Want to play Tunnel Goons, but looking for supplemental materials flavor, setting, or general inspiration? I’ve collected some system–neutral (or sometimes just easily transferrable) lists of gear, spells or tech, and player powers to augment your game.
How does magic work in your world, both in–fiction and mechanically? A sensible and straightforward way to implement rolling is rolling a +erudite roll to an action roll if a roll is deemed appropriate for the situation. Is magic in your world innate, or external? Natural or crafted? Do you need components, a spellbook, or does it come as a bottled potion?
If you are needing inspiration, lay out a desired theme, tone, and scope (I suggest getting out a thesaurus for the first two - a more specific word is better than ‘dark fantasy’). Think about creature types, their rarity, behavior, and interrelations.
What’s the tech level you want to have? Plasma rifles or pocket AI? How is gear repaired if damaged? Is it far too advanced to be repaired by the players, or advanced enough to repair itself?
I haven’t explored this topic a lot, would love suggestions.
I think there is a well-known idea here: Foreground Growth. In a nutshell, dangerous encounters teach you skills, skills that make sense for the encounter. See Cairn FAQ for examples.
Resources:
But do not prep some generic list of cool powers and drop them in wherever. Make foreground growth extremely interrelated to all aspects of the game; the world, the encounter, the character’s actions. A good example I like is in Barrow of the Elf King, where a deal is offered by a spider matron (not really a spoiler).
Principles for foreground growth:
Itch and DriveThruRPG, by searching for supplements and/or system–agnostic, can turn up worthwhile results. The best inspiration, is of course, the media you love, with the gameable DNA of it extracted.