Everyone knows the rock-paper-scissors game. The basic idea that one type of "throw" (e.g. Rock) defeats one of the other two (e.g. Scissors) but loses against the third (e.g. Paper) has been used in RPGs and strategy games before. Some common examples include:

  • Pikemen defeat Cavalry. Cavalry defeats Archers. Archers defeat Pikemen.
  • Water douses Fire, Fire burns Wood and Wood floats on Water. (an example of Elemental RPS)


Do you know any other examples? Can you think of new ways to re-flavor rock-paper-scissors for use in a homebrew game?

Below are some more examples:

1) The level of testosterone determines the size and mating behavior of lizardmen:

Big: These lizardmen are big and aggressive, but not very smart.
Medium: Cannot compete with big lizardmen, but are smart and big enough to notice and defeat little lizardmen.
Little: They look like females and can sneak past big lizardmen to mate with females, but cannot fool medium ones.

2) There are three types of warriors:

Mighty/strength: Can crush Wise warriors but is easily fooled by Cunning warriors.
Wise/perception: Can see through Cunning warriors' trickery, but is no match for Strong warriors.
Cunning/stealth: Can outsmart Strong warriors, but cannot fool Wise warriors.