Just, y'know, games and stuff.
[Design] Difficulty Numbers through the ages...
Posted 24th December 2008 at 08:03 AM by Wik
As sort of a related post to my last one, I decided to dig through a couple of my RPGs and figure out the average chance of success in an RPG. I'm trying to figure out how likely a starting PC will succeed on a task of average difficulty. Here's my observations:
1. Dungeons and Dragons: 3rd Edition
The average DC in 3E is 10. An untrained character with no attribute bonuses will have a 50% chance of success. Since, however, 3e assumes PCs are above average, most PCs will have at least a +1 on the d20 roll - a 55% chance of success.
A trained character (one who has taken 4 ranks in a skill) with a +1 attribute modifier will have a 75% chance of success, while a character who has really specialized (a +3 or +4 attribute, a +2 skill bonus, as well as the 4 ranks in the skill) will only fail 5% of the time on an average difficulty task.
2. Dungeons and Dragons: 4th Edition
The average DC for a 1st level character is 15. Your untrained character with no attribute bonuses will have a 25% chance of success. A 1st level character with a +1 attribute will have a 30% chance of success.
If that character gets a skill bonus (+2) from race or a class feature, that chance goes up to 40%. If a character had a +1 attribute bonus and was trained in the skill, the chance of success is 55%, or 65% if he had a +2 bonus from race or a feat.
In any case, it is harder for a 4th Ed. character to get really good at a skill at low levels, and since difficulties scale with your level, these odds never really improve. That being said, 4e is a game that was written with teamwork in mind, so this isn't really a problem - higher difficulty numbers fit the goal of giving everyone a chance to shine.
3. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: 2nd Edition
This one is especially handy because it uses a percentile skill system much like myself. In it, an untrained average human using a skill he is untrained in will have a very low rate of success (an average of 30% in the base attribute, plus the attribue is halved if you are untrained) - 15% on an average difficulty task. However, if he is trained in the skill, his chance of success is... 30%.
A PC has the option of increasing a stat by 5% at creation, upping that success chance to 35%. Needless to say, it is hard to succeed in WFRP - even high-level PCs don't get skill scores all that high (it is possible, for example, to get a skill up to 90-95%, but I imagine it'd take a long time).
This fits in well with the dark nature of the setting - a great example of mechanics reinforcing the nature of the setting.
***
I'd post more, but I dont' want to.
1. Dungeons and Dragons: 3rd Edition
The average DC in 3E is 10. An untrained character with no attribute bonuses will have a 50% chance of success. Since, however, 3e assumes PCs are above average, most PCs will have at least a +1 on the d20 roll - a 55% chance of success.
A trained character (one who has taken 4 ranks in a skill) with a +1 attribute modifier will have a 75% chance of success, while a character who has really specialized (a +3 or +4 attribute, a +2 skill bonus, as well as the 4 ranks in the skill) will only fail 5% of the time on an average difficulty task.
2. Dungeons and Dragons: 4th Edition
The average DC for a 1st level character is 15. Your untrained character with no attribute bonuses will have a 25% chance of success. A 1st level character with a +1 attribute will have a 30% chance of success.
If that character gets a skill bonus (+2) from race or a class feature, that chance goes up to 40%. If a character had a +1 attribute bonus and was trained in the skill, the chance of success is 55%, or 65% if he had a +2 bonus from race or a feat.
In any case, it is harder for a 4th Ed. character to get really good at a skill at low levels, and since difficulties scale with your level, these odds never really improve. That being said, 4e is a game that was written with teamwork in mind, so this isn't really a problem - higher difficulty numbers fit the goal of giving everyone a chance to shine.
3. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: 2nd Edition
This one is especially handy because it uses a percentile skill system much like myself. In it, an untrained average human using a skill he is untrained in will have a very low rate of success (an average of 30% in the base attribute, plus the attribue is halved if you are untrained) - 15% on an average difficulty task. However, if he is trained in the skill, his chance of success is... 30%.
A PC has the option of increasing a stat by 5% at creation, upping that success chance to 35%. Needless to say, it is hard to succeed in WFRP - even high-level PCs don't get skill scores all that high (it is possible, for example, to get a skill up to 90-95%, but I imagine it'd take a long time).
This fits in well with the dark nature of the setting - a great example of mechanics reinforcing the nature of the setting.
***
I'd post more, but I dont' want to.
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The DCs in 4E have been errata'd. The DC for a skill check at level 1 is now 10, not 15.Posted 25th December 2008 at 01:55 AM by thecasualoblivion
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