TL;DR
I'm writing my own tabletop system and I'm trying to nail down some specifics for the core mechanic of the game. I've tried variants of dice pools as well as target number systems, and I believe what I'm trying to shoot for is some kind of hybrid. I'm also trying to avoid the sub-rules of the sub-sections of sub-rules of sub-marines that D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder are plauged with.
After a week of reading, studying, calculating, researching, and eating bacon, I've come up with this:
All rolls are made with:
Roll Attribute#of d12, keep 2 and total, add Skill bonus VS. Target Number
Probable asked questions/statements:
Q: Increasing the dice in the die pool only changes the probability of rolling a higher number! It doesn't give actually make you better.
A: You are right. My explanation is that having a higher Attribute score gives you a better chance to roll a higher number. See http://anydice.com/program/4949 *no names in this chart are final
Q: Well how do I get stronger then?
A: Simple: increase your relative skills. You wanna be better at swinging swords? You won't necessarily increase your Strength, but your Swords skill instead. Increasing the Attribute score itself *can* also happen but is much more uncommon.
Q: Why not keep 3 dice?
A: Adding in a third dice will push the bell curve more toward the mean (or average). My goal in a two-dice bell curve was to rid the d20 model of randomness and dying to stupid things while staying at some sort "relative" place of expected performance.
Q: Why a d12?
A: Because yours are dusty.
Don't lie to me.
Anyone have opinions on this?
I had an earlier idea before that was something like:
Roll Attribute#dSkill Rating (d4, d6, d6, etc.), keep two then total but there was a problem with finding an average target number for difficulty ratings.
I'm writing my own tabletop system and I'm trying to nail down some specifics for the core mechanic of the game. I've tried variants of dice pools as well as target number systems, and I believe what I'm trying to shoot for is some kind of hybrid. I'm also trying to avoid the sub-rules of the sub-sections of sub-rules of sub-marines that D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder are plauged with.
After a week of reading, studying, calculating, researching, and eating bacon, I've come up with this:
All rolls are made with:
Roll Attribute#of d12, keep 2 and total, add Skill bonus VS. Target Number
- Example Character A has 4 Strength and a let's say a 'Swords' skill of +2 = 4d12 (keep two and total) +2
- Example Character B has 3 Dexterity and a Archery skill of +6 = 3d12+6
- Example Character C has 5 Dexterity and a Stealth skill of +2 = 5d12+2
Probable asked questions/statements:
Q: Increasing the dice in the die pool only changes the probability of rolling a higher number! It doesn't give actually make you better.
A: You are right. My explanation is that having a higher Attribute score gives you a better chance to roll a higher number. See http://anydice.com/program/4949 *no names in this chart are final
Q: Well how do I get stronger then?
A: Simple: increase your relative skills. You wanna be better at swinging swords? You won't necessarily increase your Strength, but your Swords skill instead. Increasing the Attribute score itself *can* also happen but is much more uncommon.
Q: Why not keep 3 dice?
A: Adding in a third dice will push the bell curve more toward the mean (or average). My goal in a two-dice bell curve was to rid the d20 model of randomness and dying to stupid things while staying at some sort "relative" place of expected performance.
Q: Why a d12?
A: Because yours are dusty.
Don't lie to me.Anyone have opinions on this?
I had an earlier idea before that was something like:
Roll Attribute#dSkill Rating (d4, d6, d6, etc.), keep two then total but there was a problem with finding an average target number for difficulty ratings.
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