Universalis
Revised EditionCore Mechanic
There is no GM. Players spend Coins to add to the story: most statements that establish a Fact, such as a new character, a Trait or an Event, cost 1 Coin. A Complication decides who narrates the outcome of a clash between Components controlled by different players. Each involved player builds a pool of d10s by using relevant Traits for free or buying dice for 1 Coin each. Every die showing 1 to 5 is a Success, and the side with more Successes wins. Winners gain Bonus Coins equal to the total on their successful dice and spend them first to narrate the outcome. Losers gain 1 Bonus Coin per die rolled and narrate with whatever the winners have not cancelled.
Best For
Groups who want to build a setting and story from nothing without a GM, in any genre, and who enjoy bargaining over who decides what happens next.
Highlights
Rules Gimmicks are proposed as Tenets for 1 Coin, so a group can add or change rules mid-game the same way it adds story facts. Coins spent defending an established Fact count double when a Challenge goes to bidding, which makes contradicting the shared record more expensive without a referee. Another player can turn an Event into an Obstacle by buying dice against it, so the table supplies difficulty instead of a GM.
Considerations
Control of a character does not carry over between scenes, and creating a character gives no claim to it later. There is no prescribed mechanical ending, so a story runs until the players agree it is finished. Every paid Fact is written down so it can be enforced later, which adds steady bookkeeping to play.