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๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป mechanics answer questions about the game world. โCan I pick this lock?โ โIf I arm-wrestle this bugbear, who wins?โ The story presents a question and we turn to dice and numbers to give us an answer. We might do this because thereโs a difference of opinion over how things should play out, or because we want to be surprised, or because we want things to be fair or correct in some way. These mechanics are reactive - they wait for play to pose a question and then provide tools to generate an answer.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น mechanics are pro-active. They tell us what to do next. Frequently, they raise questions rather than answer them. The combat round is procedural: It tells each player when to take their turn and provides concrete, transparent, repeatable actions - make an attack, cast a spell, take cover - with consistent resolution mechanics. The dungeon turn, with its random encounters and resource depletion, is procedural. Domain rules, with income and upkeep, patrols and incursions, is procedural.
๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น mechanics are what you get when you interconnect mechanics with one another to resolve the questions that arise through play and create meaningful consequences for mechanical actions.
For example, dungeon crawling combines the dungeon turn, downtime and encounters to create a structure with a resource/risk management gameplay. The PCs have just been in tough fight; nobody has died but their hp, spells and healing resources are significantly depleted. If they can instantly go home and rest then this is no consequence, but because there are random encounters being rolled on the way out of the dungeon they risk getting into a fight they arenโt prepared for.
Structures are important because decisions in games should be meaningful. DM fiat is an essential part of what makes FRP fun, but too much of it can erode meaning. Gamers are on the whole not ludic calvinists, they want to fall or prosper because of their decisions, not because the DM preordained their victory or defeat.
So we also need mechanics - dice, rules, tables, statistics, and previously established facts about the game world. When mechanics are separated from one another by the 'cloud' of make-believe, and form little islands of dice and numbers, they tend to lose their meaning.
In the case described above, of the party finishing a fight in poor shape and seeking to leave the dungeon - many games would leave the decision as to whether they encounter wandering monsters on the way to DM fiat rather than procedural mechanics. In this case the PCs may have a lucky escape and get home to rest without an encounter, or they may find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives, but either way it will simply be because the DM decided to go easy on them, or decided to be mean to them. Thereโs no longer a sense of being โluckyโ or โunluckyโ, just one of being bullied or given a free ride.
The meaning of the tough fight is also diminished. If the players find themselves in a dangerous situation and have to parlay because they donโt have the HP to survive another fight, because they made a poor tactical choice in the last battle, the PC can think to himself โdarn, I lost that gold on bribes because I used the wrong spell.โ The decisions made in the combat arenโt forgotten because they have a significance beyond that combat.
Thus connecting mechanics to mechanics through procedure and structure allows us to conduct meaning from one part of the game to another. We can build a circuit of meaning.
Interconnected mechanics can form loops, like the combat round which begins and ends with initiative, and continues looping until nobody is willing or able to fight anymore. Loops are a useful kind of procedure because they let you use the same familiar mechanics over and over. Every combat round uses the same basic rules as every other combat round for the entire campaign.
The diagram below shows how different levels of procedure within a game can form interlocking structures and convey consequence and meaning. The loops from smallest to largest are:
These interconnected loops convey meaning downwards and consequences upwards. In a โfor the want of a nailโ manner, whether you hit that goblin can mean the difference between dying a tragic hero in the final battle with your nemesis, and coming home to be crowned king.
Knowing that makes every little action in the dungeon matter - you care about hitting that goblin, not because youโre thinking it could alter the final state of the campaign specifically, but because the world feels alive and responsive to your actions. (The DM has other tools to promote this sense of a living world, which weโll talk about later in the sections on storytelling and listening to your players.)
Consequences
โฒโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโ CAMPAIGN โโ
โโ Months, Years, Centuries โโ
โโ Resolve major story arcs, fulfill long-term goals, create a satisfying โโ
โโ resolution to play. โโ
โโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โโ
โโ DOWNTIME โ โโ
โโ Days, Weeks, Months, Years โ โโ
โโ Spend treasure, level up, establish domains and institutions, build โ โโ
โโ relationships, leave your mark on the world. โ โโ
โโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โโ
โโ ADVENTURE โ โ โโ
โโ Hours โ โ โโ
โโ Explore the dungeon, complete quests, โ โ โโ
โโ return with treasure. โ โ โโ
โโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ โโ
โโ DUNGEON TURN โ โ โ โโ
โโ 5 mins โ โ โ โโ
โโ Explore the room. โ โ โ โโ
โโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ โ โโ
โโ COMBAT โ โ โ โ โโ
โโ Seconds or Minutes โ โ โ โ โโ
โโ Rout the goblins. โ โ โ โ โโ
โโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ โ โ โโ
โโ COMBAT ROUND โ โ โ โ โ โโ
โโ 30 seconds โ โ โ โ โ โโ
โโ Hit the goblin. โ โ โ โ โ โโ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฉโโโโโโโโโโโโโฉโโโโโโโโโโโโโฉโโโโโโโโโโโโโฉโโโโโโโโโโโโโฉโโโโโโโโโโโโโโผ
Meaning
Thereโs been a lot of discussion of procedure in the Old School Renaissance due to the rediscovery of such rules as the dungeon turn. Traditional games de-emphasise procedural rules and often do not have significant structure: The trend in the 90s was toward more DM fiat, more emphasis on story, and homogenised mechanics where every roll is some variation on the skill roll.
There's a section in the AD&D 2E DMG which weighs up the argument that having random encounters at all is โfoolishโ and the DM should be in direct control of every aspect of the game. The book comes down in favour of the โjudiciousโ use of random encounters, raising the question of how a thing can be both ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด and ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ.
A basic Trad style system might look like this:
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โPlayer describes action.โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโบGM assigns skill test.โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโฒโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ โ
โ โ
โ โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โGM determines outcome of test,โโโโโโโโโคPlayer rolls skill test.โ
โpresents new situation. โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
It works fine. The problem is that thereโs no room for mechanical results to build upon themselves; they are always moderated directly before and after the roll by the DMโs interpretation. The roll and the stats of the PCs are not nothing in this scenario - they still suggest a direction for the DMโs interpretation to go in - but what weโre looking at is a lot closer to pure imaginative play with the DM as an arbiter in the style of FKR than a true synthesis of mechanics and make-believe.
What Even Is a Procedure, by Prismatic Wasteland
Theoretical & Practical Proceduralism, by Marcia B
Nested Loops & Baseline Activities by Valinard
Broader Proceduralisms, by Nova
The Universal Procedure of the OSR, by Prismatic Wasteland
Old School But No Modules by Alex Schroeder
Matrix Campaign Structures Part 1 by Ty
The Lost Dungeon Crawling Rules of DnD by Questing Beast