xBlackWolfx
2012-12-23, 03:50 PM
My latest attempt at a superhero rpg used an odd step-die/dice pool system. Each of a character's stats where rated from d4 to d12, and stats fell into three categories: attributes, skills, and powers. Most rolls in a game required you to roll at least two (sometimes three) die. For example, if you were punching someone your roll for damage would be your die for strength plus your die in your superstrength power (assuming you had one). In the game, attributes were limited to human ranges, powers were required to push them beyond human norms. As for how results were determined, I had two different ideas: one was simply a roll-and-add approach, which i made as a relatively simple alternative to my original idea. It was a comparative method similar to WoD, except a die could roll more than one success. For example, if you rolled 4 or higher, you got 1 success, if you rolled 8 or higher you got 2 successes, and if you rolled 12 (the highest possible on any available die of course) you got three successes, i later decided that intervals of 3 where preferable (and easier to think of on the fly) than multiples of 4.
But this has several issues. One is the limited scalability, since everything has to be rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Another is the fact that no matter how big the die get, there is always still a chance that you'll roll an abysmal roll, infact a character with d12 speed could possibly be beaten by a character with a speed of d4.
What kind of dice mechanic do you think works better for a superhero rpg? Step-die, roll-and-add (like Mutants and Masterminds), dice pools, roll-under (like GURPS), what?
I personnally don't like simple roll-and-add since it makes math rather complicated with the large numbers common in superhero rpgs, which is particularly bad for the fast-paced action they often require (imagine you had to roll d20+34, now add 17+34 in a split second, you get the idea)
I've even contemplated an odd system like the marvel universe rpg, where characters simply have a number of points which the player can spend to automatically succeed at tasks, the challenge being his point pool is limited thus he must purposefully choose to fail at certain tasks just to save his points for later. Not sure how that would work in practice, though I don't imagine it would work too well.
But this has several issues. One is the limited scalability, since everything has to be rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Another is the fact that no matter how big the die get, there is always still a chance that you'll roll an abysmal roll, infact a character with d12 speed could possibly be beaten by a character with a speed of d4.
What kind of dice mechanic do you think works better for a superhero rpg? Step-die, roll-and-add (like Mutants and Masterminds), dice pools, roll-under (like GURPS), what?
I personnally don't like simple roll-and-add since it makes math rather complicated with the large numbers common in superhero rpgs, which is particularly bad for the fast-paced action they often require (imagine you had to roll d20+34, now add 17+34 in a split second, you get the idea)
I've even contemplated an odd system like the marvel universe rpg, where characters simply have a number of points which the player can spend to automatically succeed at tasks, the challenge being his point pool is limited thus he must purposefully choose to fail at certain tasks just to save his points for later. Not sure how that would work in practice, though I don't imagine it would work too well.