The HD System
The HD system (HDs for short, pronounced “Heads”) is a framework for use in role-playing games. It follows suit of the classical “dungeon crawler” style, otherwise known as old-school, but might find application in trad, narrative or lyric style of game play with proper curiosity. The basic feature of HDs is the fluctuation of the hit dice, the general capability of a character. This can raise or lower many times within a given campaign, session, or scenario.
In simplest terms a hit die is representative of your “level”. It’s a measure of your presence in the fiction, the weight you can throw around, and how you might measure up to others. This can be a measure of force, but could also represent other abstract ideas such as community, piety, or whatever noun you like.
Stats can be implemented to add specific flavor. Your Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Thiccness, what have you. It is the mechanic that you use to do something. Supposedly, having many of them can do many things. There is no reason why your stat cannot be folded into your HD.
If stats are your active mechanic, you can consider the save to be the reactive mechanic. Saves are called for when the agency of the fiction exerts itself upon you. And yet, there is no reason you cannot fold your saves into stats or the HD.
Rules (combat, social, downtime, fishing, marriage, divorce, etc) can be peppered in. Play to taste.
Let’s examine a hack of HDs I’ve written called Leathers.