Modular Gaming Component 2 - The Switch
If the clock is a visible meter of tension rising, a switch is a less visible indicator. A switch works off a binary of yes or no... is something happening, is it not happening. There's no gradually turning up of the heat and then watching things flip from one state to the other, instead it's a single roll, a single randomising factor. The switch might activate after a single roll, or it might not activate after a dozen rolls. (Ten years ago it was easier to do a search for roleplaying games that incorporated switches, now a quick search tends to give me console RPGs on the Nintendo Switch) I basically first ran the idea of a switch without realizing it back in high school. The premise was a mysterious carnival, with a mysterious vendor who may or may not have been the devil. It was a game of Rifts, so over-the-top shenanigans was a typical part of play. Rune swords had just been introduced in one of the most recent sourcebooks at the time, and I thought they'd be cool