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View Full Version : Original System dice mechanic for a new system (sorta FAE based)



JeenLeen
2017-10-03, 12:43 PM
There's a homebrew system I'm been working on, based loosely on Fate Accelerated and largely based on the defunct play-by-post game here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?519665-Fate-Magic-of-Jacksonville-(IC)&p=21856953#post21856953).

Current Idea
I prefer to have it be d10, d6, or 2d6-based.
My idea is that, for any contest (combat, avoiding obstacles, etc.) the player rolls d10 + Title*2 + Approach + (positive modifiers - negative modifiers).
The result is compared to 5 + target's Title*2 + target's Approach.

Generally, the Title * 2 and Approach parts should cancel out. They exist mainly for a way for a lower-level person (i.e., lower Title) to have that reflected. Approach, as in Fate Accelerated, is how one is going about the contest.
The positive modifiers - negative modifiers would generally be +/- 2, though it could vary wildly depending on how many Aspects are invoked (similar to Fate Accelerated, though some aspects can be invoked without spending fate points.)

When compared to the target number, this is the result:

Success by 10 or more: complete victory. Can impose up to 3 Consequences (-1 penalties) or kill/bind the target.
Success by 5 or more: winning. can impose up to 2 consequnces. Can banish a spirit.
Success (equal roll to target number): getting an edge. Can impose 1 consequence.
Fialure by 5 or less: setback. 1 consequence (generally -1 penalty) is imposed to the PC.
Failure by 10 or less: losing. 2 consequences imposed.
Failure by more than 10: complete defeat. Usually means ruination or death. If left alive, long-term consequence.


The DM never rolls dice.

Question
My main question boils down to if the d10 compares well to the 5, or should something else be used?

Also, does the failure/success results seem fair & make sense?
I'm considering making 10 to kill a mortal or banish a spirit, and something like 12 or 15 to bind a spirit. (In the game, binding them lets you summon their power, so it's an extra Aspect you gain some uses of.)

I want luck to be a factor, but not for the roll to be incredibly swingy. The idea is that combat should take a couple rounds to let the player try to work around what they are experiencing.

The system doesn't have stress, HP, or similar things like Fate Accelerated. Instead, consequences last and take effort to remove. I might add something that, if you succeed but gained -1 penalties, the number of penalties equate to some number of short-term, mid-term, and long-term negative Aspects.

Westhart
2017-10-03, 04:23 PM
On how the d10 compares to the 5, a d10's average (I think, and google agrees) is 5.5

Grod_The_Giant
2017-10-04, 07:27 AM
If this

The system doesn't have stress, HP, or similar things like Fate Accelerated. Instead, consequences last and take effort to remove.
is the case, I wouldn't make it so easy to gain consequences in a single roll. Much less multiple consequences in a single roll.

JeenLeen
2017-10-04, 08:27 AM
Would the target number being based off 6 be fairer than 5, do most thing?


If this
is the case, I wouldn't make it so easy to gain consequences in a single roll. Much less multiple consequences in a single roll.

I could see adding back in the stresses from FAE (or as used in your STARS). Basically giving them a buffer until it causes meaningful damage.

I realize I also need to think more about what consequences mean. I originally saw it as a way to, once you gain an edge, push that edge towards victory, as shown by penalties to the roll (if PC injured/hindered) or decreasing the target number (if enemy injured/hindered.) But there's no simple way to convert that to any long-term damage.

Maybe I'll keep the damage system from FAE, with minor alterations:
-Stress acts as some 'damage soak'. Like FAE, stress recovers at the end of a scene. Each box of stress soaks 1 damage.
-In addition to stress, there are ranks of Consequences (same as FAE). You can have more than 1 of each rank (unlike FAE). Getting a consequence (regardless of rank) acts as a negative Aspect for the rest of the scene, or at least until it is neutralized, to reflect how you have been injured or hindered somehow. Inflicting a consequence on a foe acts as a Positive aspect. The higher the rank of the consequence, the more points of damage are absorbed.
-You are defeated when you roll more than 10 points below the target number. The idea is that, as you gain Consequences, your dice roll is penalized until you are finally defeated. The consequences you have accumulated are kept attached to your character (until resolved somehow or enough time passes for it to heal/wear off), often manifesting as negative Aspects in a scene.
-Unlike FAE, accumulating Consequences does not in itself defeat you. You could wind up with a dozen major consequences. But then you probably need to spend a lot of resources healing your character before another conflict, so generally it's best to withdraw if you start losing badly but aren't outright defeated.

I need to look over how points of damage work in FAE, but I'm thinking a range of rolls equates to 1 damage, another range to 2 damage, and so on. Though rolling 10+ is just victory. I might need to modify these numbers based on a d10's spread (or change from d10 to something else. I don't really care for how FATE dice work, mainly since I'd need to buy them or emulate them somehow.)

jqavins
2017-10-05, 03:43 PM
Caveat: I'm not looking at what Approach, Title, and Aspect mean. You mentioned that the Title and Approach terms are expected to cancel, and I'll assume the same for the +/- bonus/penalty modifiers, for the moment. Then it boils down to a d10 vs. 5. Success, I presume, is when the PCs die result is greater than the target number, rather than success when lower.

The results, 1d10-5, range from -4 to 5, so success comes 60% of the time, failure 40%. Now let's look at the categories.


Label

Criterion

Effect

Chance



Complete victory

Success by at least 10

3 consequences imposed, death, or permanent injury

Impossible without a net contribution of at least 5 from the other terms



Winning

Success by 5 to 9

2 consequences imposed

10%



<undefined>

Success by 1 to 4

Undefined

40%



Getting an edge

Success by 0

1 consequence imposed

10%



Setback

Failure by 1 to 4

1 consequence incurred

40%



Losing

Failure by 5 to 10

2 consequences incurred

Impossible without a net contribution of at least -1 from the other terms



Complete defeat

Failure by at least 11

3 consequences incurred, death, or permanent injury

Impossible without a net contribution of at least -6 from the other terms




Perhaps you meant "Getting an edge" to be success by 0 to 4, but that's not what you wrote, and I will not presume. But I will suppose. If that is, indeed, what you intended, then the average result is 0.3 consequences imposed.

Extreme success and failure are both impossible without a bonus or penalty, but complete victory can be achieved with a smaller modifier than complete failure requires. This is due to both the die offset and the wording difference between "Success by 10 or more" and "Failure by more than 10."

The die offset part of it is why winning is possible with no bonus, while losing is not. It may be that this asymmetry is just what you want, but it may not be. To be symmetrical, make two changes. First, use dice with an odd number possible outcomes, e.g. 1d9, 1d11, or 2d6 (d9 and d11 are possible with many software dice rollers) and, where you have 5 in your formula, use the midpoint of the possible die results, i.e. 5, 6, or 7 respectively. Second, make a roll equal to the target a draw, with no consequences imposed or incurred.