Hi all. I am working on a game that is heavily-inspired by pulp detective stories, a little bit of dieselpunk, and some other novels in the vein of "weird west" or "magical realism". In it players are members of a unit of police detectives who have specific magical powers -- though some are mundane, too -- who's job it is to solve crimes in the vast city they live in. Think Law & Order: Weird Magic City. There is meant to be a bit of a cinematic feel to it, but there's somber streak to it because it's got some heavy issues in it.

My curiosity revolves around getting opinions on where I might find more inspiration for the skill resolution system I am looking to craft. I am very big on baking RP into the game by removing meta terms from play when possible. Philosophically, I feel like this allows players to talk about what their characters do that sounds like they're just describing what they're doing "in character".

Here's what I've come up with for this game so far: (ACTION OBJECT/SOURCE) to PERFORM X with QUALIFIER

For example, "I RELY on my WITS to TAIL the target with STEALTH."

In this case, a character's actions are either to "rely on" or "tap into" a particular attribute ("rely on wits" in the example above), and then use a skill -- one they may or may not have -- and any qualifier they may have acquired.

Are there games that use this mechanic? Other comments are welcome, too, but I am mostly interested in seeing what direction this is going and whether there is good material to look at for more insights.