This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Yet Another Dice Mechanic

Started by One Horse Town, January 27, 2009, 02:00:13 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

One Horse Town

In my quest to use as many different dice as i can, i've come up with this idea.

You add Stat + Skill to get a numeric rating. For example Strength (+1) + Climb 4 = a total Climb skill rating of 5. The difficulty of tests is expressed by the dice type used for the test.

Easy is d4, Average d6, Challenging d8, Hard d10, Very Hard d12, Extreme d20(i might put a 2d8 in between d12 and d20 as the jump is quite large)

When you try a skill, the difficulty determines which dice you have to roll.

Success is indicated when you roll equal to or under your relevant skill rating. If your rating is equal to or higher than the dice can roll, you don't need to roll and automatically succeed.

Example: Bob has a total Climb skill rating of 5 and is trying a hard climb. He must roll a d10 for the attempt and roll 5 or below in order to succeed.

James J Skach

My first question is always - what do the percentages look like? These maths frighten and confuse me...
The rules are my slave, not my master. - Old Geezer

The RPG Haven - Talking About RPGs

HinterWelt

Quote from: One Horse Town;280825In my quest to use as many different dice as i can, i've come up with this idea.

You add Stat + Skill to get a numeric rating. For example Strength (+1) + Climb 4 = a total Climb skill rating of 5. The difficulty of tests is expressed by the dice type used for the test.

Easy is d4, Average d6, Challenging d8, Hard d10, Very Hard d12, Extreme d20(i might put a 2d8 in between d12 and d20 as the jump is quite large)

When you try a skill, the difficulty determines which dice you have to roll.

Success is indicated when you roll equal to or under your relevant skill rating. If your rating is equal to or higher than the dice can roll, you don't need to roll and automatically succeed.

Example: Bob has a total Climb skill rating of 5 and is trying a hard climb. He must roll a d10 for the attempt and roll 5 or below in order to succeed.

hmmm, this reminds me of something...Serenity? Maybe...
The RPG Haven - Talking about RPGs
My Site
Oh...the HinterBlog
Lord Protector of the Cult of Clash was Right
When you look around you have to wonder,
Do you play to win or are you just a bad loser?

One Horse Town

Quote from: HinterWelt;280849hmmm, this reminds me of something...Serenity? Maybe...

Really? Arse.

Blackleaf

I have a variable dice system for my game... which I'll get around to finishing one day. :)

flyingmice

Quote from: HinterWelt;280849hmmm, this reminds me of something...Serenity? Maybe...

In Serenity, each die type represents one of your stats - i.e. you have 1 stat at d20, 1 at d12, 1 at d10, etc.

-clash
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
Blog: I FLY BY NIGHT

HinterWelt

Quote from: flyingmice;280865In Serenity, each die type represents one of your stats - i.e. you have 1 stat at d20, 1 at d12, 1 at d10, etc.

-clash

I figured you would know. It has been too long since I read it and it was kind of quick read through at that. I knew it had different dice for some aspect.

Oh, and OHT, it was not meant as a "You can't do that" as much as a reference. I am pretty confident my Zombipocalypse mechanics have been used before but for the life of me I can't recall where...
The RPG Haven - Talking about RPGs
My Site
Oh...the HinterBlog
Lord Protector of the Cult of Clash was Right
When you look around you have to wonder,
Do you play to win or are you just a bad loser?

StormBringer

Quote from: HinterWelt;280871I figured you would know. It has been too long since I read it and it was kind of quick read through at that. I knew it had different dice for some aspect.

Oh, and OHT, it was not meant as a "You can't do that" as much as a reference. I am pretty confident my Zombipocalypse mechanics have been used before but for the life of me I can't recall where...
I believe you were thinking of Alternity's scaling dice mechanic.  Penalties and bonuses are larger types of dice, rather than static numbers.
If you read the above post, you owe me $20 for tutoring fees

\'Let them call me rebel, and welcome, I have no concern for it, but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul.\'
- Thomas Paine
\'Everything doesn\'t need

arminius

#8
First, I wouldn't use the sum of multiple dice (2d8) to bridge the gap between die types, as that will create a huge breakpoint. Suppose you have a net rating of 5. On d10 you'll have a 50% chance of success. On d12 your chance will be 5/12 = 42%. On d20 your chance will be 25%.

On 2d8 your chance will be (1 + 2 + 3 + 4)/64 = 16%.

If you have a high skill, things will be skewed in the other direction, that is, your chance of succeeding on 2d8 will be greater than on d12. (Edit: actually that's wrong, but you'll still get weird progressions.)

The other thing about this is that it seems pretty similar to Savage Worlds, and if Serenity works that way then...yes, Serenity as well. Actually it's the inverse of those since they treat difficulties as fixed numbers and stats as random variables. Nevertheless the resulting curves could be very different. I guess one important difference is that your system makes it possible for anyone to succeed at a given task, without having to rely on exploding dice.

Spike

Actually, it sounds like the inverse of the HDR (half Dice Rating) system I reviewed last year.  The problem I see with this iteration is that no matter how good you get, you always have a 50% chance to succeed... which makes no damn sense.
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

[URL=https:

arminius

??

Your chance of succeeding is (stat + skill)/(size of die)

That is, assuming you follow my advice and avoid using sums of dice.

It's definitely not always 50%.

Spike

Sorry, I had to go back to the OP to figure out where I went wrong.  Poor use of examples then, made it look like the die rolled was based on the sum of the stat+skill.

Thus you would always be rolling against a 50%.

Not sure I like it. Too gimmicky by half.  If my vast collection of game books has taught me anything its that there isn't much need to come  up with wonky dice mechanics to make a new and exciting game...

That doesn't mean that the next great invention in resolution mechanics isn't on the horizon, but this ain't it. Stick with something tried and true and you'll be fine.
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

[URL=https:

One Horse Town

If you think this is gimmicky, wait 'till you get a load of my tea-leaf based resolution system!

flyingmice

Quote from: One Horse Town;280996If you think this is gimmicky, wait 'till you get a load of my tea-leaf based resolution system!

Bah! I came up with one involving reading entrails at least two years ago. Tea leaves are sooo yesterday!

-clash
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
Blog: I FLY BY NIGHT

arminius

And reading entrails is so...

How old are you again, Clash?