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Game Design: Good average chances of success for all situations?
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<blockquote data-quote="Kariotis" data-source="post: 8998777" data-attributes="member: 7035116"><p>When designing new systems or homebrewing existing ones, one of the areas where I still often question both my experience and my gut feelings are the target values for average chances of success on a given roll. One thing I've been doing for a long time now is use a simple matrix that always remained the same, whether I was designing dice pool systems, roll-under-mechanics, used D100s, D20s or even playing cards. I only controlled for skill level and circumstances of the roll and left everything else out in order to not make it too complicated.</p><p></p><p>I didn't use the exact values I came up with, I used them as rules of thumb (depending on the dice used, it wouldn't even have been possible to hit the precise values). In some cases I deviated a lot from individual values, but rarely much from the general distribution as a whole.</p><p></p><p>It has always seemed pretty important to me to consider the average success rates at different skill levels from the absolute lowest to the absolute peak. If the success rate is too high, the game may become too easy, and players may become bored or disengaged even if they're happy their character is decked out. If the success rate is too low, the game may become frustrating and discouraging instead of challenging.</p><p></p><p>So whenever I designed a new game, or started homebrewing an existing one, this has been one of the first things I did and then I always keep my eye on it during the design process. Trying to make sure that the development over the skill levels is smooth with a couple of bumps here and there to signal skill thresholds, and that even difficult tasks are sometimes accomplished while peak performers rarely fail provides players with a satisfying level of challenge and a sense of accomplishment. My hope is always that by balancing the difficulty of tasks and the modifiers that affect success rates, the system becomes more engaging and immersive.</p><p></p><p>So if you've been using something similar, this thread is for any GM and designer who wants to share their target values (or wants to take it as an opportunity to write them out in detail). This is essentially a poll thread - I don't mind a bit of discussion, but our focus here should be on getting as many replies with concrete numbers as possible to get an overview. I removed my own values for now in order to not poison the well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kariotis, post: 8998777, member: 7035116"] When designing new systems or homebrewing existing ones, one of the areas where I still often question both my experience and my gut feelings are the target values for average chances of success on a given roll. One thing I've been doing for a long time now is use a simple matrix that always remained the same, whether I was designing dice pool systems, roll-under-mechanics, used D100s, D20s or even playing cards. I only controlled for skill level and circumstances of the roll and left everything else out in order to not make it too complicated. I didn't use the exact values I came up with, I used them as rules of thumb (depending on the dice used, it wouldn't even have been possible to hit the precise values). In some cases I deviated a lot from individual values, but rarely much from the general distribution as a whole. It has always seemed pretty important to me to consider the average success rates at different skill levels from the absolute lowest to the absolute peak. If the success rate is too high, the game may become too easy, and players may become bored or disengaged even if they're happy their character is decked out. If the success rate is too low, the game may become frustrating and discouraging instead of challenging. So whenever I designed a new game, or started homebrewing an existing one, this has been one of the first things I did and then I always keep my eye on it during the design process. Trying to make sure that the development over the skill levels is smooth with a couple of bumps here and there to signal skill thresholds, and that even difficult tasks are sometimes accomplished while peak performers rarely fail provides players with a satisfying level of challenge and a sense of accomplishment. My hope is always that by balancing the difficulty of tasks and the modifiers that affect success rates, the system becomes more engaging and immersive. So if you've been using something similar, this thread is for any GM and designer who wants to share their target values (or wants to take it as an opportunity to write them out in detail). This is essentially a poll thread - I don't mind a bit of discussion, but our focus here should be on getting as many replies with concrete numbers as possible to get an overview. I removed my own values for now in order to not poison the well. [/QUOTE]
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