Decypher System

Player Equipment

Each player will need 5 tokens: small objects, like coins, pebbles, marbles, candies, shells, or anything else easy to hold in one hand. The group will need a 100-sided die (or two 10-sided dice, treating one die as the tens and the other as a single digit).

Task Resolution

When attempting a significant task where the chances of success are uncertain, roll the die. Use higher rolls to narrate a more uncomplicated, positive outcome for the character; lower for an outcome with complications. Rolls in the middle indicate general forward momentum without significant advantage or disadvantage.

Exhaustion

If you roll 5 or less, you suffer some exhaustion; discard 1 token. When all tokens are exhausted, you fall unconscious.

Recovery

After your character gets a full night’s rest, he or she awakes and you regain all 5 tokens.

Maximum and Minimum Rolls

A maximum roll (100 on a 100-sided die) causes a story-changing accomplishment. A minimum roll causes a dire change of events: death, dismemberment, loss of ability, etc.

Notes

Rolling low does not mean failure. A character who rolls a 14 when trying to cross a swamp might successfully cross it but sprain a foot in doing so and attract the attention of giant leeches.

CC-BY-SA Brent P. Newhall

Post-scriptum

If you really need a leveling up system: After completing 5 hours of gameplay times your current level (level starting at 1), you get another Exhaustion Token.

Note that with this system, character sheets can be full of information; they’re just not going to be modifiers. Instead, they’ll list what the PC is good at doing (or bad at doing!), which the GM will take into consideration when interpreting the die roll.

source: https://plus.google.com/+BrentNewhall/posts/1Rb71zx8znv