Opinions on my Resolution Mechanic

[thadrine]

This is the basic mechanic of a game I am thinking about. It is based heavily off of Houses of the Blooded, but more with more flexibility, and hopefully not a lot complexity. 

The basic mechanic requires each player to narrate their actions. You then set a TN (target number) for your opponent to roll against. This is the result he has to get off a pool of dice. However, you may set aside dice, or Wager, them in order to increase the effect of the action. Also, narrating in the use of additional skills can add an extra die to the pool, this also gives you access to that other skills effect. Each skill in the game will have a Physical, Mental, and Social effect that you can use, but to use it you must narrate its use into the conflict. Similar effects can cancel each other. Another mechanic requires you to purchase your actions with with a pool of Action Points, some effects might require the expenditure of more AP.

The die pools will rarely go higher than about 6, and only then at high power levels, and with good narration. And Target Numbers will range from about 6-15.

All die pools are d6's

Action Points
4 AP (action points) to make an attack.
1 AP to make a Defense
1 AP to move a number of squares equal to your speed

Player A (attacker) Skills
Acrobatics 3
Shooting 4
Fighting 2
Intimidate 3
Action Points 7

Player D (defender) Skills
Fighting 3
Shooting 1
Speed 4
Action Points 8

You want to shoot someone.

Defender calculates his defense as (5 + Die Pool + Misc.)The skill can be whatever he narrates into it. The Misc. can be things like cover, or even other Aspects/Powers that the character wants to use. "I run along the tree line holding my shield between me and him, strafing around in an attempt to get closer to him." So Player D is going to use his Speed, and circumstantially include his fighting for a +1, for a skill total of 5. Plus two the the TN for Cover from the trees and shield.

DEFENSE is TN (target number) 12 (this is the number the attacker has to beat)

The attacker need to calculate his attack value (5 + Die Pool + Misc.)He is shooting so his skill is 4, and the narration allows him to get an extra die from his Intimidation, he also wants to use his Power Accuracy [Rank 1] (this power can increase TN's for the Shooting skill).

ATTACK VALUE is TN 11 (this is the number the defender has to beat)

Rolling and Wagering
So both attacker and defender have a die pool of 5, and have relatively close TN's. They will need at least 3 die to get any level of certainty in hitting those TN's.

Player A
He chooses to roll 3 die, and Wager 2. If he hits the TN he will have 3 successes. He gets one for successfully beating the TN and 2 for the Wager. Also, since he narrated in his Intimidation skill he gains access to the Intimidation's Physical effect, which is Fear. This effect can drain away one action point for every success you use on it. Shooting has only one effect, damage.

Player D
He chooses to roll 4 die, and Wager 1. If he hits the TN that does not mean he ignores the attack, it means he can attempt to defend against it. If he beats the TN he will have 2 successes. Speeds Physical effect is to Dodge away from damage, and Fighting (as a Defense), has the ability to deflect damage. Mechanically at this point they both operate the same.

Results
Player A only rolls a total of 9, so he does not successfully attack. But Player D rolled a 14, and does successfully defend. All players get a Defense for only one Action Point, so as long as you have one you can defend against any attack. But since Player D no longer has anything to Defend against he can choose to spend 4 more Action Points to turn his Defense into an attack. He can now choose to take his two successes and use Fighting's effect (as an attack) to do 2 points of damage to his opponent, as he runs up to him and bashes him with his shield.


Discussion
I know some of this can seem complicated, but all you really have to do is Narrate, Set the TN (5 + Die Pool + Misc), set aside Wagers, and roll.

As you may have noticed from the description, all of the skills have a Physical, Mental, and Social effect. Many are effects are similar and can cancel each other out if used in the same conflict. So Dodge as a defender can turn into you catching up with your opponent and hitting your mark when used as an attacker. However, you do not have to use it to cancel an effect. You can always choose to sheath your opponent's blade in your gut in order to do the same to them; you need only spend the necessary number of AP to attack instead of Defend. Again, though if you Defend you may avoid the attack, and as in the example above, if your opponent was not successful in the attack you could spend 4 more AP and attack anyway, this time without reciprocation.

[dindenver]

Thad,
  OK, first, I think these mechanics are more complicated then you are letting on. I am not saying this is as complicated as HERO, but its not dead simple either.
  Second, this has a lot of potential, but I think there are some issues you want to work out:
1) How many APs will characters have, why did one have 7 and the other 8?
2) What happens if they have leftover APs?
3) Do you get one or many defenses for 1 AP?
4) What happens if you don't defend? Does the attacker still have a TN? If so, then "not defending" really means you are dodging around and stuff, just not concentrating on it? In your little description, you call it throwing yourself on their sword, but if you gamble too many dice for bonus successes, you can still miss, right?
5) Can you just narrate in skill synergy bonuses for free, or is there an AP cost?
6) Do you have to spend AP to get the effects of your skills?
7) Will there be armor and weapon bonuses? Will they result in more dice in the pool or more successes or?

  Seems like a good mechanic, hope you can get it more streamlined, let me know how play goes.

[thadrine]

1. AP will range from 6-15. Currently I bases it off of the lower of two different skills plus five, speed and acrobatics now.
2. They may spend AP to boost any die pool on a 1-1 ratio. Lefter overs can carry over to the next round, to a maximum of 15. As AP only replenish at a rate equal to the lower of Speed and Acrobatics every round, but you start off with an AP pool of lower skill + 5. This actually represented rather well on the character sheet with a little slide bar you can move a token along.
3. You get 1 Defense for 1 AP, so it can be good to keep those in stock. Although, you will be able to spend a Fate point in order to get another action point.
4. I you can not Defend the TN is still set, however, you have no ability to soak damage or affect the conflict in any way. If you miss the TN you do nothing, your action has failed. Though, if you do not Wager dice you get only one success, no matter how much you beat the TN by.
5. Narrating a skill synergy bonus is completely free. It is your reward for better narration.
6. Nope, you pay for that with your narration....well at least I do not have any that require additional AP currently, that may change once I get them all written.
7. Armor and Weapons affect the Target Numbers set by the attacker and defender. But for the most they will be applied based upon the narration.

There will not be any kind of equipment list that is for sure, but there will be a very simple powers list. There is one power for all TN affecting abilities, and you can rename it to whatever seems appropriate. So as in the description the attacker used  a power called Accuracy, the same power could be purchased for a characters Endurance or Fighting and call it "armor", there is really no restriction on what you do only how hard it may be to narrate it. The power affects any TN that a particular skill sets, and as long as its name (you come up with it) fits the situation you can apply it to the TN. So you may purchase "Armor" for your fighting, but if all you say is that you are stabbing him with your sword then it does not really fit. But, if you say "I parry away his thrust with my armored forearm" then it would apply, and sound more interesting in the process.

[thadrine]

Bump

Seriously...I need some more feedback so an I can continue wrighting