One of the most frustrating parts about more traditional fantasy tabletop RPGs is that battles so often feel like sport, and like sport, everyone is expected to be in the battle until it ends. Even in games I like, like Pathfinder 2e, retreating feels like an afterthought, and without set mechanics behind it, it's unclear when players should retreat and what will happen if they do.
Enter Trophy Gold.
For those that don't know, Trophy Gold is an OSR/storygame about treasure hunters going into dangerous incursions where monsters are dangerous and safety isn't guaranteed.
I've checked this game out before, but I just recently got my physical copy from the Kickstarter, so I've been enjoying jumping back in for a deeper look. What's really drawn me into this game is the way the mechanics push forward interesting narrative and tactical decisions. The game's principles even include both "play to win" (make careful, tactical decisions to ensure your safety) and "play to lose" (embrace your demise when it happens).
One of the most interesting pieces of design in this game is the combat, which uses a dice pool mechanic I haven't seen in any other game. I'll skip over most of the details, but the general premise is that every player involved in the combat rolls a d6 (the only dice this game uses), and the result of that is their "weakness." Then you make a separate dice pool based on the amount of characters in the combat. Roll those dice and, if they're high enough, you win!
Here's where it gets fun, though. If any of the dice in that pool match your weakness dice, you take damage. And if your dice weren't high enough to win the combat, you can stick around and reroll or escape. If you do escape, all you have to do is hand your weakness dice to another player. Now they take damage for any dice that match either dice.
In other words, all you have to do to escape is to screw over another player. In fact, there's nothing in the game stopping most of the party from escaping this way and leaving one player facing a terrible monster alone and unprepared. That's the dark humor that I find really appealing about this game. I love the idea of a noble knight getting back up after a terrible bout, looking the demon straight in the eyes, saying something inspirational, and then realizing they're all alone.
The only tweak I'd add relates to group retreats. The game says that if the entire group wants to retreat, they can do that, but it may need a roll or they may face some other consequence. That's a fine rule, and the game doesn't to specifically mechanize a group retreating this way.
How I'd run it, though, is that I'd make sure to let the party know that, as long as they're not the last ones retreating, they can do so safely without a roll. Even if everyone ends up running away, they just have to be faster than their allies, not the monster. If the group plays nice and makes a decision together, that's fine, but it'll be the GM's choice who has to make a roll to escape.
Anyway, that's all I had for this post. I just thought this piece of design was really cool and wanted to share. I'm hoping to bring this game to the table soon and will hopefully have some real world experience I can share after that. Will make sure to update if I do.