Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;702641Never seen that one before. Hmm, doesn't seem that its possible to have a straight d100 roll result from the system?

You'right. The system is "percentile" only in the sense that abilities are in the same range as in percentile-based system (but maybe I could limit the number of specialties a character can possess to half the number of specialties that exist "under" an ability, so that on average your base chance of success with that ability is equal to your percentile rating?)

The main point of having abilities in the 0 to 99 is that I like character advancement to be made of small and frequent steps; I want to combine BRP's advancement system with Unknown Armies': if a player fails an ability check that has relevant consequences during the game, they check that ability's box. At the end of the game session each player receives a number of XPs (0 to 5, 2 on average) that must be immediately spent on the abilities whose boxes the player checked during the game session. (I know, I know: what if in a session a character doesn't fail any task?)

QuoteMaybe you could just have Specialty directly reduce difficulty [potentially from hard to normal or normal to easy] - currently, if I understand it, seems you could often be taking the lowest of the two highest as the tens place or vice versa.

I don't understand what you're suggesting (due to my linguistic limitations), sorry. If you have a specialty you always take the lowest result as the ten's digit, and if you don't have it you always take the highest result. When an action is hard, however, the two results are the highest in a poll of 2+n dice, and when it's easy the results are the lowest in a pool of 2+n dice.

Major characters have a pool of bonus dice to manage, that can be added to the bonus dice granted by an easy action or subtracted from the penalty dice imposed by a hard action.

I've always wanted to bring warhammer, dragon warriors, and d&d together but have never satisfactorily brought then into a synthesis.

Quote from: MatteoN;702720I don't understand what you're suggesting (due to my linguistic limitations), sorry. If you have a specialty you always take the lowest result as the ten's digit, and if you don't have it you always take the highest result. When an action is hard, however, the two results are the highest in a poll of 2+n dice, and when it's easy the results are the lowest in a pool of 2+n dice.

Major characters have a pool of bonus dice to manage, that can be added to the bonus dice granted by an easy action or subtracted from the penalty dice imposed by a hard action.

Sorry I probably needed to go into it in more depth.
Its just an idea but basically what I was proposing was a difficulty scale which would go something like:
                                                     
[I]Very Easy[/I]      3 dice, use 2 lowest
[I]Easy [/I]          2 dice, lowest as tens              
[I]Standard [/I]       Roll d100 normally
[I]Difficult [/I]      2 dice, highest as tens
[I]Very difficult[/I]      3 dice, use 2 highest
[I]Impossible? [/I]       4 dice, use 2 highest

Then a Specialty would reduce a task's difficulty by a level e.g. Difficult to Standard, or Easy to Very Easy.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;702771Sorry I probably needed to go into it in more depth.
Its just an idea but basically what I was proposing was a difficulty scale which would go something like:
                                                     

Code Select Expand

[I]Very Easy[/I]      3 dice, use 2 lowest
[I]Easy [/I]          2 dice, lowest as tens              
[I]Standard [/I]       Roll d100 normally
[I]Difficult [/I]      2 dice, highest as tens
[I]Very difficult[/I]      3 dice, use 2 highest
[I]Impossible? [/I]       4 dice, use 2 highest
Then a Specialty would reduce a task's difficulty by a level e.g. Difficult to Standard, or Easy to Very Easy.

Oh, I see. That would certainly work. However, I think I prefer to have binary, unrated specialties. When creating your character you pick a subset of the specialties your character's profession grants them, and a few freely chosen specialties. Since they have a major impact on your character's chances of success, very rarely should you be allowed to pick new specialties after character creation. I see the full list of a character's specialties as both the character's résumé, and a tool for protecting the character's "niche" in the group. Let's say that the thief starts with a rating of 40 in Melee and the warrior starts with a rating of 70; since the advancement system implements diminishing returns it's possible that after a number of sessions the two characters will have the same rating in Melee; however, if they possess different specialties, they will still fight very differently from one another. On the other hand, each player will have a (and possibly more than one) small pool of bonus dice to manage in the same way as you were suggesting.

May I ask for a suggestion related to my project without derailing the thread? (If the anwer is no, please don't reply my message!)

I still have just a vague idea of the combat system. I was thinking of having the difference between the level of success of the attack (critical success or normal success) and the level of success/failure of the defense (critical success, normal success, normal failure, critical failure)*, that is a number ranging 0 to 3, be the number of penalty dice that affect a roll made by the defender against the "ability to avoid being injured and keep on fighting". The weapon used by the attacker would also add (as many as its rating) penalty dice to this roll, whereas the armor worn by the defender would add (as many as its rating) bonus dice. The result would always have the lowest number as the tens' digit, unless the weapon is magical or otherwise extraordinarily dangerous for the defender (e.g. a silver weapon against a werewolf, a light saber against a vampire ).

Now, the possible results of this roll, like of any other, would be:
critical success
success
failure
critical failure.

Critical success would obviously mean that the defender is completely unscathed by the attack, whereas critical failure would obviously mean that the defender is taken out of the fight by a permanent (or fatal) wound. What effects would you attach to the other two results, considering that penalty dice would tend to outnumber bonus dice and I wouldn't want to use hit points?



* When two opposed rolls score the same level of success, the winner is the roll the generates the largest margin of success (=ability-roll).

That's very similar in conception to the WHFRP3E dice pool mechanic (though its much more complex, in conception if not implementation. Might be worth a look for ideas.

Quote from: TristramEvans;704074That's very similar in conception to the WHFRP3E dice pool mechanic (though its much more complex, in conception if not implementation. Might be worth a look for ideas.

Thanks! Doesn't WHFRP3E use custom dice without numbers on them? I don't think there's a free quickstart, right?

Quote from: MatteoN;704077Thanks! Doesn't WHFRP3E use custom dice without numbers on them? I don't think there's a free quickstart, right?

Yeah, it uses custom dice, and the system was the basis for the new Star Wars rpg. I don't think there's a free preview as such, but it should be relatively easy to google up some of the many intensive reviews and hacks of the system if you don't want to shell out for the book.

Quote from: TristramEvans;704078it should be relatively easy to google up some of the many intensive reviews and hacks of the system

Right, thanks.

Quoteif you don't want to shell out for the book.

I'm still saving up for RQ6

Quote from: MatteoN;704080Right, thanks.



I'm still saving up for RQ6

RQ6 is better AND cheaper, honestly.

Fate Core + Street Fighter RPG + Rolemaster.

Use the resolution and aspect mechanics of Fate Core with a solid, crunchy martial arts maneuver system (and the health levels) with Rolemaster-style critical hit charts that handed out automatic Consequences, Advantages, and Boosts.

I've been trying to make this work for awhile. I don't think I'm there yet.

Quote from: TristramEvans;704082RQ6 is [...] cheaper

This is shocking. :rant:

I would want to mash up Pendragon's Vices/Virtues with a few other things (madness meters, FATE aspects) to come up with a really strong freeformish traits system.

I'd probably go with a roll-between mechanic (roll over obstacles, or highest obstacle +1 for each additional obstacle / roll under skills and/or gear (lowest of the two probably)) overall. Probably on 2dwhatever. I'd also probably write most of the game in the "moves" format from the recent World games just because it seems like an okay fit for the whole post-roll-decisions thing.

When it came to big trait rolls, GM would call for them when they make sense (can't stand a points-based system here). The PC would use a fitting trait as if it were a skill, while another trait (minus whatever to leave room in the middle) could be an obstacle.

The nice thing here is that there's no need for pre-existing dichotomies. If you're fleeing from a place and your friend gets trapped in the rubble, your loyalty to them is tested against your desire for self-preservation.

Anyway, if you roll under the obstacle you have to act according to the obstacle BUT you can ignore it by reducing the trait being used as an obstacle. If you roll over the "skill" you can't act according to the "skill" BUT you can ignore that by increasing that value.

In either case you take stress of some kind (which will hopefully prevent people from just ignoring traits all the time). Eventually, you can max out or eliminate aspects of your nature through play, at which point you always act according to that impulse or you just stop using that impulse for these kinds of checks (it will neither hinder nor help you anymore). There would also probably be ways to gain new traits.

Non-drama stuff would work vaguely similarly, in that you could ignore failures for a price that depends on what caused the failure. So if your target's cover prevents your shot, you can move to hit them anyway. If it's their armor, you hit them but don't hurt them as badly. If it's both, you have to move *and* you won't hurt them as much. And so on.

Finally, I'd probably mash all of the above up with a lifepath-based system where characters can get themselves into some deep shit, but have options to bail themselves or each other out in ways that will form relationships and character traits that will be used in play. I'm a bit fuzzier on the details here.

Quote from: MatteoN;704072Now, the possible results of this roll, like of any other, would be:
critical success
success
failure
critical failure.

Critical success would obviously mean that the defender is completely unscathed by the attack, whereas critical failure would obviously mean that the defender is taken out of the fight by a permanent (or fatal) wound. What effects would you attach to the other two results, considering that penalty dice would tend to outnumber bonus dice and I wouldn't want to use hit points?

Hijack away...I know I was complaining about wanting a thread split lately in helpdesk, mostly there I just wanted two useful threads.

Anyway, you could always have a failure represent some sort of major injury and success represent a minor injury. Perhaps two tables of results, some of which might impair the character's fighting. The less detailed option would be a penalty on the next save, although that could be considered a sort of 'hit points'.
If you have a lot of luck points flowing, you could also skip penalties and just have failure representing a character being unconscious, since the luck points granting re-rolls will effectively function as 'HP' until they run out.

I have no idea what I'd do in answer to my own question here, either.

What I was trying to determine really was how to pick 2 systems so that when you combine them you get some sort of synergy, but I haven't figured out how to do this without actually going ahead and writing the mash-up of the two games.