Good GMs Podcast - 5 - Raiders of the Best Parts

Welcome back to the Good GMs Podcast! Today, James Currie and Chuckie Tee are talking about the art of "Frankenstein-ing" your tabletop games. We’re looking at those specific rules or mechanics from one system that are just too good not to steal and port over to another. After all, it's your homebrew—might as well make it the game you actually want to play.What We’ve Been Playing Lately:    Chuckie highlights a recent Vampire session run by our mysterious and crime-positive producer, Rainey Robertson, who handled her first time in the Storyteller's seat with a story she wrote herself.Discworld (Modiphius): James shares his experience with this wacky, pun-filled system where stats are descriptions and character traits like "always knows where 'lost' is" lead to some very creative loophole-finding. Honey Heist: A look at Grant Howitt’s notorious one-sheet RPG where you play bears in hats trying to pull off a heist while balancing "Bear" and "Criminal" stats.Vegas and Vampires: Chuckie catches us up on his modern-day Call of Cthulhu run in Lost in the Lights. The Art of the Steal: We dive into the specific mechanics we love to "cannibalize":    Luck as a Benny: How to adapt the Call of Cthulhu Luck mechanic into other systems to decide things outside of character skills—like whether a cab will actually show up at 3:00 AM in a bad part of town.The Pushed Roll: Borrowing from Cthulhu to give players a second chance after a failure—with the caveat that the GM tells you exactly how bad things will get if you fail the second time.Failing Forward: Using "adversity tokens" from Kids on Bikes or experience systems from Powered by the Apocalypse to ensure that failing a roll still drives the story forward.Support Mechanics: Making sure every player has a way to "shine" even if they aren't the primary character in a scene—whether it's holding a candle for the lockpicker or providing a social distraction.Clocks and Progress Bars: Taking a cue from Blades in the Dark and The Quiet Year to give players a visual countdown for everything from reading a massive tome to the growing power of a Big Bad in the East. Gritty Horror Tweaks: James shares a survival horror hack for Savage Worlds where the entire table shares one finite bowl of "Bennies," creating desperate tension as the resources disappear. Support Good GMs on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast