd consider starting Player Characters who rolled the "Modular Armor" result on clothing to have.

Specialist armor like the Mandalorian armor / bounty hunter armor has the ability above but also counts any weapon as the table to its left. So a Heavy Blaster is treated like a Blaster Rifle and a Blaster Rifle as a Holdout Blaster, while also reducing rolls of 5 or 6 to a 4 on that table. Blaster Pistols aren't effective against this armor at all, only dealing Scorch damage on a roll of 5 or 6. If a character aims at a specific target on the armor (like the fuel tank or jetpack controls), then they can still hit it and damage it on a roll of 6.

Armor is also locational; so armor equal to those white helmets the rebels wear might save their life, but only if shot in the head.

Also: If you're playing as a really tough species (Wookie), have a bunch of damage-absorbing Force effects on at once, a bunch of implants, or anything else that would make you tougher then average just reduce whatever result you get by -1.

Also also; I like the idea of a "Glance" actually getting deflected totally and flying off, causing collateral damage, if you're wearing some kind of armor at all. But heavy blaster bolts are too heavy and powerful to be deflectd so easily (at least without a lightsabre) so that's why its just listed as a Scorch instead.

The Force & Destiny Tokens

So in Jim's game rules, he doesn't really give a list of force powers. I really like this, as it frees up the Jedi and the Sith to use the force in ways that are unique, interesting, and once again allows for the referee and players own interpretation of The Force.

So with no other real rules to go by; I kind of like the idea of the force being balanced by the Destiny mechanic; the light side and dark side tokens. Basically as the rules describe them, it's a set of 6 tokens that are either white or black, representing the light or dark side of the force. If the player flips a white token to the dark, then they can get an advantage, but each dark token can be flipped to the light so the referee can give the players a setback. That mechanic I think is interesting, as it basically provides infinite resources to both players and, in the context of the fiction, acts as an interesting idea.

See, with how vague The Force is sometimes, I like to think the tokens represent the balance of the force in the game world. So if all the tokens are on the light side, that means the players have a massive amount of potential in every action- it's like they have the momentum of the plot. In the same way, the referee having all the tokens set to black means the dark side is currently winning, has the most resources to throw at the players- it's like evil has the upper hand.

I like to think this is a literal thing, even a thing players can feel. Whenever the referee flips a token to the light side and gets an advantage, the force-sensitive characters can literally feel it in the world. "I sense a disturbance in the force." That's fun. Of course, this only really works if the players are also good guys for the most part; if the players are aligned with the evil empire or are Sith, then it doesn't really make sense- but you could just flip the tokens colors for players/GM if you're playing an evil campaign.

Now how does this work mechanically? Simple! The power of your force abilities is influenced by the tokens in play. If all the tokens are white, then the light side of the force is more powerful. If all the tokens are black, then dark side powers are more powerful. Perhaps something like a simple d6 roll over the color of the opposing side of the force to defeat an enemy force user in some kind of context- like perhaps only for actual force powers v force powers battles, with lightsabres and stuff having their own rolls. But if ALL force user fights came down to destiny (with the winning side forced to flip a token to the other color afterwards) you can create your own dramatic tension.

I kind of like this because it makes force sensitive characters more hooked into the game rules and, perhaps a bit cheesy, able to peer through the 4th wall a bit the way Jedi seem to do. It also discourages players from actually using their light side tokens for advantages, as they can weaken the dark side by not flipping them. I also think the idea of all the other player and referee actions kind of leading and flowing into this climatic Jedi finale where the outcome is determined by destiny is very Star Warsian. I just think that's mechanically a cool idea, but narratively and in the fiction? Ehh, maybe not. You could obviously see how this takes away any force-sensitive player importance and if anybody does get to be a Jedi they'd have to work for it since you can't start the game as one; so this would kind of squash that accomplishment.

Art @BossLogic

Lightsaber Rules

Now, I can see Lightsabers being a bit of an issue with this ultralite. You see, the idea is to make the rules go with the fiction, and that's easy enough to understand. The problem here is with lightsabers, and since at least one player is almost certainly going to be a Jedi, and you'll probably fight Sith at some point, then Lightsabers upset this balance. The problem here is that according to the fiction, Lightsabers just kill everything. If somebody slashes you with a lightsaber up close, even if they aren't a Jedi, you'd just die. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but when it comes to the idea of a game not having rules for things like this and being a conversation between players and a DM, then the issue of why you can or cannot just run down everything and cut them apart with a lightsaber (or how enemies won't just shoot you on the way over) could be a problem in a narrative game like this.

So instead, we use a little mechanic called Momentum. Momentum is a numerical counter of a Jedi or Sith's "battle trance", or otherwise how powerfully they are moving forward, deflecting blaster fire, and pushing towards their enemies as a dervish of flying energy sword swings. Momentum is both a force-users attack and defensive power in combat, though this never overrides the fiction. If a combat roll is called and it is failed, your momentum drops down one step. If a combat roll is called and is successful, then you move up one step. The force user can cut thru a swathe of opponents of their momentum or less, and a force user can deflect any attack made at their deflection level or less.

Everyone who picks up a lightsaber fights at their training level. If two lightsaber users meet at equal levels (the same momentum) they cannot overcome each other, unless one uses the force, a trick, or an ally to help distract their opponent, etc. Also, whatever "tier" of Momentum a character has gives them all defenses on both their tier and everything about it, whatever makes sense.

M	Ranking	Cuts Thru	Deflects
-1	Nonforce User	X	X
0	Force Sensitive	Womp Rats	Training Bolts
1	Padawan	Battle Droids	Blaster Pistol
2	Jedi / Sith	Storm / Clone Troopers	A few pistols / Blaster Rifle
3	Knight / Inquisitor	Droidakas	Many Blaster Rifles
4	Jedi Master / Sith Lord	Monsters / Bounty Hunters	Heavy Blaster
5	Heroic / Starkiller	Regular Jedi / Sith	Repeating Blaster

To stat up different fighting styles; simply change what rank each column has. For example, if you've got Obi Wan using Form III, you could say that whatever momentum level he is fighting on is moved one down on deflection, but moved one up on cut thru, since it's a defensive focused form.

Finally- if all of this game's destiny tokens are flipped to one side; then all force users of that alignment gain a momentum of +1 in combat while using lightsabers. If this is too powerful, just move up down a stage for cut thru for Sith if all dark side tokens are up, and move down a stage for deflect for Jedi if all the light side tokens are up to make the characters more thematically appropriate.