Ashtagon
2023-01-23, 07:59 AM
I'm planning on a "dice pool keep 3 roll high" mechanic, very loosely inspired by GURPS
How complicated does this core mechanic look to play? That is, a) is it easy to understand, b) is it likely to slow down game play significantly (maths, at-the-table decision making), c) are there any oddities in the bell curves, d) does it look fun (in as much as any dice mechanic can be 'fun'), e) how difficult would it be to build a critical hit/miss function into this system?
Someone already pointed out to me that there is currently a "d6 dice pool keep 3" based kickstarter. There's plenty of variance within that concept space that I'm not too concerned about overlap there. There's only so many ways dice can be rolled after all.
Characters receive a number of d6 dice to roll equal to their ability score, and keep the highest three dice rolls, discarding the rest. This total is compared against a target number.
For example, Roger the Rogue is attacking Fred the Fighter. Roger has a Strength of 3, and so rolls 3d6. Fred has 3 Agility, so Roger needs to roll at least 13 (10 + target’s Agility) to hit him. Roger needs to roll a total of 13 or higher to hit Fred. Roger rolls a 1, 4, and 5, for a total of 10; he misses.
If a player’s dice pool for a given test is at least five dice, the player can choose to roll fewer dice, but keep more. For each die that the player removes from his dice pool, he gets to keep one extra die. If the dice poll is five dice, he can choose to sacrifice one die so that he can keep one extra. If the dice pool is at least seven dice, he can choose to sacrifice up to two dice, keeping that many extra dice. If the dice pool is at least nine dice, he can choose to sacrifice up to three dice, and so on.
For example, it is now Fred’s turn to attack. Fred has 5 Strength, and Roger has 5 Agility. Fred needs to roll a 15 or higher to hit Roger. Fred can choose to roll five dice and keep three; or he can choose to roll four dice and keep four. Fred decides to roll four dice and keep four, so that he has a better chance of hitting Roger.
Characters receive a number of six-sided dice to roll equal to their ability score, and keep the highest three die roll scores; the player then adds a bonus equal to the total number of dice rolled. This total is compared against a target number.
For example, Roger the Rogue is attacking Fred the Fighter. Roger has a Strength score of 3, and so rolls 3d6. Fred has 3 Agility, so Roger needs to roll at least 16 (13 + target’s Agility) to hit him. Roger needs to roll a total of 13 or higher to hit Fred. Roger rolls a 1, 4, and 5, for a total of 10; he misses.
It is now Fred’s turn to attack. Fred has 5 Strength, and Roger has 5 Agility. Fred needs to roll a 15 or higher to hit Roger. Fred rolls five dice. He rolls a 2, 3, 3, 4, and 6. He keeps the 3, 4, and 6 (total 13), and adds five (five dice were rolled), for a total of 18; Fred hits Roger.
Players roll three dice, plus a number of additional dice equal to the modifier for the task. This modifier might be positive or negative, but it still adds to the total number of dice rolled. It is the size of the modifier that matters here, not whether it is positive or negative.
If the modifier is positive, the player keeps the best three rolls from these dice and discards the others. If the modifier is negative, they keep the worst three rolls from these dice and discard the others. The player then adds their modifier to this 3d6 total if the modifier is positive, or subtracts their modifier from this 3d6 total if the modifier is negative.
If modifier is positive: (Best three of (3 + modifier) d6) + modifier
If modifier is negative: (Worst three of (3 + modifier) d6) - modifier
Example 1: a character with a modifier of +2 would roll 5d6, keep the best three, and add two to this total. A character with a modifier of -1 would roll 4d6, keep the worst three, and subtract one from this total. A character with a modifier of +0 would simply roll 3d6 and keep that total.
Example 2: Roger the Rogue is attacking Fred the Fighter. Roger has a Strength modifier of -1, and so rolls 4d6 (three dice, plus one more because his modifier is -1). Fred has an Agility modifier of +0, so Roger needs to roll at least 10 (10 + target’s Agility modifier) to hit him. Roger rolls a 1, 2, 4, and 5. He keeps the worst three (1, 2, and 4; total 7), and subtracts one from that (Strength modifier -1), for a final total of 6. He misses.
It is now Fred’s turn to attack. Fred has a Strength modifier of +2, and Roger has an Agility modifier of +2. Fred needs to roll a 12 or higher to hit Roger (10 + Agility modifier). Fred rolls five dice. He rolls a 2, 3, 3, 4, and 6. He keeps the best three (3, 4, and 6; total 13), and adds two (Strength modifier of +2), for a final total of 15; Fred hits Roger.
How complicated does this core mechanic look to play? That is, a) is it easy to understand, b) is it likely to slow down game play significantly (maths, at-the-table decision making), c) are there any oddities in the bell curves, d) does it look fun (in as much as any dice mechanic can be 'fun'), e) how difficult would it be to build a critical hit/miss function into this system?
Someone already pointed out to me that there is currently a "d6 dice pool keep 3" based kickstarter. There's plenty of variance within that concept space that I'm not too concerned about overlap there. There's only so many ways dice can be rolled after all.
Characters receive a number of d6 dice to roll equal to their ability score, and keep the highest three dice rolls, discarding the rest. This total is compared against a target number.
For example, Roger the Rogue is attacking Fred the Fighter. Roger has a Strength of 3, and so rolls 3d6. Fred has 3 Agility, so Roger needs to roll at least 13 (10 + target’s Agility) to hit him. Roger needs to roll a total of 13 or higher to hit Fred. Roger rolls a 1, 4, and 5, for a total of 10; he misses.
If a player’s dice pool for a given test is at least five dice, the player can choose to roll fewer dice, but keep more. For each die that the player removes from his dice pool, he gets to keep one extra die. If the dice poll is five dice, he can choose to sacrifice one die so that he can keep one extra. If the dice pool is at least seven dice, he can choose to sacrifice up to two dice, keeping that many extra dice. If the dice pool is at least nine dice, he can choose to sacrifice up to three dice, and so on.
For example, it is now Fred’s turn to attack. Fred has 5 Strength, and Roger has 5 Agility. Fred needs to roll a 15 or higher to hit Roger. Fred can choose to roll five dice and keep three; or he can choose to roll four dice and keep four. Fred decides to roll four dice and keep four, so that he has a better chance of hitting Roger.
Characters receive a number of six-sided dice to roll equal to their ability score, and keep the highest three die roll scores; the player then adds a bonus equal to the total number of dice rolled. This total is compared against a target number.
For example, Roger the Rogue is attacking Fred the Fighter. Roger has a Strength score of 3, and so rolls 3d6. Fred has 3 Agility, so Roger needs to roll at least 16 (13 + target’s Agility) to hit him. Roger needs to roll a total of 13 or higher to hit Fred. Roger rolls a 1, 4, and 5, for a total of 10; he misses.
It is now Fred’s turn to attack. Fred has 5 Strength, and Roger has 5 Agility. Fred needs to roll a 15 or higher to hit Roger. Fred rolls five dice. He rolls a 2, 3, 3, 4, and 6. He keeps the 3, 4, and 6 (total 13), and adds five (five dice were rolled), for a total of 18; Fred hits Roger.
Players roll three dice, plus a number of additional dice equal to the modifier for the task. This modifier might be positive or negative, but it still adds to the total number of dice rolled. It is the size of the modifier that matters here, not whether it is positive or negative.
If the modifier is positive, the player keeps the best three rolls from these dice and discards the others. If the modifier is negative, they keep the worst three rolls from these dice and discard the others. The player then adds their modifier to this 3d6 total if the modifier is positive, or subtracts their modifier from this 3d6 total if the modifier is negative.
If modifier is positive: (Best three of (3 + modifier) d6) + modifier
If modifier is negative: (Worst three of (3 + modifier) d6) - modifier
Example 1: a character with a modifier of +2 would roll 5d6, keep the best three, and add two to this total. A character with a modifier of -1 would roll 4d6, keep the worst three, and subtract one from this total. A character with a modifier of +0 would simply roll 3d6 and keep that total.
Example 2: Roger the Rogue is attacking Fred the Fighter. Roger has a Strength modifier of -1, and so rolls 4d6 (three dice, plus one more because his modifier is -1). Fred has an Agility modifier of +0, so Roger needs to roll at least 10 (10 + target’s Agility modifier) to hit him. Roger rolls a 1, 2, 4, and 5. He keeps the worst three (1, 2, and 4; total 7), and subtracts one from that (Strength modifier -1), for a final total of 6. He misses.
It is now Fred’s turn to attack. Fred has a Strength modifier of +2, and Roger has an Agility modifier of +2. Fred needs to roll a 12 or higher to hit Roger (10 + Agility modifier). Fred rolls five dice. He rolls a 2, 3, 3, 4, and 6. He keeps the best three (3, 4, and 6; total 13), and adds two (Strength modifier of +2), for a final total of 15; Fred hits Roger.