For a moment, consider all possible uses for a crowbar. List them in your head, write them down, or shout them into the void. Feel free to go beyond the obvious and conventional. Get crazy with it!

You probably have at least a few items on your list. Prying open doors or containers is an obvious one, as is levering heavy objects. Crowbars can also be used for breaking padlocks, tearing apart wooden pallets, sending signals in Morse code, beating Robin to within an inch of his life…

Too soon?

Glue googly eyes to it and name it Russell.

The point here is that a crowbar is a simple object with a variety of potential applications. I don’t really have to describe all the physics behind how a crowbar works for you to be able to use it. The primary limitations to its usefulness are dependent on your ingenuity, not on what some arbitrary rule says crowbars can and can’t be used for.

This, I think, is one of the pillars behind old-school styles of play in tabletop RPGs, and it’s one of driving concepts behind the way I designed my own game Steel & Starlight.

The Crowbar Principle

At its core, the crowbar principle is this:

The way elements in your game function depends more on practical sense than knowledge of rules as written.

Basically, players should be able to look at the tools they’re given and think of things they can do with them without considering hard-coded game mechanics or systems.

It’s a principle of game design more than anything else. In a game that follows the crowbar principle, abilities, powers, items, and so forth are tools framed with natural language rather than piles of stats and rules modifiers. In this sense, it kind of echoes the sensibility rule in that its focus is on the game world rather than game systems.

It’s also one of the key features that sets tabletop roleplaying apart from videogaming. In a computer game, every use and interaction that an object has with the game world must be hard coded into it. The limits on the way an object, power, etc. can influence the world are defined by hard rules placed on the object or in the game’s engine, and they may not always translate well into real-world problem-solving.

In a tabletop game, however, a player can use Burning Hands to set a room on fire or put together traps from common household items or hire teams of laborers to divert a river into a dungeon entrance. They can shove a crowbar into a monster’s mouth to keep it from biting them for a round or two. With just a basic understanding of what each object, power, or ability is, players can use their creativity to use the tools at their disposal in nearly limitless ways.

Less Is More

A game that follows the crowbar principle is likely to be fairly light on rules. It may have some guidelines and core mechanics for resolving uncertain situations, but it leaves the rest open to the table’s interpretation. These games often focus on providing gaming groups with a host of ideas and tools to use however they please, and they deemphasize character builds and mechanical modifiers. They facilitate play rather than define it.

A few good examples of these kinds of games include OSR titles like Maze Rats, Knave, and Shadowdark. These are all light on rules and heavy on tools.

My Attempt at Applying the Crowbar Principle

I attempted to implement this principle in Steel & Starlight, though I think I was only partly successful. Many of the abilities follow the crowbar principle, while others simply modify the way players engage with game rules and mechanics. Most of the combat abilities, for instance, fall into the latter category, which is perhaps a bit unfortunate.

On the other hand, there are many instances where I think I succeeded. Here are some of my favorite examples from the game:

Perfect Empath: When interacting with others, you always feel what they feel.
Dense Verbiage: You can communicate using language that is foreign to anyone who hasn’t been formally educated.
Ventriloquism: You can make your voice seem like it is coming from elsewhere nearby, but only to those who aren’t directly next to you.
Loyal Companions: Animals you have tamed/extensively cared for never flee dangerous situations before you do.
Faerie Fire: As an action, conjure a ghostly light in your hand. It can instantly move to any place you can see and casts dim light.
Distant Whisper: At a distance, you may speak in the ear of any being you can see, including through scrying.
Sympathetic Vision: When you touch an item, you glimpse the face of anyone who has touched or used it in the past, starting with the most recent. Those who owned it are seen more clearly.
Visions of Fire: Looking into a flame allows you to see out of any other flames you are aware of.
Blood Bond: Mingle the blood of two individuals and anoint them with the mixture. Whatever happens to one happens to the other until the blood is cleaned off.

Note that many of these powers are used to gather information. How players use that information is up to them. There are also magical powers here that aren’t limited to things like spell slots or casting rolls. They simply give a player character something they can use as they see fit without necessarily having to think too hard about game mechanics. Instead, the focus is on the game world and the elements therein.

Where Have You Seen the Crowbar Principle?

Have you seen the crowbar principle applied in games that you’ve played? I’d be interested to know, so feel free to comment with your favorite examples.

Also, are there any fun unconventional ways you’ve used a crowbar in the past? I’m curious.

The Astral Wanderer is brought to you by the Steel & Starlight Fantasy RPG, now available on DriveThruRPG! Feel free to either share this with all your gaming friends or print it out, fold it into an airplane, and throw it. All proceeds go toward developing new and interesting ways to use mundane objects in ways they were never intended. Really.