[Forge-main] Re: [freeroleplay] The Ideal Mechanic

[Timothy S. Nelson]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003, Ricardo Gladwell wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> I've been thinking a lot about task resolution systems and I've had some 
> ideas about what would make the perfect mechanic. The key to a good 
> mechanic is simplicity, flexibility and intuitiveness. A mechanic should 
> be simple enough that all outcomes can be resolved in at most one roll 
> per participant. It must be flexible enough to allow for a whole variety 
> of situations, from combat to social rolls. And, it must be intuitively 
> easy to understand.
> 
> Therefore, the following bullet points define my ideal concept of the 
> perfect task resolution mechanic:
> 
> * All elements of the mechanic must share a common numerical range (e.g. 
> 0-10).
> 
> * The common range must be easy to understand (i.e. 0-10, rather than 
> 5-16, for example).
> 
> * Only roll only one dice per action participant to determine the outcome.
> 
> * Set difficulty and roll-over mechanic should be used.
> 
> * The outcome itself must be variable, not simply success or failure, 
> but degree of success or failure.
> 
> So, my perfect mechanic for FRINGE would be:
> 
> All roll modifiers (Ability + Skill) should be in the 0-10 range. You 
> then determine a difficulty 0-10 and roll a 1d10 over the difficulty to 
> determine the outcome, giving result points in the 0-10 range.
> 
> This may well be an impossible mechanic!

        Sounds almost exactly like the simple version of the rules I was
developing for the Pirates games :).  The main difference being that it was
1-10, because 0-10 needs an 11-sided dice :).  
        If you guys want the Pirates stuff, what format would you like them in 
that I can do easily.  HTML?  

        :)


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| Name: Tim Nelson                 | Because the Creator is,        |
| E-mail: address@hidden | I am                           |
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