Other Palaces

I entered the 200 word RPG challenge! I nitpick and revise constantly, so you can see the final version here, and past versions here (I am bad at GitHub). I wanted a widget to see my revisions side-by-side, so there's also this:

PALACE RUN Swapper

PALACE RUN 0.1 (191 words)

One player is REFEREE. All others, CHARACTERS.
"d6" means "six-sided die". "d20", 20-sided.

CHARACTERS
===
Get name, POSSESSION, & STAT=19.
CHECK or SAVE: roll d20<=STAT.
Attacks auto-hit, d6 damage to STAT.
After 2+ damage, SAVE. Failure --> STAT=1.
STAT<=0 --> death.
REST --> STAT=19.

d6 POSSESSIONS
1. Sword (+1 damage)
2. Hand-mirror
3. Marbles (100)
4. Chalk
5. Glue
6. Flute

ROOMS
===
First room: four exits.

d6 ROOM  CONTENTS
1. Courtyard Plants
2. Gallery Sculptures
3. Ballroom Pillows
4. Bedroom Baskets
5. Kitchen Banquet
6. Library Fountain

d6 EXITS FEATURE
1. N-E  ENCOUNTER
2. N-S  GLINT
3. N-W  TREASURE
4. S-E  TWIST
5. S-W  -
6. E-W  -

ENCOUNTERS
===
2-in-6 whenever CHARACTERS dawdle, REST, or clamor.
Flight auto-succeeds, CHECK or become lost.

d6 Mood  Encounter
1. Sleepy Guards
2. Happy Nobles
3. Sad  Animals
4. Afraid Servants
5. Hungry Intruders
6. Angry Supernatural

GLINTS
===
Encounter clues.

TREASURE (d6)
===
1. Jewels
2. Wine
3. Porcelain
4. Tapestry
5. Letters
6. Gold

TWIST (d6)
===
1. Spike-grass: 1 damage crossing.
2. Sanctuary: ENCOUNTER-less.
3. Oubliette: SAVE or fall (d6 damage).
4. Non-Euclidean: exits to far rooms.
5. Dead-end
6. Secret Doors: CHECK locates.

(Art from Evlyn Moreau, used by permission.)

Notes

• In the swapper, I did not mark the changes when lists were re-ordered. Between versions 0.4 and 0.5, I made all the lists alphabetical, because I worry about limiting my imagination by consistently "matching" e.g. "kitchen" and "food". I also think it's more presentable. (In longer lists I do this to catch duplicates.)
• Due to my personal refereeing style, CHECKs are very rare in practice, so I had a hard time deciding a good value for STAT. The expected damage of an attack that causes a CHECK is 4, occurring on 5 in 6 attacks. Therefore, if STAT=18, there is a 1 in 4 chance of failing a CHECK as a result of the first attack. At STAT=16 this is 1 in 3, and at STAT=12 this is 1 in 2.

The Future

I've been working on the set-up of a specific palace, "The Palace Semi-Infinite". I had some wonderful playtesters who were willing to just mess-up a a palace, but I think something with more direction might have better staying power. I'm keeping the palace generation parts, but I may end up scrapping the game system for Into the Odd or something.

That said, the system is a svelte 61 words in the official word-counter, so it may make a reasonable base for future entries. I'm eager to see what other people have cooked up when I have a chance to sift through them.