RPG System layers

Just as software systems has different layers (algorithms, implementations, GUI etc) RPG systems could be described in the same way. One rough setup is to describe a system in three layers:

1. The System The relations between and the behavior of artefacts/ entities within the system. Defines the behaviour of the game engine.
   
• Example: All actions are measured against how difficult the task is, and solved with a random element. This difficulty could be either static or dynamic. Extremes should be just as common as regular rolls, so we want a linear curve.
  
2. The Engine The implementation of the game system. This is where we decide on which form an equation in the rules should be written (as an example).
   
• Getting a high result is considered better. We wanted a linear spread, so we want just one die. So, rolling a die and trying to get a high number is where we want to go. Dynamic contests are opposed by a similar mechanic, static contests have a fixed number to beat. The final basic rule is written down as
  
• Roll a die and add how good you are what you are trying to do. If you roll equal to or higher a certain number, you succeed
3. The Game The way these implementations are prestented to the player. Also small details that make the system more intuitive and usable. For instance: Should damage taken be deducted from a certain amount or added up from zero. In the former case you don't want to get to zero points left, in the latter you don't want to reach a certain level.
   
• "How good you are" is called a Skill, or in case of combat: Attack Bonus. Rolling and adding percentiles (1-100) can be time-consuming, but to few steps make the game to "rough" and not nuanced enough. A 20-sided die is chosen since it gives a fair amount of fine-tuning without giving to high numbers to add.
• Damage for each weapon is described in table XX. Damage is added up for each hit and when damage
  

Statement: To make a successful game, all these levels has to be considered.

The above names are just descriptive, and should not be taken as definitions. Also, the borders between those layers are fuzzy at best, and this model is not to be taken literally, but more as a guideline to point out that things happen at different levels within a system.

For instance, a roll-under-system and a roll-over-system could both said to be rooted in the same System (using my own nomenclature), but they use different Engines, that have different psychological and (to some extent) mechanical consequenses. The statistical behaviour of the two, however, remains the same.

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