City of Jerry vs Troika!
Compare City of Jerry and Troika! side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| City of Jerry | Troika! | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern | Fantasy, Sci-Fi |
| Tags | Comedy, Fiction-First, Gonzo, Improvisation, Low-Prep, Mystery, Noir, Playbook-Driven, Random Tables, Rules-Light | Rules-Light, Weird, Random Character Creation, Low-Prep, Improvisation, Deadly, Random Tables |
| Core Mechanic | When an outcome is uncertain, roll a d12 and add the relevant Heal or Harm stat. Read the result on a five-tier scale: 12+ is a Critical Success, 9–11 a Success, 5–8 a Mixed Success, 2–4 a Failure, and 1 or less a Critical Failure. Natural 12s and 1s are always critical. Good or Bad Luck adds d12s and keeps the highest or lowest result. | Three stats: Skill, Stamina, Luck. Roll 2d6 under Skill + Advanced Skill to succeed. Initiative uses a random token-draw stack: unpredictable turn order. Luck is a consumable resource that depletes with each test. |
| Dice | d12 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 2 of 5 book tools |
| License | Made for Mischief Third-Party License | Open (Troika! SRD) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Made for Mischief Third-Party License | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Drimbus | Melsonian Arts Council |
| Year | 2026 | 2019 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want low-prep noir mysteries with body-pun humor, player-created connections, and fast conflicts inside a human body. | Fast, surreal science-fantasy adventures with minimal rules and random character generation. Ideal for one-shots and improvisational play. |
| Highlights | Challenges, combats, and conversations all run on the same Conflict framework, so a group learns one procedure for every kind of scene. When every die in a multi-die roll shows the same number, the Twist table adds an unexpected complication or benefit. Five Roles each supply a curated set of Abilities and Traumas, so every Agent has a distinct toolkit for helping allies and harming threats. | Simple rules, creative backgrounds double as setting material, chaotic token-draw initiative creates unpredictable turn order, consumable Luck depletes with each test |
| Considerations | Every Agent works for Immunity, so a campaign built around a different premise needs reskinning. The first Wound adds -1 to rolls, the second adds -1d12, and a third leaves an Agent Dying and triggers a Death Roll. Investigations use general Challenge Counters rather than a clue or deduction subsystem, leaving evidence details to the Jerry Master. | Initiative stack can leave players unable to act for long stretches, mixed roll-under/roll-over mechanics confuse new players, setting is implied rather than described, minimal tactical depth |