Saturday, April 21, 2012

Quick Resolution Mechanic Further Thoughts

Side note: I try to maintain a relatively steady stream of posts. They all have some substance and meaning, at least I hope that comes across. Sometimes, though, I rush them off before they are fully developed. Such was the case with the Quick Resolution Mechanic post.

So, I was thinking on it some more, and at the risk of sounding boastful, I've realized the loose nature of it has some neat advantages:

The roll made by the referee (hereafter called the Difficulty Roll) can be modified based on objective and subjective bases.

  • Objective would be a flat modifier based on the determined difficulty. Obviously, characters with higher relevant stats will be better at this tasks.
  • Subjective would be modified by a percentage of the character's relevant stat. This represents the fact that certain things are difficult no matter how much raw ability you have. It levels the field, so to speak, without totally disregarding raw ability.
The variable nature of the Difficulty Roll keeps things tense and exciting. Critical Success/Failure can also be introduced, which will add to the potential dramatic tension of the situation.

I had thought of more, but they escape me right now. I'll build on this as more ideas come to me. I think this idea has a fair bit of potential. I was also thinking it needs a clever name, so I came up with R.A.R.E. Ridiculous Acronym (for a) Resolution Engine. Just kidding.

1 comment:

  1. I remembered another plus to this method. No more referee rolling for outcomes the player/character shouldn't know. The referee just rolls the Difficulty Roll in secret and doesn't tell the player what he needs to beat. As a referee I don't like taking the dice from my players' hands. Besides which, I hate the routine of making a Hide in Shadows roll for one of my players (for example) and telling the player "You feel pretty good about it" or some variation thereof. I like the idea of the player knowing how good he rolled, but NOT knowing if it was good enough.

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