xd6 Skill Resolution

I read here the other day - G Benedicto talking about ability checks based on rolling d6's (which makes sense since ability scores are based on 3d6) which basically looks like this:

• 1 (E) Easy: Roll 2d6*
• 2 (S) Standard: Roll 3d6
• 3 (D) Difficult: Roll 4d6
• 4 (V) Very Difficult: Roll 5d6
• 5 (A) Arduous: Roll 6d6
• 6 (N) Nigh-Impossible: Roll 7d6

Cyclopetron posted his ideas for this here regarding dual attribute ability checks (using the usually-orphaned d12) which looks like this:

• Easy: 2d12
• Standard: 3d12
• Difficult: 4d12
• Very Difficult: 5d12
• Arduous: 6d12
• Nigh-Impossible: 7d12

So Jim at carjacked seraphim puts this together:

	One Ability	Two Abilities (summed)
(E) Easy	Roll 2d6	Roll 4d6
(S) Standard	Roll 3d6	Roll 6d6
(D) Difficult	Roll 4d6	Roll 8d6
(V) Very Difficult	Roll 5d6	Roll 10d6
(A) Arduous	Roll 6d6	Roll 12d6
(N) Nigh-Impossible	Roll 7d6	Roll 14d6

And so I thought I'd throw my two cents worth in on this, too. First, I think I'd limit ability checks to a single attribute, I think trying to figure out which two attributes are being checked gets terribly complicated. So the complicated long jump, oil flask thing that cyclopetron was talking about - well, I'd probably pick either strength or dexterity but make it either Arduous or Nigh Impossible (depending on exactly what he's wanting to do). Granted, you could call it either of those and use the two stats (str & dex) and have roughly the same chance to succeed.

So, I think I'd stick with the original list - though I might add a couple more categories. Here's why:

There might be opportunities for two or more characters to combine a single attribute to attempt something - especially strength (can't think of any other attributes that can be combined off the top of my head, but I'll come up with something...). So a huge bolder could be moved by three or four characters combining their strength and rolling against xd6.

• 1 (E) Easy: Roll 2d6*
• 2 (S) Standard: Roll 3d6
• 3 (D) Difficult: Roll 4d6
• 4 (V) Very Difficult: Roll 5d6
• 5 (A) Arduous: Roll 6d6
• 6 (N) Nigh-Impossible: Roll 7d6
• 7 (H) Hopeless: Roll 8d6
• 8 (R) Ridiculous: Roll 9d6
• 9 (T) Titanic: 10d6

But...if three or more are combining their abilities, even 10d6 becomes just an average challenge (since three characters represent 9d6 in their ability scores and four 12d6). Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing - since the idea of combining abilities would be to make a task easier.

And, of course, if I go this way, I'll completely have to ditch my last "skill resolution" ideas. But that's what this blog is all about, brainstorming the rules...

Skill Bonus

When I was musing the other day about skills it did occur to me that there might be some reasons for bonuses in the initial 10% that everybody has to accomplish anything extraordinary.

Then I read this over at the Land of Nod and thought that maybe bonuses based on ability scores*** is a pretty good idea. Use the standard bonus for higher ability scores in Daen Ral: 16=+1, 17=+2, 18=+3. Or, since I'm dealing with percentages, 16=+5%, 17=+10%, 18=+15%.

Now, this is really DM fiat territory here, though. How to determine if something is best linked to a an ability score. Is jumping across a chasm more strength or dexterity? Is running a long distance more strength or constitution? Is trying to tell a lie more charisma or wisdom or intelligence? So, you get the idea.

If, in desperation, a mage picked up a sword to defend himself (or, since this is heroic fantasy, to defend the innocent child and puppy that are trapped in Cthulhu's pantry) would he have some chance to actually use it? I'd say yes - 10% (probably MINUS 5% or 10% since he's likely to be a weakling). And 01% ALWAYS succeeds in my estimation. There's always SOME chance... But the mage is not a sword wielder. He wants to try it again, no bonus for having been successful once, since he's not training with the sword (and if he wants to do so, he becomes a FTR/MU and deals with the bonuses and penalties that entails).

If the Fighter tries to read a foreign language - 10% chance he'll work it out (I'd do some kind of scaling so that rolling 01 means he reads it all, 02 he gets 90% of it right, up to rolling that 10, just making it...but just kind of getting the gist of what it says - and, if pushed, I might have him do it per page or even per paragraph if it's key). And, yeah, higher INT gives him a better chance to do the reading...but I'd still use the actual roll to determine how much of the text he really "gets".

Hmmm, maybe that's the way to adjudicate all the skills. Rolling a 1 means complete success at the skill attempt - rolling a 10 or more means just making it (modifiers only boost chance for success - not successful-ness...um...is that a word?). So, the fighter who jumps across the chasm and rolls a 2 - made it, just slid a bit on the landing, turns around and yells, "That was easy." The thief tries the jump rolls a 23, no sweat because he's got an 18 DEX (that's what I would modify this jump with) so he makes it...but JUST BARELY . I'd narrate that it doesn't look like he's going to make it but that he reaches out as the edge of the cliff is falling past his eyes and just catches a hand on the ledge. What are you going to do now? (and so on - we'd then play out getting him up the ledge - depending on what he was carrying, whether or not they're being harried, etc.)

So...what about thieves? I guess an additional 5%-15% at character generation isn't a deal breaker - especially since they have 15 thief skills to divide it up among. I'd call it a one time only bonus, though - not something that they get to apply to every skill, either, though that's kind of arbitrary, isn't it? Would starting a thief at first level who has an 18 DEX wtith 25% in the Fine Skills, with a 17 STR starting with 20% in the Physical Skills or with a 16 INT starting with 15% in the Mental Skills really be a problem? After all, the thief is SUPPOSED to be good at this stuff, right? Maybe that doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would...

*** I have a lot riding on ability scores in this game - obviously the initial bonuses, maximum level is tied to ability score, going lower than 0hp is tied to CON, class abilities, spell abilities...off the top of my head. I've never seriously played with MIN/MAX-ers (well, in Junior High...and once after) but the temptation will really be there in this system that I'm putting together...

Some Skill Ideas

Woo-hoo - 100 posts (oh, dangit, a couple are drafts...argh - so, 99 posts !!)

Anyway, James over at Grognardia was talking about skills in a recent post and it got me thinking. I don't know if I ever really bought into 2e NWPs...I mean, it really did lead to a lot of rules lawyering and the dreaded "if you don't have the proficiency, you can't ride a horse" stupidity which, come on, really?

Anyway, I'm working on my system and have taken the 2e approach to thieves, sort of, and I give a T0 a 10% chance to do any of the "thief skills" on my list (I have more than the 2e PHB lists) and a T1 can divvy up 90 points to spread out (you can read the "rules" in the above post).

What this suggests, however, is that any and every schmoe in Daen Ral has about a 10% chance to pull of anything. So...if you want to add a "skill" - well, I guess that's DM fiat territory here - you find a teacher and, depending on how much money, time, energy you spend on it...you increase your %age chance to do a certain skill.

Now, I won't put up with the "can only ride a horse 10% of the time, then" junk that got NWPs in trouble. Here's my take on it. In a medieval-esque society, some skills are a given (again, DM fiat - my world, my rules, right?) so you can ride a horse, build a fire, gut an animal, find water, etc. Skills are for when you want to do something extraordinary like - ride a Water Buffalo or have a horse do tricks or jump a small chasm, for building a fire that will only damage a certain section of a house or to build a fire in a downpour in a swamp, or to gut a dragon or whether or not beholder meat is edible, or finding water in a desert... Yeah, you get it.

So, how to adjudicate it? Dunno. Maybe something like 10% or 20% per level (or per amount of money and time spent?). And some skills just have to cost more of one resource or another (alchemy would have to cost a lot of money for materials to practice with as well as taking a fair amount of time but very little energy, though learning trick riding should cost a lot of time and energy, but not so much in money necessarily).

How to simulate the cost in energy? Perhaps a temporary CON drop or hp drop? Or STR? Maybe it's not necessary. I'm not thinking of "balancing" these things - just trying to figure out how to throw this stuff at my (as yet theoretical) players.