Should OMNI use D6 or D10?

[whoknowswhynot]

Hello all!  Yes, Theater Of ThE Mind. got renamed.  I started out YEARS ago very complicated and now have made it more and more simple.  Now I am having a personal crisis because I am feeling that maybe I should use a d6 instead of a d10.  I borrowed d10 from CORPS because I really liked the resolution system in that game (for some reason), but OMNI uses something more like this...
EGO is a value between 1 and 10 where 7 is the "normal" level for most people and 5 is kinda like a Jedi or something.  Roll d10 and add any skills applied to this EGO roll.

EGO +6 Phenomenal
EGO +4 Excellent
EGO +2 Normal Success
EGO +0 Marginal Success
EGO -1 Failure
EGO -3 Blunder
EGO -7 Disaster

Can anyone see using a d6 instead?  Also, does anyone see a simpler resolution using the same concept as mentioned in my earlier posts?  Any advice would be much appreciated!  Thank you!

[whoknowswhynot]

I guess I should elaborate a little on my game OMNI
I have worked on this game for years now.  It has been thru several changes and I am pretty much sure it is in the final stages, but then I started thinking about making it simpler.  Anyway, here, goes! (I apologize, for I am a quick thinker and my typing and word choice is not always the best it can be)

Central theme for OMNI:
We are all equal beings and the universe is our relations with each other.  We are all one.  Our Ego is what separates us from each other.  Fear.  Horror.  The closer you get to oneness, the greater the horrors of the universe become.  It is all illusion, though.  None of this is real and we can control our reality and change the world into something better.  Problem: the more we awaken to this ultimate truth, the less we actually care about doing anything.  Oh, yeah.  There is a HUGE conspiracy that involves keeping this knowledge hidden from every conscious being and there are also dark forces that use this knowledge for personal gain and to take advantage of those unaware.  The Illuminati, Forces of Chaos, Ancient Evils, Inter dimensional Beings, Demons, and more.  DESTROY YOUR EGO!


Influences are:
"Illusions" by Richard Bach
"Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment" by Thaddeus Golas
"Call of Cthulhu" RPG (d%, Horror, bleak future, mysticism, true nature of reality)
"Underground" RPG (Super heroic character possible, Societal "Parameters" for changing the world)
"GURPS" (generic setting "Levels" such as Tech Level)
"CORPS" RPG (simple d10 system, very realistic, groups)
"KULT" RPG (Flawed characters)
"FUDGE" RPG (Rules light, freeform)
"Warhammer" (Combat simulation in it's most basic form)
"Synchromysticism" research by Jake Kotze
The works of Jim Marrs, Alex Jones and David Icke (Conspiracy stuff and freaky alien stuff)
Movie "They Live"
Movie "The Matrix"
Movie "Jacob's Ladder"

Ideas for Theme Books include:
? - A setting that might be similar to the movie "Star gate" only involving cat-like (very) alien "elves", "Grey" aliens and more.
1769 - A slightly alternate history set in the Americas just before the revolutionary war.  Lots of good stuff in this period.
2255 - A dystopic future setting not unlike the "Aliens" universe crossed with "CthulhuPunk", but including UFO aliens too.

Task resolution:
OMNI currently uses a d10+adds system similar to the "interlock" system.  The difference is that the target # for difficulty is determined by the character's awareness level (EGO).  A rather evolved spiritual "Master" might have an EGO of 4 while a common street thug might have an EGO of 7 or 8.
There are several levels of success and failure as well as 10 damage levels of which both are determined with the 1st roll.

  Roll             Result
EGO + 6       Phenomenal (+3 Damage)
EGO + 4       Excellent (+2 Damage)
EGO + 2       Success (+1 Damage)
EGO + 0       Marginal (+0 Damage)
EGO - 1        Failure
EGO - 3        Blunder
EGO - 5        Disaster

I like the idea of d100+adds too.

Damage Levels:
The Damage level applies to anything because of the BODY size modifier and "Fitness" modifier.  A very large and strong being would not be easily hurt.  A person punching a bigfoot in the face would get a 0 damage and probably a 4-6 in return.
10 Totally disintegrated
9 Splat! You are everywhere!
8 You are in gory pieces
7 You are all hacked and mangled
6 Violent death
5 You have died.
4 Needs ICU
3 needs hospital ER
2 needs stitches or Dr. visit
1 impairing wound.
0 just a scratch

Characters:
EGO - Less is "better".  I have the 10 levels well described and am currently working on metaphysical descriptions including "astral planes" for each level.  The EGO acts as the main character stat in the game with pretty much everything else simply being a +/- modifier and having 10 levels.
BODY - character size 5 (or perhaps 50) equals a "normal" humanoid bipedal being 9 being like Godzilla.  +/- modifiers.
Fitness - almost identical to "BODY" in Mythos only 1-10 and including +/- modifiers to Damage.
"Support" Skills - These are completely freeform.  There are so many skills out there, I figured that players could simply group them as either unknown, Unskilled, beginner, Skilled, Experienced, professional, expert, master, etc.
General Skills - This is pretty new but is influenced by Warhammer and "Aliens Adventure Game" and acts as very basic stats that all characters have (mainly due to the freeform style of skill descriptions in OMNI I wanted common terminology here).  General Skills include Mass, Melee, Missile, Magic, Moving, Moxy...these are just an Idea.
Action points - Every point means 1 roll in a single "round" of fluid, abstract "game time".  You can reroll, double attack etc until all action points are used up.  These increase with more awareness, higher skill etc.

I want this to be quick and easy, but realistic as well.  Should I switch to d100+adds?  This was the original system I used.  Works good, but I hate doing math (47 + 25 = ....)Could a d8, d6 or even a d4 be used?  Any Ideas on how to improve this type of system?  Your thoughts are much appreciated!!

[Eero Tuovinen]

It seems entertaining in some ways, but I find your questions difficult to approach - I don't see the problem, one might say. Have you tried this system in practice? Did it work to your satisfaction?

I have some background with this sort of emulative, generic game design myself. I'm sorry to say that most examples I've seen don't end up well, perhaps because the designers tend to be pretty confused about what they really want out of games. I should know, considering that I designed one of these myself around the millennium. In hindsight I'd have benefited enormously from more rigorous and constant playtesting combined with an eye towards what I was really doing at the game table and where the enjoyment for the game was coming from; this sort of game design tends to suffer from not actually having any content at all, only structure.

[Will]

The main question for me in a DX+adds system is what kind of adds are you planning to throw around?

If you are using a D6 then a +1 is pretty darned significant while in D100 it barely registers. If you wand more subtly nuanced levels of success or failure then use a larger die.

[Vulpinoid]

The following comment is purely personal bias and prejudice, based on just over two decades of roleplaying...

d6's are more inviting to new players and those who haven't roleplayed before. They're familiar with the little cubic things from other games, which means they can more easily get past the physical objects present and confront the aspects of characterisation and other agendas present in the game...(sorry if I'm not using the forge-ish dialect as intended, but you get my meaning.)

d10's are a bit more esoteric, and new players might take a moment longer to accept the polyhedra...but they are well established among the gaming community. Regular gamers would just as easily step beyond the number of faces on the die, no matter how many sides it may have.

If you're aiming the game to new players then a switch to d6 might be worthwhile.

Based on the potential depth of the subject matter, you might be aiming toward an audience familiar with roleplaying concepts. So my thoughts here might not be relevant to your question...gives you some extra things to think about though.

V

[whoknowswhynot]

Thank you!  I never thought of it like that.  You have a great point.  I definitely should keep it at d10, even when I perceive more work ahead!  I shall start a new thread thingy for that...I will need some help!