Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do TTRPGs Need to "Modernize?"
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 9266816" data-attributes="member: 6779310"><p>From where I sit, ther've been two modernizations that matter: the move to single rolling mechanic per game, and the more common use fixed difficulties. (Traveller 2300 and MegaTraveller both did both of these in 1987.)</p><p></p><p>Many games have two core mechanics: one for combat, one for non-combat; some have 3 or more. Amongst these are D&D prior to 3E, Palladium even now, The Arcanum, Tunnels and Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, Forward To Adventure, and many more.</p><p></p><p>BRP has three-to-four mechanics as well, but not the same split: Skills unopposed: 1d100 ≤ skill; Attribute Rolls unopposed either 1d20 ≤ Att or 1d100 ≤ Att × 5, by game; Opposed attribute rolls (cross index active vs passive and roll under the percentage listed); and the combat defense rolls (unopposed, but must get at least the same level of success as the attacker did). And that's not counting the "Roll > skill to advance it if you got a check this session in it." At least they're all roll low. (Except for Pendragon, which is high-but-under.)</p><p></p><p>Pendragon's another 1987 "Modernization" - All abilities are using the same "high-but under" on 1d20 ≤ ability+mods. It's not quite a single mechanic simply due to the effects of skills adjusted to 20+. But it's pretty close. </p><p></p><p>White Wolf used a single mechanic for resolution across all the WoD games, albeit VTM 1e was different from the rest (variable TN for ≥1 success vs fixed TN for successes ≥ difficulty).</p><p></p><p>Those two factors make many of the modern games, most especially the 5E derivatives, feel modern and streamlined. It's easier to teach one unified mechanic, and easier to run if there's a single clear difficulty scale.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aramis erak, post: 9266816, member: 6779310"] From where I sit, ther've been two modernizations that matter: the move to single rolling mechanic per game, and the more common use fixed difficulties. (Traveller 2300 and MegaTraveller both did both of these in 1987.) Many games have two core mechanics: one for combat, one for non-combat; some have 3 or more. Amongst these are D&D prior to 3E, Palladium even now, The Arcanum, Tunnels and Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, Forward To Adventure, and many more. BRP has three-to-four mechanics as well, but not the same split: Skills unopposed: 1d100 ≤ skill; Attribute Rolls unopposed either 1d20 ≤ Att or 1d100 ≤ Att × 5, by game; Opposed attribute rolls (cross index active vs passive and roll under the percentage listed); and the combat defense rolls (unopposed, but must get at least the same level of success as the attacker did). And that's not counting the "Roll > skill to advance it if you got a check this session in it." At least they're all roll low. (Except for Pendragon, which is high-but-under.) Pendragon's another 1987 "Modernization" - All abilities are using the same "high-but under" on 1d20 ≤ ability+mods. It's not quite a single mechanic simply due to the effects of skills adjusted to 20+. But it's pretty close. White Wolf used a single mechanic for resolution across all the WoD games, albeit VTM 1e was different from the rest (variable TN for ≥1 success vs fixed TN for successes ≥ difficulty). Those two factors make many of the modern games, most especially the 5E derivatives, feel modern and streamlined. It's easier to teach one unified mechanic, and easier to run if there's a single clear difficulty scale. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do TTRPGs Need to "Modernize?"
Top