Holy! lots of replies, and good ones too. gonna have to break this down into multiple posts.

@ggroy - Those seem to be exactly correct, yes.

@Johnson - Skill points are used as emergency dice. If you fail an action and want to roll more dice to try and recover you can spend X amount of Skill points and roll an additional X amount of dice.

The bit you quoted is the maximum number of skill points a character has at a given skill level. You CAN NOT spend that many dice in one go, Skill pools are how many dice you can spend in that skill over multiple rounds before resting.

But yes. it is a lot of dice.

Alright, now to try to answer all of ladybird's points

How are the ability scores generated?

(For a range of 2-12, with an average human ability as 6, I would guess roll 2d6 for each stat).

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I don't know. I think you could get the same result using half the amount of dice and scaling it so the average person making an average roll is expected to get 1 success.

This is quite possible actually with the small problem of that makes the maximum health of a human being 6, with a human average of 3. Even cutting weapon damage values in half, still makes this a little unforgiving.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I think 12d6 are a functional maximum for comfortable non-assisted rolling. Dice cups are fine, yeah, but not everyone owns or uses one.

I can roll a few more then that, but I have big hands. My play testers with one exception didn't mind rolling large numbers of dice. Dice cups, and electric dice rollers where both used to make larger rolls easier. I know this is not everyone's cup of tea however. I have been putting some thought into this.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I'd go with the skill rating letting you just take (Skill rating) dice as successes

This is a quite good idea, though I'll have to look over how that would affect the system. Definitely something I'm going to look at and think about though.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351How does this mechanic work? How do you advance in skill levels?

Each skill has its own experience total beside it on the character sheet. Each skill a character uses extensively in a given session is noted and at the end of the session experience is awarded.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Frankly, these are ridiculous numbers, given how you describe this mechanic as working.

These numbers are the maximum a character can spend in a given encounter without rest. For combat skills especially they go fast when fighting skilled opponents. As I told Johnson above you can't roll them all at once.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Not bad, but I'd add a couple of other defence pool options (Perhaps "Soak" and "Parry"?) and strongly avoid making Dex a god-stat in combat.

Dexterity is a vary important stat combat wise, but I wouldn't term it a god stat. Its of limited use versus ranged weapons for one, and vary light weapons prove quite useless against Heavy Armour in almost all cases. A Dex based fighter will go though unarmored/unskilled opponents like butter its true. But a few arrows or one or two knights in full plate will stop such a one ice cold the way the system is right now.

Don't know what you mean by soak, but the dodge pool is assumed to include defensive options like that. (Shields and Parrying daggers both add to Dodge pool, rather then granting DR)

Quote from: Ladybird;527351A solid mechanic. Love it. May I suggest the maximum values for stats falling if injuries aren't healed quickly enough? So if you take a severe hit of Str damage and fail your "critical injuries" save, your cap goes from 12 to 11. And then downward, ever downward.

This is a possible mechanic, though not one I'd likely employ. With a range of only 2-12 permanent ability loss is mostly regulated to the domains of powerful magic's and curses. A long running character would quickly become unplayable simple from injuries with this rule in affect unless the "Critical injuries" save is Vary generous. Plus, as everyone says with this system, "More dice rolls?"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.  

Downside to this is fights between 2 people in full plate and shield can become a bit of a slug-fest with little progress made on either side if neither side has enough skill point difference to tip the balance.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351This is okay, but Ars Magica has done this mechanic better than anyone. Get hold of it and study that magic section.

I will do so!

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Also good, although I'd explicitly include the option of the GM just taking the average result of a die pool.

should the rules be put forward for the general public at any point I will make certain this is added.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I'd remove "single attribute" rolls, and instead replace them with double-attribute rolls. So if there was something that purely depended on being big and strong, I'd make the dice poll Strength + Strength, frex. It keeps your mechanics consistent.

This works. I shall almost certainly implement such. Thanks.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Like I pointed out above, 2 isn't easy under your current rules, it's the average.

Its the average result IF you discount skills., lacking skill points to add, then yes the easy check is only average. However Skill points are assumed to be used for any check of this nature. Thus removing the need for an "Untrained penalty"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Anyway, it's certainly not a bad start, and could develop into something nice. Thanks for sharing it here!

And thank you for reviewing it and making suggestions!

That's odd, it says a moderator must approve my previous post? Not really sure whats going on there, I'll try to ripost it again in a few minutes if nothing changes.

@ggroy - It mostly uses a point buy system. For those truly wishing a  character with a random focus, a roll of 6d6 per section of ability scores (Str, Con, Dex for example) can be made, and then divided as normal among the 3 stats. This gives equal likelihood of a character being better or worse then the point bought character.

QUOTE=Ladybird;527351]I don't know. I think you could get the same result using half the amount of dice and scaling it so the average person making an average roll is expected to get 1 success. [/QUOTE]


This is quite possible actually with the small problem of that makes the maximum health of a human being 6, with a human average of 3. Even cutting weapon damage values in half, still makes this a little unforgiving.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I think 12d6 are a functional maximum for comfortable non-assisted rolling. Dice cups are fine, yeah, but not everyone owns or uses one.

I can roll a few more then that, but I have big hands. My play testers with one exception didn't mind rolling large numbers of dice. Dice cups, and electric dice rollers where both used to make larger rolls easier. I know this is not everyone's cup of tea however. I have been putting some thought into this.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I'd go with the skill rating letting you just take (Skill rating) dice as successes

This is a quite good idea, though I'll have to look over how that would affect the system. Definitely something I'm going to look at and think about though.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351How does this mechanic work? How do you advance in skill levels?

Each skill has its own experience total beside it on the character sheet. Each skill a character uses extensively in a given session is noted and at the end of the session experience is awarded.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Frankly, these are ridiculous numbers, given how you describe this mechanic as working.

These numbers are the maximum a character can spend in a given encounter without rest. For combat skills especially they go fast when fighting skilled opponents. As I told Johnson above you can't roll them all at once.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Not bad, but I'd add a couple of other defence pool options (Perhaps "Soak" and "Parry"?) and strongly avoid making Dex a god-stat in combat.

Dexterity is a vary important stat combat wise, but I wouldn't term it a god stat. Its of limited use versus ranged weapons for one, and vary light weapons prove quite useless against Heavy Armour in almost all cases. A Dex based fighter will go though unarmored/unskilled opponents like butter its true. But a few arrows or one or two knights in full plate will stop such a one ice cold the way the system is right now.

Don't know what you mean by soak, but the dodge pool is assumed to include defensive options like that. (Shields and Parrying daggers both add to Dodge pool, rather then granting DR)

Quote from: Ladybird;527351A solid mechanic. Love it. May I suggest the maximum values for stats falling if injuries aren't healed quickly enough? So if you take a severe hit of Str damage and fail your "critical injuries" save, your cap goes from 12 to 11. And then downward, ever downward.

This is a possible mechanic, though not one I'd likely employ. With a range of only 2-12 permanent ability loss is mostly regulated to the domains of powerful magic's and curses. A long running character would quickly become unplayable simple from injuries with this rule in affect unless the "Critical injuries" save is Vary generous. Plus, as everyone says with this system, "More dice rolls?"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.  

Downside to this is fights between 2 people in full plate and shield can become a bit of a slug-fest with little progress made on either side if neither side has enough skill point difference to tip the balance.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351This is okay, but Ars Magica has done this mechanic better than anyone. Get hold of it and study that magic section.

I will do so!

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Also good, although I'd explicitly include the option of the GM just taking the average result of a die pool.

should the rules be put forward for the general public at any point I will make certain this is added.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I'd remove "single attribute" rolls, and instead replace them with double-attribute rolls. So if there was something that purely depended on being big and strong, I'd make the dice poll Strength + Strength, frex. It keeps your mechanics consistent.

This works. I shall almost certainly implement such. Thanks.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Like I pointed out above, 2 isn't easy under your current rules, it's the average.

Its the average result IF you discount skills., lacking skill points to add, then yes the easy check is only average. However Skill points are assumed to be used for any check of this nature. Thus removing the need for an "Untrained skill penalty"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Anyway, it's certainly not a bad start, and could develop into something nice. Thanks for sharing it here!

And thank you for reviewing it and making suggestions!

Quote from: Ladybird;527351A solid mechanic. Love it. May I suggest the maximum values for stats falling if injuries aren't healed quickly enough? So if you take a severe hit of Str damage and fail your "critical injuries" save, your cap goes from 12 to 11. And then downward, ever downward.

This is a possible mechanic, though not one I'd likely employ. With a range of only 2-12 permanent ability loss is mostly regulated to the domains of powerful magic's and curses. A long running character would quickly become unplayable simple from injuries with this rule in affect unless the "Critical injuries" save is Vary generous. Plus, as everyone says with this system, "More dice rolls?"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.  

Downside to this is fights between 2 people in full plate and shield can become a bit of a slug-fest with little progress made on either side if neither side has enough skill point difference to tip the balance.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351This is okay, but Ars Magica has done this mechanic better than anyone. Get hold of it and study that magic section.

I will do so!

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Also good, although I'd explicitly include the option of the GM just taking the average result of a die pool.

should the rules be put forward for the general public at any point I will make certain this is added.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351I'd remove "single attribute" rolls, and instead replace them with double-attribute rolls. So if there was something that purely depended on being big and strong, I'd make the dice poll Strength + Strength, frex. It keeps your mechanics consistent.

This works. I shall almost certainly implement such. Thanks.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Like I pointed out above, 2 isn't easy under your current rules, it's the average.

Its the average result IF you discount skills., lacking skill points to add, then yes the easy check is only average. However Skill points are assumed to be used for any check of this nature. Thus removing the need for an "Untrained penalty"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Anyway, it's certainly not a bad start, and could develop into something nice. Thanks for sharing it here!

And thank you for reviewing it and making suggestions!

Quote from: Ladybird;527351A solid mechanic. Love it. May I suggest the maximum values for stats falling if injuries aren't healed quickly enough? So if you take a severe hit of Str damage and fail your "critical injuries" save, your cap goes from 12 to 11. And then downward, ever downward.

This is a possible mechanic, though not one I'd likely employ. With a range of only 2-12 permanent ability loss is mostly regulated to the domains of powerful magic's and curses. A long running character would quickly become unplayable simple from injuries with this rule in affect unless the "Critical injuries" save is Vary generous. Plus, as everyone says with this system, "More dice rolls?"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.  

Downside to this is fights between 2 people in full plate and shield can become a bit of a slug-fest with little progress made on either side if neither side has enough skill point difference to tip the balance.

Don't know whats going on, but its extremely annoying. It let me post the first half of the reply but not the rest. Oh well. I'll wait and check back in tomorrow see if they have dealt with it.

(Exercise for the reader with some patience).

Probability of success of n d6's passing a "hard DC" of 6.

1 - (1-p)^n - n p (1-p)^(n-1) - [n(n-1)/2] p^2 (1-p)^(n-2) - [n(n-1)(n-2)/6] p^3 (1-p)^(n-3) - [n(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)/24] p^4 (1-p)^(n-4) - [n(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)(n-4)/120] p^5 (1-p)^(n-5)

where p = 1/6 and 1-p = 5/6

Quote from: Ladybird;527351A solid mechanic. Love it. May I suggest the maximum values for stats falling if injuries aren't healed quickly enough? So if you take a severe hit of Str damage and fail your "critical injuries" save, your cap goes from 12 to 11. And then downward, ever downward.

This is a possible mechanic, though not one I'd likely employ. With a range of only 2-12 permanent ability loss is mostly regulated to the domains of powerful magic's and curses. A long running character would quickly become unplayable simple from injuries with this rule in affect unless the "Critical injuries" save is Vary generous. Plus, as everyone says with this system, "More dice rolls?"

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.  

Downside to this is fights between 2 people in full plate and shield can become a bit of a slug-fest with little progress made on either side if neither side has enough skill point difference to tip the balance.

Still can't post the rest of my response from yesterday. Gonna go poke a moderator.

EDIT: Um.... who is the moderator for this section of the forums?

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.  

Downside to this is fights between 2 people in full plate and shield can become a bit of a slug-fest with little progress made on either side if neither side has enough skill point difference to tip the balance.

Quote from: Ladybird;527351Except, realistically, it didn't really - sure, someone not trained in it would be slowed down, but someone untrained wouldn't be wearing it in a combat situation. It's a fine mechanic to have, because it feels right, but I'd add some sort of "armour use" skill to counteract it for experienced characters.

I'm a bit of a history buff and am familiar with the stereotypes of plate mail and such being crippling to a persons ability to move about. I assure you I have not fallen for this trap. The penalty's are quite mild, with full plate only inflicting 2 points of Strength and Dexterity reduction.

In the play test, the heavily armored tank had only 1 point less dodge then the rogue due to the kite shield she was toting about. The main result of the reduced abilities is that they have a hard time hitting people with high dodge pools. I found this rather cinematic in some instances with the lightly armored swashbuckler darting about avoiding the slower blows of the plate clad behemoth. ... didn't help him much in the end. The Tank got lucky eventually and that was that for the swashbuckler.

Quote from: StoryMasterV;527690Still can't post the rest of my response from yesterday. Gonna go poke a moderator.

EDIT: Um.... who is the moderator for this section of the forums?

RPGPundit

http://www.therpgsite.com/member.php?u=186

Weird. I'd probably recommend starting a thread in the Help Desk section of the site, actually. (That'll probably get aid from brettmb).