A mechanic idea for dealing with potential

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Attribute = die size can be found in ...

The Window
Immortal 2nd edition (suspiciously similar to the above)
Alternity
Deadlands
Ironclaw
Children of the Sun

I'm not considering systems in which you roll various dice to determine the attributes' values, but rather systems in which the dice's sizes are the attributes' values.

If I've missed any, let me know.

Best,
Ron

[Valamir]

Isn't Swashbuckler that way as well?
Also Pinnacles Savage World (which is a riff off of Great Rail Wars which was a cutdown version of Deadlands).

[Paganini]

Hello,
Attribute = die size can be found in ...

If I've missed any, let me know.

The original Sovereign Stone system used an Attribute + Skill system that was quite simiarl to the Window. Attributes and skills ranged from d4 to d20. Tasks were accomplished by rolling an attribute die and a skill die and adding them vs. a difficulty. There were explosion mechanics and other interesting tweaks too. (Like, you could get extra dice by taking fatigue damage, to represent extra exertion. You could almost turn the game into a limited dice pool system.)

[Jamie]

On the subject of someone with a d4 being more able to 'ace' the die and continue rolling... my game balances this by having a 'botch' if you roll a 1 on all your dice. So someone rolling 1d4 has a 25% chance of botching, as well as 'ace-ing'. If you're rolling 3 or 4 d4, then yes you have a very good chance of ace-ing despite your low natural potential. But in my game, 3 or 4 dice represents a LOT of experience or training in that area, so fair enough really...

To answer Drew's question, 'Backgrounds' is a generic term to cover past experience, education, training or environment. You buy Backgrounds in char-gen e.g. Street Urchin, Soldier, or Hunter. These mean that you have spent several years in that activity and have all the skills that are reasonable to expect. I guess there is an element of character to sheet and for me, that's a good thing. Also it means people have the skills that they 'should' have (a bit like Skill Packages in TROS et al), without a more complex system of skill 'umbrellas' and the like (although I like that kind of approach, it wasn't what I had in mind for this game).

NB: Perhaps labelling the game action / adventure gave the wrong impression - I'm not talking Feng Shui here. I can't quite find the right term at the moment... maybe 'Epic Adventure' is nearer the mark.

Best

Jamie