This is a thread I have posted here before, but I have new features I am considering adding, so I would like some feedback.

Selection: Roleplay Evolved has two core mechanics. Covert Comparisons are a diceless mechanic intended to be used when speed or maintaining immersion trumps the need for mechanical precision. It basically works by having the GM say, "Your stat is A grade, the task is C grade, therefore you pass with two extra successes."

The Fusion Pool is the exact opposite: it is a dice mechanic intended to be open to a ton of player creativity and to capture a lot of mechanical nuance. However, it accomplishes this at the expense of being a complex and possibly slow mechanic with a hefty learning curve. I want to repeat this: the fusion pool is NOT intended as an all-in-one mechanic the way the D20 roll is; it is intended to partner with Covert Comparisons.

How does the Fusion Pool work?

Players select four step dice representing skills and attributes relevant to an action. Unlike many other mixed dice systems, players may double-up or even triple-up representations for specific skills or attributes, but they must follow a set of rules the GM provides called the Splicing Rules.

The player rolls, and counts dice which rolled 1, 2, or 3 as successes.

Optionally, the player may add Die Echoes, which cost additional resources like Action Points, but allow you to bank any successes you've already rolled, pick up some or all of your dice, and reroll them. You can only reroll each die once, so you can't spend all your Die Echoes on your best die, but you are expected to prefer rerolling your best dice first. As with before, count how dice which rolled 1, 2, or 3 as successes.

On the GM side, the GM can set the difficulty several ways. The obvious way is to start with a Covert Comparison and draw a finger across a GM table ("C grade means 2 successes required.") Or you can follow the boilerplate rule of 1, 2, 3. One success needed? Easy. Two successes needed? Normal. Three successes needed? Hard. More than 3? Very hard to practically impossible.

Why is it a bloody Roll-Under?

Most step dice systems struggle to include the D20 and the D4. Written as a roll-over, the gap between the D12 and the D20 becomes an almost unplayable power skip. Written as a roll-under, the gap becomes the first step in a learning curve, and the D20 and the D4 can both fit into the same progression curve.

Additionally, a roll-over system would probably have to use a roll and keep approach, which involves more arithmetic. I am trying to save all the complexity budget operations for other things, which means an arithmetic-free core mechanic.

Optional Rules:

Vetoing. If a player rolls successes, but not enough successes to succeed, they may take narrative control to veto a certain negative outcome from resulting from their rolls.

"The kidnapper holds the governor's daughter up, and says, "I'll kill her!"

"I shoot at the exposed side of his face." (Rolls two successes out of four needed.)

"I do not shoot the governor's daughter."



Feedback Request: Shedding Dice

Die Shedding is a death spiral mechanic where compromised players lose dice. You assemble your pool normally, but instead of rolling all four dice, you choose and remove a number of them from your pool, and then roll.

The point of Die Shedding is that it cancels Die Echoes out, and as players can purchase all the Die Echoes they want by spending more AP, the death spiral becomes an AP penalty where the player may choose to ignore the penalty or restore their roll.

My Thoughts

The Fusion Pool mechanic has proven to tolerate a lot of feature-creep because it is an arithmetic-free mechanic which is not always used for every action. It's more a "combat or PCs are up to something creative" roll which gets pulled out on special occasions, or it gets hacked down by ignoring some of the rules.

That said, I think that the Fusion Pool is very close to the limit for how much feature creep it can accept without chugging, and that I should probably choose between Vetoes or Die Shedding rather than having both. So I have to ask: which strikes you as the more relevant feature?

Quote from: Fheredin on February 10, 2025, 08:55:38 PMThis is a thread I have posted here before, but I have new features I am considering adding, so I would like some feedback.

Selection: Roleplay Evolved has two core mechanics. Covert Comparisons are a diceless mechanic intended to be used when speed or maintaining immersion trumps the need for mechanical precision. It basically works by having the GM say, "Your stat is A grade, the task is C grade, therefore you pass with two extra successes."

The Fusion Pool is the exact opposite: it is a dice mechanic intended to be open to a ton of player creativity and to capture a lot of mechanical nuance. However, it accomplishes this at the expense of being a complex and possibly slow mechanic with a hefty learning curve. I want to repeat this: the fusion pool is NOT intended as an all-in-one mechanic the way the D20 roll is; it is intended to partner with Covert Comparisons.

How does the Fusion Pool work?

Players select four step dice representing skills and attributes relevant to an action. Unlike many other mixed dice systems, players may double-up or even triple-up representations for specific skills or attributes, but they must follow a set of rules the GM provides called the Splicing Rules.

The player rolls, and counts dice which rolled 1, 2, or 3 as successes.

Optionally, the player may add Die Echoes, which cost additional resources like Action Points, but allow you to bank any successes you've already rolled, pick up some or all of your dice, and reroll them. You can only reroll each die once, so you can't spend all your Die Echoes on your best die, but you are expected to prefer rerolling your best dice first. As with before, count how dice which rolled 1, 2, or 3 as successes.

On the GM side, the GM can set the difficulty several ways. The obvious way is to start with a Covert Comparison and draw a finger across a GM table ("C grade means 2 successes required.") Or you can follow the boilerplate rule of 1, 2, 3. One success needed? Easy. Two successes needed? Normal. Three successes needed? Hard. More than 3? Very hard to practically impossible.

Why is it a bloody Roll-Under?

Most step dice systems struggle to include the D20 and the D4. Written as a roll-over, the gap between the D12 and the D20 becomes an almost unplayable power skip. Written as a roll-under, the gap becomes the first step in a learning curve, and the D20 and the D4 can both fit into the same progression curve.

Additionally, a roll-over system would probably have to use a roll and keep approach, which involves more arithmetic. I am trying to save all the complexity budget operations for other things, which means an arithmetic-free core mechanic.

Optional Rules:

Vetoing. If a player rolls successes, but not enough successes to succeed, they may take narrative control to veto a certain negative outcome from resulting from their rolls.

"The kidnapper holds the governor's daughter up, and says, "I'll kill her!"

"I shoot at the exposed side of his face." (Rolls two successes out of four needed.)

"I do not shoot the governor's daughter." 

Have you considered using a card based resolution instead?  it seems as though this system has a lot of technical debt on the periphery you could get rid of my accepting a small amount in your core mechanic.

Skills & Attributes  - The Core mechanic

Attributes run from 1 (or 2) to 12 and represent the threshold for success, skill represents how many cards you draw for a skill check. so for example Punching Nuts 3 and Big Muscles 4 means when punching someone in the nuts you draw three cards, any cards with a value above 4 are success and you count those up. J=11, Q=12, K=13 in this setup, so the face cards just have assigned values, except Joker which when drawn subtracts 1 success, Ace adds +1 success.

Critical success are made when you draw your exact attribute value, so back to the nut punching example, if I drew a 4, I get a critical success, maybe I give him testicular torsion or something? or maybe it's just a +1?

Of course you might need to adjust DCs, but 1 being easy, 2 normal 3 hard, 4 very hard seems about right, and it means certain DCs are above a player if they don't even have the skill rating for it. or at least they have to bet correctly to get DCs above what their card drawn would even allow.

But I mean this adds sooo much Player skill! as players are drawing from the same deck of cards there is a cooperative skill element to this, with tricks like card counting and optimizing actions by picking characters for certain tasks with certain skill+attribute values, this has the fun if odd quirk that sometimes picking a player/character with a lower card draw is better if you know the remaining deck roughly.

Quote
Feedback Request: Shedding Dice

Die Shedding is a death spiral mechanic where compromised players lose dice. You assemble your pool normally, but instead of rolling all four dice, you choose and remove a number of them from your pool, and then roll.

The point of Die Shedding is that it cancels Die Echoes out, and as players can purchase all the Die Echoes they want by spending more AP, the death spiral becomes an AP penalty where the player may choose to ignore the penalty or restore their roll.

My Thoughts

The Fusion Pool mechanic has proven to tolerate a lot of feature-creep because it is an arithmetic-free mechanic which is not always used for every action. It's more a "combat or PCs are up to something creative" roll which gets pulled out on special occasions, or it gets hacked down by ignoring some of the rules.

That said, I think that the Fusion Pool is very close to the limit for how much feature creep it can accept without chugging, and that I should probably choose between Vetoes or Die Shedding rather than having both. So I have to ask: which strikes you as the more relevant feature?

as to how Die shedding and  Die Echos get translated or what I think of them? hell if I know! but this card system replacement is much more skillful right? I mean you never said this was your design goal but I'm going to assume it and judge accordingly.

being serious though maybe you can bank extra success using action points, and draw face down cards, which allow you to expand your draw on a chosen skill check.

with Shedding cards, where you remove a card from your draw to cancel out a face down card somewhere else or a success/critical.