COSR Design Summary 4

I've been approaching the Mettle system from a lot of angles and done a lot of thought experiments. There's a lot of ways it can go, but the one I've found myself appreciating the most goes as follows

Whenever you do something that would “Test your Mettle” you roll a die and subtract your current Mettle from the die result. Any positive value remaining is subtracted from your current Mettle as damage.

The die rolled is a d12 by default, but can be decreased in increment (d10, d8, d6, d4) by stacking the situation in your favor, such as by using an appropriate piece of gear or having your friends help you out.

Example
Current Mettle: 8
You Test your Mettle without preparation or aid
Roll d12, result: 9
You take 1 damage
Your Mettle is now 7
You Test your Mettle, but this time you prepared for it in some way
Roll d10, result: 7
You take no damage
Your Mettle is still 7.

Players can destroy or lose 1 carried item to negate damage if they can describe it in a way that makes sense (2400).
All lost Mettle (unless they reached 0) is restored when the characters take a breather and are not disturbed by Trouble (Cairn).

This mixes a Risus-like death spiral with 2400-like gear HP, all leveraged against the player's treasure-hunting goals. 

I'm still playing around with alternatives, but this one appears to be winning.

And, ultimately, the system won't matter because this document will be able to be used with other systems. The Cosier Guidelines can be used to supplement any system. So, even if my system is trash, the document may still be useful to people wanting to play other games in a cosier fashion.

Here's my working draft of the Trouble Directory. It is under-fleshed and overly vague, but it's where I'm at on that front!

Trouble Directory

What follows is a list of Troubles, which are things characters may encounter on their adventures that challenge their progress, provide opportunities for creative problem solving, or Test their Mettle.

Terrain and Obstacles Characters need to conquer the challenge or find an alternate path. Climbing up or down rocky terrain Swimming across tumultuous water Traversing a narrow ledge over a frightening drop Jumping or swinging across a perilous chasm

Sentinels Whether animal or statuary, one cannot open the gate or cross the bridge without satisfying or outmatching the Sentinel.

Traps Physical or magical, a trap wants to halt your progress and contain you. Magic field of slow, field of sleep, field of evaporation, field of confusion

Monsters They may want to chase you off or keep you for their own.

Strange Puzzles Key you need in a crystal that can’t be shattered Treasure visible at the bottom of deep water Room appears to have no exit, but it’s full of birds

Village Trouble The next village over is making mistakes Two neighboring goblin tribes are holding a terrible wedding, just begging for disruption The old haunted house has been extra active lately Something upriver is making the water taste bad

 More to come. Thank you for being awesome and good luck in all things!