reapersaurus
Explorer
well, kit - usually, i post more on the weekends...
without Ash on during the weekends, the talk would pretty much be just about player issues, and most of the time once the game starts, people don't talk to each other much about player topics.
But not me!
So I've been thinking about this first scene -
I'd think having a whole room full of vampires be blown away by a performance - that kind of requires that anybody with contacts do what they can to further an up-and-comers career (booking gigs, record deals, etc).
But how good REALLY was that performance?
Let's look a bit further at the much-maligned Storyteller dice roll mechanic:
How good REALLY is 4 success rolls? What kind of in-game reactions would that roll dictate?
These are hard questions to answer, and unfortunately the book IMO is wrong in the way it deals with it.
For example, my character is only marginally good with guns - he used them professionally when he was human, and when he was a Hunter, and still knows how to use them to good effect. He has 4 in DEX and 2 in Firearms.
When he shoots, he'd use those (6 dice).
If the target # was 6, than on average, his shooting skill would result in 3 successes.
Success descriptions in rules:
1 success: Marginal
2 successes: Moderate
3: Complete
4: Exceptional
5 or more: Phenomenal
So he'd probably impress people with his shooting skill enough to make him a champion-caliber shooter?
Assuming only barely above average rolls, he'd get 4 successes (Exceptional)
And 5 successes he could probably do about 20% of the time (total guess), so when he did, he'd be recruited for the Olympic team then?
See what I'm getting at, guys?
It's well known the limitations of the ST dice-rolls. They are highly dependant on the difficulty rating influencing the success roll.
However, upping the difficulty can over-impact the roll - for example, changing the number to 7 would have resulted in only 2 successes in Caitlyn's performance.
Now. How hard should it have been to impress a group of vampires?
Well, how many performances have vampires seen over their lives?
How immune are they to emotional singing?
After thinking about it a bit, I probably would guess the difficulty at a 7 or 8.
The problem is well noted that there is such HUGE difference between 6, 7 and 8 for how it affects rolls.
The mechanic doesn't give the ST many choices in setting difficulties.
(BTW: I'd heard this argument awhile back, but didn't actually understand the problem until i thought about how it works in this very scene)
Further (I know it's overkill, but...) to discuss the # of successes problem:
If a PAID performer is on stage, wouldn't the audience expect either a higher difficulty, OR a higher # of successes?
For example, many normal human singers probably have 3 in CHA and 3 in Singing.
So on average, they would get 3 successes if the target # is 6.
I can't picture an average Performer going up and bowling over a crowd of vampires if they get 4 successes.
And Caitlyn is not average: she has 9 dice - on a good roll, she could get 6 successes, which is off the charts by the book.
Does that sound right to you guys? What are your thoughts on this, if you've read this?
LAstly, Ash -
on Caitlyn's roll, she should have gotten an extra roll of that 10, since she's using her Specialty, right? I just noticed that after thinking this thru (it wasn't obvious).
without Ash on during the weekends, the talk would pretty much be just about player issues, and most of the time once the game starts, people don't talk to each other much about player topics.
But not me!
So I've been thinking about this first scene -
I'd think having a whole room full of vampires be blown away by a performance - that kind of requires that anybody with contacts do what they can to further an up-and-comers career (booking gigs, record deals, etc).
But how good REALLY was that performance?
Let's look a bit further at the much-maligned Storyteller dice roll mechanic:
How good REALLY is 4 success rolls? What kind of in-game reactions would that roll dictate?
These are hard questions to answer, and unfortunately the book IMO is wrong in the way it deals with it.
For example, my character is only marginally good with guns - he used them professionally when he was human, and when he was a Hunter, and still knows how to use them to good effect. He has 4 in DEX and 2 in Firearms.
When he shoots, he'd use those (6 dice).
If the target # was 6, than on average, his shooting skill would result in 3 successes.
Success descriptions in rules:
1 success: Marginal
2 successes: Moderate
3: Complete
4: Exceptional
5 or more: Phenomenal
So he'd probably impress people with his shooting skill enough to make him a champion-caliber shooter?
Assuming only barely above average rolls, he'd get 4 successes (Exceptional)
And 5 successes he could probably do about 20% of the time (total guess), so when he did, he'd be recruited for the Olympic team then?
See what I'm getting at, guys?
It's well known the limitations of the ST dice-rolls. They are highly dependant on the difficulty rating influencing the success roll.
However, upping the difficulty can over-impact the roll - for example, changing the number to 7 would have resulted in only 2 successes in Caitlyn's performance.
Now. How hard should it have been to impress a group of vampires?
Well, how many performances have vampires seen over their lives?
How immune are they to emotional singing?
After thinking about it a bit, I probably would guess the difficulty at a 7 or 8.
The problem is well noted that there is such HUGE difference between 6, 7 and 8 for how it affects rolls.
The mechanic doesn't give the ST many choices in setting difficulties.
(BTW: I'd heard this argument awhile back, but didn't actually understand the problem until i thought about how it works in this very scene)
Further (I know it's overkill, but...) to discuss the # of successes problem:
If a PAID performer is on stage, wouldn't the audience expect either a higher difficulty, OR a higher # of successes?
For example, many normal human singers probably have 3 in CHA and 3 in Singing.
So on average, they would get 3 successes if the target # is 6.
I can't picture an average Performer going up and bowling over a crowd of vampires if they get 4 successes.
And Caitlyn is not average: she has 9 dice - on a good roll, she could get 6 successes, which is off the charts by the book.
Does that sound right to you guys? What are your thoughts on this, if you've read this?
LAstly, Ash -
on Caitlyn's roll, she should have gotten an extra roll of that 10, since she's using her Specialty, right? I just noticed that after thinking this thru (it wasn't obvious).
).
