Skills Get Sea'd

[Rel]

For skill challenges, I use Stalker0's Obsidian, so a critical success is easily accounted for with the simple rules of 'For each 10 points you beat the target number, you gain an additional success'.

Any ideas/sugestions on how to handle critical successes in normal skill checks?

I agree that it seems an obvious feature of this method that you could do the Extra Success for certain increments on really high rolls (either 10 or possibly multiples of the DC if you want to raise the bar a bit).

For critical success on normal skill checks I've got a couple ideas.

First, you could hand out some kind of token that could be expended to add a bonus on further skill checks. I'd only do this if the skill check was somehow fairly significant to the game though so that you don't end up with tons of these floating around.

Another option would be to give an Action Point for those critical successes. If I was going to go that route then I'd definitely define a critical success as "beating double the original DC"


One potential I see for this system would be to do away with the +1/2 Level bonus to Skill Checks so that the range of DC's doesn't get higher and higher as the PC's rise in level. This makes the increase in attributes more significant and also makes Skill Focus a more significant feat, both of which I'm fine with. The downside is that you'd end up having to adjust the DC's for most published adventures. But then you'd probably end up having to do that anyway due to the way the bell curve here changes the probabilities.

 

[DanmarLOK]

Given the existing system doesn't reward better than normal skill checks there's no basis for it RAW but you could do the ubiquitous +1/+2 to something directly related to the skill check or associated with it. Example, a critical climbing success might allow subsquent climbers a +1 bonus to their check as the person who made the critical check found the best path up/down. That kind of thing.

Any ideas/sugestions on how to handle critical successes in normal skill checks?

 

[Rechan]

What about bonuses from races, or backgrounds? Do those bonuses get added into the Ability mod bonus (For instance, xd6+Ability Mod+Racial bonus)?

 

[hosidax]

@ DanmarLOK, the numbers you posted are really helpful! A while back I was in a group that used a mechanic like this, but they "exploded" the 1's. We used d8's -- the DM would tell players to, "roll Crazy 8's" to check for success.

Would you be able to run the same script to see what the percentages are when you explode 1's? (both d6's & d8's would be awesome to see).

TIA!

 

[dammitbiscuit]

Think on it a moment - you'd still have a 1 in 8 chance to explode. You'd be adding a d8, just the same. It'd be the exact same average, but you'd be boosting the low rolls into midranges instead of rocketing the high rolls even further.

 

[Alex319]

Here's how to calculate the expected value of an exploding die:

Let's say you have an N-sided die, and let P be the expected value of the roll. With each roll of the die, you have an expected value of (N+1)/2 just like with a regular die, plus you have a 1/N chance of exploding, and if you explode then it's just like the original roll plus another xploding die. So we have P = ((N+1)/2) + (P/N), and solving for P we get P = N(N+1)/2(N-1).

That gives

Die P

4   3.3
6   4.2
8   5.1
10  6.1
12  7.1
20  11.1

So an exploding d6 is worth about 4.2, so exploding 3d6 is worth about 12.6. I don't know how the OP's player got a result of 14.

 

[Alex319]

One potential I see for this system would be to do away with the +1/2 Level bonus to Skill Checks so that the range of DC's doesn't get higher and higher as the PC's rise in level. This makes the increase in attributes more significant and also makes Skill Focus a more significant feat, both of which I'm fine with. The downside is that you'd end up having to adjust the DC's for most published adventures. But then you'd probably end up having to do that anyway due to the way the bell curve here changes the probabilities.

It doesn't make a difference, actually. If the characters are 10th level, for example, giving them the +5 level bonus is exactly the same as not giving them the level bonus but reducing the DC by 5, since the system is still of the form "compare a random variable plus the skill modifier with the DC".

 

[LordGraz'zt]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread - I LOVE this idea - has anyone been actively using it in their game and how have you been finding it?

 

[Rel]

I ended up using it for the game I ran last year (for most of the year) and it worked wonderfully. We dropped the +1/2 level bonus and it made it such that the DC's didn't have to creep up so fast throughout the campaign.

My favorite thing about it is how it focuses all the players attention on every die roll looking for those sixes to pop up for some huge results.

 

[LordGraz'zt]

Thanks for replying Rel - it was reading your campaign thread and hearing how much your party loved it they got me checking out this thread.

Removing the level bonuses seem smart, am I correct that you keep bonuses given due to Race, Background and Items?

Do you have your rules for power stunting written down - if you could pass it on via PM that would be very much appreciated.