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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8396868" data-attributes="member: 42582">Versions of this systems are used in a quite a few RPGs. Ones I know include Cthulhu Dark, Marvel Heroic RP/Cortex+ Heroic (in this case the player adds two of their dice to get their total) and Agon (the GM gets only the best die, but adds a fixed number to it; players get to add two dice). I think BitD also uses a version of this.The exploding dice mechanic seems harmless enough but perhaps not that significant - eg if the highest typical die is d10 then presumably difficulties above 10 aren't that common, and having a d8 have a one-in-8 chance to become a d8+7 doesn't seem to change the odds all that much.Another thing to look out for with exploding dice is the effect they have on progression. Prince Valiant has a different version of this issue: if all the dice in your pool come up successes, then you get a bonus success. So a one-die pool gives either no successes (the single die rolls 3 or less) or two successes (the single die rolls 4 or more, and because every die in the pool succeeded a bonus success is earned). This means that while the mean number of successes on two dice is greater than on one die (1.25 rather than 1) the chance of succeeding vs an obstacle 2 challenge is greater when rolling one die (one in two) than when rolling two dice (one in four - ie two succeses on two dice, which actually counts as three successes because every die in the pool succeeds).Most of the time this is a harmless feature of the system, and sometimes players like the fact that a low pool can succeed against a slightly higher obstacle if the rolls are lucky (the chance for success against obstacle 4 rolling 3 dice is 1-in-8, which is not utterly hopeless). But sometimes it goes from being quirk to being a bit frustrating, as in the rolling-a-very-low-pool-vs-obstacle-2 case.I don't think your exploding dice create this sort of quirk - eg the chance to get 6, 8 or 10 with a d6, d8 or d10 is 1-in-6, 1-in-8 or 1-in-10 respectively; whereas the chance to get that result with the next lower die is (for 6 with a d4) 1-in-4 (to roll a 4, gives a 3 + the next roll) x 1-in-2 (to roll 3+ on the next roll) = 1-in-8, (for 8 with a d6) 1-in-6 (to roll a 6, gives a 5 + the next roll) x 2-in-3 (to roll 3+ on the next roll) = 1-in-9, or (for 10 with a d8) 1-in-8 (to roll a 8, gives a 7 + the next roll) x 3-in-4 (to roll 3+ on the next roll) = 3-in-32 which is still a bit less than 1-in-10. But you might want to double check my maths and just look out for any other odd possibilities.Other than that, I'd be inclined to drop Skill + Attribute and instead move towards descriptors of various sorts: I think they're more interesting to build this sort of pool out of (eg Cthulhu Dark has 1 die in the pool if its humanly possible, 1 die in the pool if it relates to your profession (which is a free descriptor chosen as part of PC build) and a third die if you risk your sanity in making the attempt - this third die then feeds into the system's insanity mechanic).But maybe you're already committed to attribute + skill PC building?</blockquote>

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