Difficulty class is known to skyrocket once you start trying to classify everything with a set number. As the players get better it becomes necessary to raise the bar to keep them struggling.
Adjudications and rulings not rules means DMs should be comfortable coming up with odds for success on the spot without relying on a set rule.
Personally I don't like having any real rules beyond the very basics, the stuff the players need to know to function, like how classes, advancement, battle, and spells work. This gives me lots of room to try new techniques.
An alternative for stat checks I haven't seen is this: roll a d20, add the stat mod. Loosely adjudicate based on the number rolled.
1 is critical failures. Not only did you fuck up but something really bad happens.
These drop off in severity up to 9. Lead from the fiction and push back either hard or soft, but there's a new barrier.
Natural 10 is the cut off. Below this you failed or things swing against you. At 10 their ability mod might put things one way or another a bit, but it's mostly a stalemate. Either you made little progress or theres some kind of unforseen consequence, a barrier, a cost, something is lost on the way to success. A soft negative move might happen here, the player makes the jump to the ledge, almost slips and falls, and part of the ledge crumbles away making further leaps across more difficult.
12+ is about where success happens. Things are going good, you've managed to do the thing. Usually here I'll give The World a soft neutral move, usually just for flavor or to ramp up tension, but nothing bad happens. You're safe.
17-19 is where great successes start happening, things swing a bit in the player's favor. Not only do they manage to catch the rope as their companion falls, but a sudden burst of strength lets them start hauling them back up quickly.
20 is obviously a critical success. Free moves, bonus attacks, whatever.
The key here is to understand what the player is trying to do and tell them the consequences for failure. Rolling the dice means throwing stuff to chance, so there's no point in having a DC. Shits up in the air. You're literally "rolling the dice" and flying by the seat of your pants. In such a case the swinginess is a boon. Leaving things up to chance is not smart, it's stupid, but sometimes unavoidable. In a way it's a punishment for taking risks.
But big risks come with big rewards. Players are required to figure out what a reasonable risk is before they pull the levers, what they're willing to lose in the way to fame and glory.
The dice is a slot machine. Your PC's ability mods might help push things in your favor, but nothing is ever certain. Careful, clever play and engaging with the fiction is the best way to avoid rolling dice.
Edit: I was wrong when I said I haven't heard of anyone else doing this. This is basically the Dungeon World mechanic!
The difference here is that DW uses 2d6, so you're more likely to get middle results than a wide spread, and ability modifiers affect the roll more with 2d6. In my version the mods might just make the difference in edge cases, which is kind of how I like it.
It's easy to forget that when we're talking about PCs we're talking about capital-A Adventurers. These guys are just a cut above normal folks. They're veteran warriors, mages who can cast AN ACTUAL SPELL, members of a clergical crusading sect, and...well, thieves. They're competent at what they do or they wouldn't be first level.
Should a mage be able to bend iron bars? Should a fighter be able to decipher an ancient manuscript? Should a cleric be able to hide and sneak attack? It depends on the type of game you want to run.
With my system averagely abilitied dudes could do mostly the same things. With free adjudication you can make the dice roll anything that seems reasonable. Maybe a mage's success at bending the bars means he's able to wedge them just enough for him to squeeze through but not the bulky warrior. Maybe having a bonus in an ability means that your successes are that much more successful. Mods as multipliers?
A +3 means unless you roll a 1 the lowest score you can get is 5 (on a natural 2) which is only halfway between a total failure and squeaking by! It also means you hit the success threshold easier.
The thing I like about this is that it allows for partial results and building momentum rather than pass/fail.
No comments:
Post a Comment