Playtest Feedback 4/1

[Nagol]

So I've been thinking about the variation in dice pools you (and others) have mentioned.

Tightening the range appears to be the priority here. One way to accomplish this is to limit the stacking of skills. This would also have the effect of making characters take a wider range of skills.

So here's what's on my mind: characters can only take a skill once per tier (a tier is an advancement thing that comes in later, but not relevant to starting characters). This means that they'll only get +1d6 to rolls (plus equipment and positional benefits). That will have the effect of reducing the overall range of dice pools quite a lot, likely from 2d6-4d6 on the attribute with +1d6 for skill. That's much narrower than the existing range of 2d6 to about 7d6.

The implication of that is natural talent is a much larger driver of ability than training. The variation of trained vs. unskilled becomes minimal.

 

[Morrus]

The implication of that is natural talent is a much larger driver of ability than training. The variation of trained vs. unskilled becomes minimal.

That's very true. At first, at least - higher tier character could add more ranks. It's worth playtesting at the very least.

 

[Velcerick]

I think some limiting could be good. Not sure if 1 rank will be too restrictive though. We can give that a roll next Tuesday.

I'm with Lucas on this one, but only one rank seems extreme. It may be a good default though, with a profession rider allowing something greater. For example, the military cadet profession could have a 2nd or 3rd repeat of "Your maximum rank in marksman and melee weaponry increases to 2" or somesuch. Engineers and other professions could have similar bonuses for other skills. That would encourage diversity while still allowing for some specialization.

 

[LucasC]

That's very true. At first, at least - higher tier character could add more ranks. It's worth playtesting at the very least.

Couple other possibilities here -

• Cap starting ability scores somewhere (around 5) meaning you could get a max of +3d6 from your stat, then allow 2 skill ranks. Each race could perhaps allow 1 stat to exceed this.
  • You might need to go back to the lower starting scores from a version or two back to make this work.
• Change skill ranks so they add bonus dice like ability scores do (1 rank = 1 die, 2-3 ranks = 2 die, etc.)
• Change the ability score dice (go up 1d6 every ~3 or so)