tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1305372753022597815.post3985391158761333535..comments2023-05-06T01:46:51.326-07:00Comments on Bright Cape Gamer: The final level 1 testSkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10723733406348223879noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1305372753022597815.post-80503915154009841082013-07-25T17:34:54.445-07:002013-07-25T17:34:54.445-07:00If there is no logical significant in-world punish...If there is no logical significant in-world punishment for trying and failing, it isn't a skill check.<br /><br />Examples: Looking for someone stealthy. The cost to do this is usually trivial (especially out of combat), and that is the only punishment for failure. So this is *not* a skill check -- there is no point in rolling 1d20, because there is no in-world reason why you couldn't do it again, and again, and again, and again.<br /><br />Same for listening at a door.<br /><br />If it isn't a skill check, what is it? Well, there is 4e's passive perception: which is basically "perception defence". The environment "attacks" and rolls the d20, you just notice it or not.<br /><br />This is very similar to the "only the highest person rolls a d20 for a given situation" (as 10+Skill vs 1d20+Difficulty is the same distribution that 1d20+Skill vs 10+Difficulty has), but it makes clear when multiple people doing something make sense, and when it does not.<br /><br />It might make sense to roll perception as you walk down a trapped corridor, because the punishment (the trap goes off) is clear from a failed check. Here, marching order makes sense -- each player in turn might roll perception to see if they spot the signs of the trap as they pass it: if it goes off on the first character, only one player gets to roll perception.<br /><br />To provide situations where everyone can roll and participate, what you need to do is generate at the very least a trade off, or maybe do it at a higher level.<br /><br />As you go through the dungeon, maybe you can break things down into roles, delimited by skills. Arcana, Monster Lore, Perception, Tactics, Morale: As you explore the complex, you spend your time concentrating on one thing or another over the entire period.<br /><br />In order for there to be a consequence for failure, these checks represent continued concentration over significant periods of time: this is what you can afford to do while proceeding though the dungeon (or wilderness) at a decent pace. You can go slower in exchange for rolling more than one skill as you travel, or rolling twice and taking the best result at your one skill.<br /><br />Describing your actions consistent with your skill check can give you a bonus: so if you are focusing on perception while exploring, and you reach a door, saying "I listen at the door" gives you a +X bonus to your perception check to see if something is on the other side (maybe in exchange for the added risk you generate by listening at the door).<br /><br />In effect, the dungeon or wilderness exploration becomes a psuedo-4e-skill challenge, or a cooperative skill check, where each character contributes to the parties success via skill rolls, and (like a good 4e skill challenge), someone doing nothing is almost as bad as someone failing every check.<br /><br />...<br /><br />If that seems too abstract (and I think it might be), you could make listening at a door a risky thing. Maybe you have to roll stealth to see how much noise you made, with such noise *accumulating* somehow, risking alerting the other side of the door. Someone rolling perception repeatedly works exactly the same way, they get to roll stealth for each perception check.<br /><br />But that could get boring.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1305372753022597815.post-60163684164854925952013-07-17T10:24:01.960-07:002013-07-17T10:24:01.960-07:00@Brent Yeah, I definitely considered that. It ju...@Brent Yeah, I definitely considered that. It just seems likely to force a lot of rolling and people trying to figure out what the final total might be. It is good in theory and seems good in a computer game but I am really trying to pare down the amount of time that rolls take. Not sure I will find a good way though.Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10723733406348223879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1305372753022597815.post-83445084078064951692013-07-16T07:57:32.649-07:002013-07-16T07:57:32.649-07:00About skill rolls. In shadowrun, if you have a sk...About skill rolls. In shadowrun, if you have a skill test with multiple people working on it only one person "really" rolls. The others make a roll, but success for them gives the main person a bonus. (The main person is usually the one with the highest skill, but isn't necessarily.)<br /><br />Shadowrun has a lot of bad mechanics, but I think this one works fairly well.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10447448752354215235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1305372753022597815.post-51875378514646792972013-07-11T02:18:07.491-07:002013-07-11T02:18:07.491-07:00Are positioning tricks attractive enough?
I am s...Are positioning tricks attractive enough? <br /><br />I am spoilt by 4e, and love powers with slides, pushes, teleports, steps... but that is fairly uncommon. Even 3rd does positioning with a lighter brush (5-foot step for flanking?) and out of there very few RPGs care about tactical positioning.<br /><br />I would gravitate towards a richer tactical combat and that means positioning tricks for me, but maybe the big market is right and it is not interesting enough to the majority of players.Pekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16279779881317201824noreply@blogger.com