Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 1186719" data-attributes="member: 10201">Yep.  As a player, i want a system where the players have a lot of control.  As a GM, i want a system where the players have a lot of control.  IMHO, the players should not be held hostage by the mechanics, and especially not by the randomizer.  I liken a good session of GMing Four Colors al Fresco to being at the reins of a runaway stagecoach--with 4 horses that are trying to get away from each other.  If i, as GM, have essentially no control over how the game is going (plot or mechanics), i think it's going well.I'm surprised to hear you say that about Castle Falkenstein--it's basically the same system as D&d3E (GM sets difficulty; player uses character stat + randomizer to try and exceed difficulty), except that the player gets to decide when to fail and when to succeed (loosely speaking).  Unlike many other card-based RPGs (such as Everway), the GM really doesn't have any more input than in most diced games.Oh, and i think Action Dice in Spycraft are one of the best things added to D20 System in the last 3 years.  My own twist on them is instead of going with the semi-adversarial model given in the rulebook, put it all in the hands of the players: a player may choose to earn an action die by turning any error into a fumble, just as they may choose to spend one to turn a threat into a crit.  And vice versa for NPC crits/fumbles.  (Frex, if i roll a 20 for the villain's attack roll, i let the target PC know, and she can choose to let it be a crit, in return for gaining an action die.)  Used it at GenCon, and the players seemed to love it.But, yeah, in general i shy away from heavily-random RPGs.  And i'm happier for it.  Even as simple a thing as halving the die range (while keeping the stat range about the same), such as Ars Magica, makes a world of difference to me.Oh, just noticed your comment: Amber DRP uses bidding for chargen.  Task resolution is deterministic, using just the stats and situational modifiers.</blockquote>

Verification