Ability Score Generation: Part 2 in a Series About Dominoes

Using dominoes for ability score generation works a lot like the previous rules. For this, since you are emulating 3d6, you can either use two sets of double 9s or just one set. If you use one set of double 9s, a friendly warning. It does have a different probability spread than classic 3d6. The probability percentages are below, using the value of 55 dominoes for a set of double 9s.

Value	Probability Fraction	Prob. %
0	1/55	1.8%
1	1/55	1.8%
2	2/55	3.6%
3	2/55	3.6%
4	3/55	5.4%
5	3/55	5.4%
6	4/55	7.2%
7	4/55	7.2%
8	5/55	9.0%
9	5/55	9.0%
10	5/55	9.0%
11	4/55	7.2%
12	4/55	7.2%
13	3/55	5.4%
14	3/55	5.4%
15	2/55	3.6%
16	2/55	3.6%
17	1/55	1.8%
18	1/55	1.8%

As you see, the average runs to about 8-10, or 9. This could mean that values will end up a bit lower than what you would find on simply rolling 3d6. With this method, the bell curve is shallower. So while the average stat dropped will be 1.5 lower than on 3d6, you have nearly 4x the chance of rolling an 18 (and conversely, a 1) than you do rolling 3d6. So keep this in mind. This method will produce average scores with a higher deviation to the extremes when using a single set of double 9s. Now remember that we'll have to remove the 0, 1, and 2 values to make the values right, so many of these percentages will increase. That means that in reality, we will be drawing from a boneyard of 51 dominoes. So drawing a 3 will actually be a 5.8% chance, compared to .46% on 3d6. That's a bit rough. So how do we balance out these probability issues?

Usage #2: Generating Ability Scores With 1 Set of Double 9s

For this method, put your double 9 set into a bag, removing the 0, 1, and 2 values. Mix everything up, then draw seven bones. Add the two numbers on each bone to reveal your stat. Write them down. 

Now, try and match up dominoes with like numbers. So if you draw a 4-3 and a 3-9, you can connect then via the 3. A bone can only connect to two other tiles (one for each number), unless it's a spinner, in which it can connect to four. Count how many tiles are connected. This is the value you can add to any of your stats. You can even split them between stats. If you can connect two groups of dominoes, then total the tiles and add them. Once you assign your number to your stats, drop the lowest and assign them how you desire.

Example: Mariah is making a Psychic for her Stars Without Number game. She draws seven bones, getting [4-3, 3-6, 5-7, 8-3, 4-2, 7-1, & 4-0], for values of [7, 9, 12, 11, 6, 8, 4]. Some rough scores. Mariah begins connecting the dominoes, able to connect the 2-4, 4-3, and 3-8 together as well as the 5-7 and 7-1 in a separate group. This gives a total of 5 tiles that are connected. Now she can split the 5 to any of her stats, or simply add it all to one. Mariah decides to add 4 to the 12 and 1 to the 11, then drops the 4. Her new stats are 7, 9, 16, 12, 6, and 8. A little better.

At the GM's option, a player can trade out a stat and draw a new one from the boneyard. Play can choose whichever one they want. This can help alleviate the more wonkiness of the stat distribution of double 9s.

So that's ability score generation for dominoes. While it's a bit more complicated than just rolling 3d6, there is a sort of fun moving around the dominoes and connecting them together. If you find fun in tactile stuff, this is definitely great. I find it takes the same amount of time as rolling 3d6. And, you can simply lay out all the values and write them down in one go, rather than rolling 3d6 six times and writing the values after each roll. Let me know what you think below. 

Using Dominoes in D&D: Part 1

I had this idea almost a year ago, but it went on the back burner because a) I couldn't think of anything and b) I couldn't find my set of dominoes. While unpacking more stuff from the move, I found my long lost set of double 9's. Seeing this, I got some idea on how to use it in RPGs.

Quick Terminology

Bones - Slang for dominoes

Boneyard - The area of dominoes you can draw from. Always face down

Spinner - slang for doubles. Dominoes with the same two numbers on them (i.e. 6-6, 3-3, 0-0)

Pip - The black dots on your dominoes, like on a set of casino d6s.

Double 6/9/12 - This categorizes the type of dominoes the set is, by its highest number. Double 6s has 6 as its highest suit, while double 9s has 9 has its highest number

Blank - the number zero. No pips on this side

Why Use Dominoes?

So right off the bat, we have to ask ourselves, why use dominoes? Now personally, I do like using alternate knick knacks in games. Playing cards are a big thing for me, which was one reason I loved Savage Worlds. It's something that is fun and a bit different from rolling some multisided dice. Of course, not everyone has a set of dominoes. This really wasn't a problem in South Florida, since a lot of the people I played D&D with also played dominoes on the side. But in other places, you'll have to go out of your way to get them. Luckily, you can get them at any Wal-Mart or Target, and most FLGS carry a simple set.

Since we are using dominoes, we need to play to their strengths. Big strength is positioning. In a game of dominoes, you set down dominoes with same numbers facing each other. Using that in a RPG can add an element of strategy and critical thinking that you don't see with using dice. So, here goes nothing.

Usage 1: Alternate Conflict Resolution Mechanic

Using a set of dominoes can replace die rolling if using a system that rolls 2d6s or even 3d6s. Doing 2d6s requires two sets of double 6's, the standard dominoes. Simple remove all of the dominoes with blanks as well as duplicates of doubles, then combine the two sets into a bag. This replicates the results of 2d6. Crit failures and hits would still be the same value. You can do the same thing with double 9s for 3d6. This ends up being the same cost as everyone buying their own set of polyhedral dice, but the cost is unfortunately front-loaded to one person. So it may not be the best usage of dominoes cost-wise. However, you'll never have to worry about dice rolling off the table again with dominoes.

Visual of dominoes for 2d6 - Courtesy of Geek & Sundry

Playing to the strengths of dominoes, let's add something for positioning and stacking dominoes on each other. Let's say that a player draws a bone and drops it down for their 'die roll' of 6-3. We can leave that out on the field. So if another player draws a bone and gets a 2-3, they can attach it to the previous bone dropped since both have 3's. A player that does this gets a Synergy Bonus to that roll. This means that they add the highest number from the connecting bone to their result. So in this case, since a 6-3 was dropped, they can add a 6 to their 2-3, getting a total value of 11, plus your stat bonus. Bones can only have two bones attached to them, one for each common number. The exception are spinners, which can have four bones attached to them. Dropping a spinner is a wild card, meaning any bone can attach to it and gain the synergy bonus, even if they don't match. Dropping a 1-1 bone is always a failure, and dropping a 6-6 is always a critical if the system you use has criticals in them.

If you really want to make this a bit more 'gamist', have the players draw four bones at the start of each session. Those are their die rolls they can use. They can then coordinate with each other, helping out poor rolls with good domino placement. A player can still draw from the pile once per roll if they aren't happy with their hand. This does run the risk of slowing down the game, and in addition, it can get a little 'metagamey' for some GM's tastes. But, I think it can also increase teamwork in an interesting and simple way. 

You can also have the dominoes Cascade as a limit for stacking Synergy. The more dominoes you have out connected with like numbers, the greater the chance a GM can use them against you. A GM can remove any number of adjacent bones out on the field to activate a complication to the scenario. Removing one adds a minor complication, 2 a moderate, 3 a major, and 4 a severe. I haven't decided what is considered for each complication. 

The GM could instead have an upper limit of dominoes that can be placed before the stakes are raised. Or, the GM could instead choose to use any of the bones placed down by the players as a die result for their monster. They shatter the chain of bones, use the result, and place that bone back in the boneyard. If doing leaves some bones orphaned from each other, place the greater amount of bones back in the boneyard. For example, if the GM uses a 6-5 bone and separates the chain into two groups, one with 2 bones and one with 3, put the group of 3 back into the boneyard. If the GM uses an end bone, then just take that and one adjacent bone and put it back into the boneyard. This can help recycle old results back through.

I like the idea of having events or actions that happen when certain bone results are revealed. Especially for spinners, since that is easy to keep track of. Again, this does make the game a little metagamey for some GMs, but I think it could add some cool fun and strategy for the game. I imagine the same process here can be used with a set of double 9s for d20 rolls, especially with the usage of Synergy Bonuses to make up for the lack of an actual '20' on them. I'd probably have natural 17 and 18 as the critical roll, and a natural 0 or 1 as a failure.

This is the first usage I have. I have some more, but I want to work on them a little longer before I post them. I think dominoes can really add a cool strategic element to the game when used. I'd love to give it a try one day.

Inheriting Stats

Resting from the house renovations, packing for the move, and hurricane preparations. Was pondering about a lineage kingdom builder game, where the players can give birth to heirs and eventually play as them. So I came up with a simple mechanic to pass on your stats to you next of kin.

Source (DeviantArt)

Everybody Loves Punnet Squares

This builds off of a punnet square like from high school biology. Take both parents and identify their highest and lowest stat. The highest stat is called the peak and the lowest stat is called the weak. Next, place these stats on the square as listed below. 

Now, whenever a child is born, roll a d4 to see which stats they inherit. After that, just roll for the other stats normally. And you are essentially done! You could also use this as a dice drop method easily if that's what you prefer. It's all up to you. I personally have the stat limit as 18 and I wouldn't let magic item's stat boost apply for this. I feel that would be a tad broken.

Exceptions

If both parents have the same stat as their peak and you get a result of PP, then you simply roll a d12.

1-4    Take the average (round up)

5-8    Take Parent 1's peak

9-12  Take Parent 2's peak

If the first parent has a peak stat that is a weak stat for the second parent and you get a result that would give you both, roll a d12. 

1-4    Take the average (round up)

5-8    Take the peak stat

9-12  Take the weak stat

Example: Quinn and Rose both want children. Quinn has Dex (18) as his peak stat, while for Rose, Dex (6) is her weak stat. They have one child named Darius. The square is set up below:

The players roll a 2, getting Dex for peak and weak. Now the player must roll a d12 to see what they get. If the player rolls a 1-4, then they take the average for their Dex stat. In this case, that value is 12. If they roll a 5-8, then Darius would take his dad's value for Dex, 18. If they rolled a 9-12, then Darius would take his mother's value for Dex, 6. Finally, Darius would roll normally for his other stats.

And that's it. Some basic hereditary trait rules. I'll probably throw in some rules for inbreeding later down the road, if players pursue that. I plan on using this for a kingdom building game where having an heir and playing as one is not only desirable, but a mechanical benefit.

An Exercise in Improvisation, Procedural Generation, and Small Scale Adventuring

For a very long time, I've run games in the same setting. That is, a world that takes influence from aspects of the Early Modern Period, the Age of Sail, and Columbian Exchange in an island chain that is a pastiche of the Caribbean. There you see aspects of swashbuckling tales like The Three Musketeers and Pirates of the Caribbean, weird magic a la Clark and Howard, ancient aliens, gritty sword and sorcery, tales of endemic warfare, and Caribbean folklore, both Taino/Carib and Post Columbian. So you're likely to battle alongside hupia against vicious colonist militia men on the remains of an ancient alien space craft.

However, I've been really interested in trying a campaign where I control very little of the world itself. One that is as randomly created as humanly possible, from the hexmap to the landmarks and adventures that can be found. Doing this was to be an exercise in drawing inspiration from the random and interpreting results to be interesting for adventures, no matter how crazy it may combine. I want to improve my improvisation abilities and remain flexible against weird results, especially since it's a good preparation for dealing with the most random aspect of gaming; your players.

I also had a second goal for this. I've been playing a hell of a lot of Witcher 3 and in that game, you have all this adventure crammed into an area that could be smaller than a six-mile hex. So, I wanted to replicate that feeling of tons of adventure packed in almost 15,000 acres of land. I want each sub hex to have something there that was interesting. Whether it's tracks and spoor of a local creature, a lair of a demon, a city, ruins, landmark... anything that is interesting.

Doing this was interesting, as after a couple hours, I had enough adventures and a campaign that could easily last me weeks, if not months. The books I used were

• d30 Sandbox Companion: An amazing toolkit that I probably used the most when doing this. I also used the d30 Terrain Hex Generator a great deal.
• The Perilous Wilds: The second most used book. Even though it's Dungeon World, the Ask the Fates section was great for populating each of my sub hexes.
• Hex Map Pack: I used this for my hex map. I preferred the 6:1 ratio, but you can use less granular ones if you wish.
• Dodeca Series: Primarily the Weather generator, because I feel it's the most in-depth climate and weather rules out there. My game is meant to be a wilderness survival game, so weather is important. But everything else in this cheap book is really useful.
• The Disoriented Ranger's Random Narrative Generator: Along side the adventure generator in the d30SC, +Jens D. blog really helped to add some interesting twists and complications to different things going on.
• Dice Dungeon Generator: I used my dice dungeon generator whenever a dungeon or ruin rolled itself on my hex map.
• Vornheim: Despite being a wilderness adventure, I also have a city and ruins to be explored. And this book has always been a staple in my games.
• Adventure, Conqueror, King: I used this to stock my dungeons and for the economy. The world building aspect is really great too, but I didn't use that this time. Mostly it's because that's better for a top-down approach of campaign building and I was going from a bottom-up approach. If Lairs and Encounters ever come out, I'd love to use that.

My Approach

My only rules were to keep it as random as possible. Things like town names and NPC names and number were created by me.

1. I started with a single six-mile hex and had several one-mile hexes as the sub hexes. Counting the half and third hexes as separate hexes, this gave me over forty adventuring locations in a single six-mile hex. 
2. Using the d30 Hex Terrain Generator, I randomly rolled what the middle hex terrain would be, then rolled what each surrounding sub hex's terrain would be until I filled up the six-mile hex.
3. I used the d30 Natural Features and Phenomena table to fill up the sub hexes with crazy stuff.
4. I'd then roll a d3 to see how many special and interesting discoveries there were in a given hex. Then, using Perilous Wild's Discovery table, I rolled for each sub hex to see what would be there. I got a lot of threes so this took a bit. Next time I might skip the d3 roll.
5. For each result of a dungeon, I used my Dice Dungeon Generator to create them. For things like ruins or intact keeps, I used Vornheim's building generator.
6. I stocked the dungeons and ruins using ACKS, though I tweaked the table to have monsters that would fit a tropical setting. I also used this for treasure stocking.
7. I rolled for the weather for 14 days. I started the campaign on a New Moon and set up tides at 8A/2P/8P/2A for times. Whenever I roll weather, I always seem to get a tornado result. It's become a joke among my friends.
8. I then took a look at everything on the hex map and interpreted the results, making connections that seemed like they would work and filling in some results with monsters or NPCs that caught my eye. Also used the d30 NPC Maker to make a lot of NPCs for the area.
9. For each possible adventure, I used the Random Narrative Generator. For simple quests, I only rolled on it once or twice. For more in depth adventures, I rolled three to four times, and for longer campaigns, I rolled five times.
10. Made a random encounter table
11. Had a beer

The original terrain map after rolling

Above is the preliminary hex map. Big hex is 6 miles and the sub hexes are 1 mile. The letters are the terrain for the area. W is water, H is hill, F is forest, S is swamp, and P is plain. WZ stands for Wild Zone, which is a campaign specific hex that I talk about here and here. 

At this point, I had made all the connections and was essentially ready to run the campaign. I wrote down all of the adventure ideas that I had randomly rolled up and interpreted and I have to say, I was really excited for what was created. The biggest thing I like is that each 1 mile hex has at least three interesting hooks in there for adventures. Everything from treasure maps to tracks of a creature to dungeons to NPCs. And the best part is that despite the results looking quite disparate, the adventure narrative between things really work out. On paper, this looks fun and I can't wait to run this for a group. Once I get my scanner working, I'll have to post my notes up on everything.

I learned that there is a greater value to random rolls than I honestly first imagined, even with my love of random tables. I feel a bit more in the right headspace for the world because I've had to interpret everything instead of creating, though there was plenty of creating from the inspiration of the rolls. I think that my improvisation skills will benefit from this little exercise. Now I just need  a chance to run it.

My next post, I want to post up the final map and the notes I made for each area that I rolled up. With the move and packing, my time will be a bit limited on what I can post.

Another Stat Rolling Idea

So full disclosure, I'm not really a fan of rolling dice for character creation. Never was, even playing through 2nd and 3.x as a kid. I prefer point buy. With my recent foray into OSR gaming, I really gave it a try with ACKS and other systems, but ultimately, it's not my cop of tea. That's a post for another day. So I was brainstorming a way to combine point array and dice rolling. Kind of a compromise. This was actually done for a project I'm working on.

For the three stats, you have six numbers you can plug in. 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, and 6. Put those in any of the stats you have. Once all six numbers are in each of the six stats, you can then roll 3d6, drop the lowest and add the number. That's your stat now. So, if I have a 4 in STR, and I roll a 4, 2, and 5, then I'd replace the 2 with a 4 and have a STR 13.

For the rolling, you could do it a number of ways. You can have them roll it first, then assign it later. That tends to make more powerful characters. You could have them choose the stat, roll it, and keep it. You could also do something in between and let them switch two values. It's up to you. Doing practice rolls this seems to work pretty well. I tend to notice average characters with one or two really good stats, mostly average stats, and one bad stat.

Training 2.0

I was inspired by one of the OSR posters +Ian Wyckoff to create an alternate version of training. While this isn't as simple as the earlier listed one, or as his, I think it gets the best of what I'm looking for. Training starts hard, gets a bit easier, but then gets harder as you try and surpass your limits.

It begins!

Training Redesigned

By spending resources (money, favors, etc.), a PC can find a trainer to help go through rigorous exercise. It could be lifting boulders atop a mountain, meditating under an icy waterfall, extreme studying, or visiting a courtesan school to learn the Great Game, or anything hardcore that you can come up with. This takes time (a week or two, maybe even a month depending on the GM), and at the end of the montage, the character rolls a number of dice against the corresponding stat to see if they gain a boost. If they beat their stat number, then it goes up by 1. If not, then they must complete it again. If they find a trainer that shows them what they are doing wrong, they can get a bonus on the roll, usually just a plus 1. 

There are different training regimen. Novice, Intermediate, and Expert. The table below shows the different training dice rolls and the minimum stat value required to do them.

Training Regimen Dice and Minimum

Novice - 2d4 - Min 1

Intermediate - 2d6 = Min 8

Expert - 2d10 - Min 12

When doing the training, you roll that regimen's dice and beat your stat. If you do a training regimen that you don't meet the stat requirement for, you must roll a 1d20 against your stat (high or low, it depends on the GM. I prefer rolling high) at the end of the regiment at a -5 penalty to see if the training even works. If you fail, the training doesn't take and at the GM's discretion, it could mean injury or simply insulting your trainer and being dismissed from the academy. 

Example: Bearic the Cleric is a bear cleric looking to take an Expert Strength Training course, but his strength is only at an 11. He still takes it, but when he finishes the weeks long training, he has to roll a 1d20 at or below an 11 (or, if doing high rolls, meet or beat a 10+) with a -5 penalty applied to the roll. Here's hoping Bearic the Cleric can roll below an 6 (or above a 15).

If you are training a stat that is below 10 for the very first time, the GM can decide to limit how much training you can do back to back. Since you're going from being a couch potato to a superstar, it is a bit harder to get the training in without becoming exhausted, mentally or physically. This really should only apply up to the second training.

You can roleplay out the training as an adventure. If doing this, the GM can apply bonuses to the final Regimen Dice roll depending on how well the players do.

Maximum Stat Training

We all have limits we simply cannot surpass. A player can raise any stat, but they can only gain up to a total of 9 stat points for their stats. So, if a player increases their Strength by 4, then they have 5 more points to train with any other stat before they've reached their limit. A player can surpass this with performance enhancement drugs and magic, but that has consequences and is something I'll get into another time.

I will never get over this picture of Triple H and his O face

Notes

I think I prefer this method honestly. While it is a little bit more complicated, I feel it's still a simple little ruleset that the players can use to get their characters better without waiting to level up. Admittedly, I seem to prefer disconnecting stat and skill advancement from leveling up. Makes me wonder if I would be happier with a classless system. I feel this method fixes the issue of rushing to 18 too quickly, while still making just starting out exhausting. Lord knows when I got started weight lifting, that was really tough. While the maximum stat training is in there, I feel the real limiter is going to be the money to train as well as down time.

I plan on using this for a project I'm working on where training your character is a really big deal. I do hope to playtest this one, as it does excite me. Try it out in your games and see how it goes.

To Vesper Skies V: Ship Fuel

When going out and exploring the vesper skies that is outer space, it's important to make sure you have enough fuel to get to point B. No one wants to get stranded out in space, with limited supplies and a high chance of getting boarded by pirates. So below are a set of easy rules for fuel you can use with White Star, inspired by the Black Hack usage dice.

A ship that has a full tank of fuel will have d12 as their Fuel Value. Whenever you move a certain amount of distance, roll your FV die. If you roll a 1, then it drops down a die step (d10, d8, etc), all the way to d4. If you roll a 1 on your d4, then you are out of fuel. The ship keeps going at the speed you were going in a straight line until you hit something or get caught in the orbit of a greater body (or found).

After your first roll, every consecutive unit of distance you move adds a +1 to the FV result required to drop a usage die. For example, the starship Endeavor has a FV die of 1d12. It moves 1 AU and makes the roll, succeeding. When it moves another AU, the FV die will drop a step if they roll a 1 or a 2. If it moves 3 AU, then it drops on a 3 or less. And so on.

If a ship is in combat, then you add a penalty to the FV drop result equal to half the number of rounds spent in combat (round up). For example, Endeavor is in combat for 3 rounds. Halving and rounding up 3 gives you +2. After combat ends, they roll the FV usage die. On a result of 3 or less (1+2), the FV die drops a step.

Using a Warp Drive adds +3 to the result.

All penalties from movement, Warp, and combat stack. The Endeavor moves 4 AU and gets into combat for 4 rounds, then does an Warp jump. When they make the FV roll after combat, they add +3 from consecutive movement, +2 from combat, and +3 from Warp. That means that on a roll of 9 or less, their FV die will drop a step.

The distance moved can be up to the GM depending on their setting. I used AU up there, but you can also use light years or parsecs for more advanced ships. White Star doesn't have a Warp Drive option, but I already know how I want to do that for a future post.

Momentum and Success in WWWRPG

So recently on the World Wide Wrestling RPG Google+ group, we were talking about an issue some of us had with the game. W3RPG has a fate point system in place called Momentum. You gain Momentum for succeeding in doing moves and you can use them to make your rolls better, interrupt your opponent, or activating your role move (Heel or Face). It is essentially a fate point currency. However, there are some issues with the way the Momentum Economy works with the rest of the game that causes a perpetual momentum problem.

For those that haven't played W3RPG, it is powered by the Apocalypse Engine. The game uses only 2d6 to do any sort of moves. A partial success is a 7-9. while a great success is a 10+. 6 and below are botches. Your character's stats range from -2 (super bad) to +3 (really good). At first glance, this makes the game less granular with the bonuses. There is a fairly good difference between having a +1 and a +2 in your stats. For example, if you have a +0 in your Power stat, then you have a 58.33% chance of getting at least a partial success and a 16.67% chance of getting a great success. When you bump that up to a +1 Power, suddenly, you have a 72.22% chance of getting at least a partial success and a 27.78% chance of a great success. That is a pretty big leap. If you have a +3 in a stat, you can only fail on a roll of a 2 or 3. In fact, with a +3 in a stat, you will have a 58% chance of getting a great success.

A part of this is because of the steep bell curve that 2d6 has. Bonuses make a huge impact on the probability of getting a success or not. And the better the success, the more Momentum you can get to make future rolls more successful. Matches end up being a bunch of successes and back and forth, with the Momentum being used to interrupt or increase their finisher at the end.

So what's the problem?

Looking back at stats, if you have a +3 in a stat, you will be getting a great success 58% of the time. In game terms, this means you'll be getting a lot of Momentum and other benefits depending on the move you do. For example, the basic wrestling move states that if you get a 10+ on your roll, you remain in control of the match and can get either 2 Momentum or 1 Heat (the stat that gives you enhancements). The game is all about narrating your character's match in a wrestling ring and making moves based on what you narrate. So, as long as you narrate moves that play to your strong stat, then you will always be in control and gaining momentum unless your opponent spends a momentum to interrupt. And even then, if you've built up the Momentum, you can easily take back control.

In addition, you can basically build up a lot of Heat quickly in a match. Ending a match with +4 Heat gives you a +1 to your Audience stat, and getting to Audience 4 gives you an advance. So with a +3 in a stat, you are essentially always building up an insane amount of Heat and getting Audience fairly often. And truthfully, there isn't much reason to narrate your wrestler using their bad stats. The game encourages you to stick with your strong stats so you don't botch, build up heat, then when you're at 4 Heat, spend 2 Momentum to end the match prematurely with the Heel move. The only thing stopping someone from doing this consistently is a gentleman's agreement saying they won't. But that's not really enough for me.

What's the point of having botch results when players don't really botch? The botch results make the match really interesting, but we never see them because players are consistently hitting 10s and over. And while you can and should occasionally put wrestlers in situations that put them at a disadvantage, consistently punishing a player for playing their character is silly. Why should I punish the High Flyer for never doing a Power move when Rey Mysterio or Kalisto never really do Power moves? Not to mention, there are several moves that can shore up stat weaknesses (like the Monster's ability to use Power instead of Look backstage). 

Ultimately, I'm identifying the mechanics I have issues with and am tweaking them to provide a more healthy and varied match while still rewarding a high stat. First off, the biggest issue I see in W3RPG is the conflict resolution system. In most RPGs, the rolls you make to resolve any kind of mechanical conflict are affected by two things: your stats as a character and the difficulty of the conflict. For example, if you are picking a lock, you'd add your Lock Picking stat to your d20 roll. If the lock was difficult, then you get a penalty depending on the difficulty of the lock. W3RPG doesn't have the difficulty penalty in its conflict resolution rolls. All rolls are based primarily on your stats as a character. 

So this is what I propose

Wrestling Difficulty System

This adds a layer of penalties depending on the difficulty and danger of the move in question. Whether it is a Feat of Strength, a normal Wrestling Move, Cutting a Promo, or anything else, this should help reel back the success some, while also rewarding doing more risky behavior.

There are three levels of difficulty in this system. +0 are trivially easy moves. Resting holds, intimidation, whatever. -1 are moderately difficult or dangerous moves. -2 are extremely dangerous moves. Whenever a wrestler wants to make a move, the GM lets them know how difficult it will be and applies the penalty to their roll, in addition to the proper stat for the move. The more difficult the move, the more rewards you can get from it. Succeeding a difficult move (-1 or -2) gives you a bonus +1 Momentum in addition to the move's results. In addition, for every -2 difficult move you do, you gain a +1 bonus to your finisher.

I feel with this method, it does reign back the amount of successes that you normally see, but, you still get good rewards for completing a difficult or dangerous move. And even though doing difficult moves can get you more Momentum, with the difficulty system in place, you will be using that momentum more often. So it should balance out. 

The major flaw is still that a player can narrate themselves to play it safe. I considered the following move:

BORING! BORING!: You're putting the crowd to sleep with your amateur moves. Whenever a player does two or more consecutive safe moves, they lose 1 Momentum per safe move. If they have no more Momentum after doing a consecutive safe move, the opponent gets a Momentum instead.

Hopefully not too hamfisted. I'm unsure and would like to see what others' take on these rules are.I personally prefer a slower W3RPG game, so with this and slowing down advancements some, I think it's the kind of game I'd like. This game is still good and I recommend playing it, but I think with some DIY hacks and good ol' fashion OSR spirit, I can make the game more to my liking.

Stat Rolling Idea

I recently purchased the Black Hack after seeing a lot about it. While I'm not as enamored by it as everyone else seems to be, there are some points I like. I thought the way it does usage dice is cool and reminds me of my weapon degradation rules. The way they do rolling stats is interesting, as it takes into account if someone rolls a very high stat (15+). Reading it, I was inspired to do something similar, but for rolling low rolls. 

Sorry about your damn luck!

Rolling Stats

Roll 3d6 down the line as normal. Like in the Black Hack, if you get a 15 or higher, your next roll is made on a 2d6+2. If you roll a 6 or below, your next roll is made on a 2d6+5, then as normal afterwards.

This method helps to make it less likely that a player will have multiple stats below 6 and really helps to give them a chance to get a greater stat to make up for the low stat. So if you roll a bad STR, you at least have the chance of getting maybe a higher DEX.

Why 2d6+5?

Looking at the probability curves of 3d6 and 2d6+2, you'll see that the average of 2d6+2 is 1.5 lower than the average of 3d6. It allows for the average to come out lower to make up for the fact that you rolled really high before. Furthermore, 2d6+2 completely cuts out any result of 15+, since you already rolled that before. I decided to apply these same principles for rolling a higher amount. 2d6+5 has an average roll of 12, which is 1.5 over the average of 3d6. It also completely removes the results of 6 and below, making it easier to land something higher than a 10. Overall, I think this does what the original rule does. It helps to make an interesting character with some clear strengths and weaknesses and normalizes the rolls a little bit. Both of these help to make a character that's not a superhuman powerhouse nor a chump.

Sunder and Rust

Last month, I made a post about Weapon Degradation here. I wanted to expand a little bit and talk about sundering items.

Sunder

To sunder a weapon or shield, you must roll an attack against the item. Small items like daggers or potions would be harder to hit (-4), medium items like swords and bucklers take a -2 to hit, and larger items like armor, staves and tower shields are much easier to hit and take no penalties.After the attack, roll a Strength check. On a success, the weapon is brought down a die level. On a natural 20, the die is brought down two levels. Depending on the item die below will depend on what you need to beat to bring it down a die level

Weapon Quality Die    Strength to Bring it Down

d4                                 6+

d6                                 10+

d8                                 14+

d10                               18+

d12                               22+

This makes high quality weapons harder to destroy. It also hopefully makes it a good tactic to weaken an enemy's weapon or armor, especially if they are hard to kill and do a lot of damage. Of course, this leads me to my next idea...

Rust Monster

DM's love him, the PC's worst nightmare is back, ready to oxidize your weapons until they crumble. When a rust monster uses it's feelers to destroy a metal item, roll a Blast/Breath saving throw. Failure means it drops a die step. A natural 1 means it drops two die steps. If your item is at a d4, it breaks.

I wanted to make the rust monster still dangerous, but a little more forgiving with its oxidation ability. That way it increases the tension that your weapon/armor is degrading, but you can still use it to fight it off while you think of something else to use on.

Killing PCs? Evil. Destroying their gear? Downright despicable! (3.5 Forgotten Realms)

Weapon Degradation and Repair

I've been playing a lot of Dark Souls 3 and The Witcher 3, which both have weapon degradation and repair. So I wanted to put a simplified mechanic into my ACKS games. Here's what I've got.

Weapon Quality

Weapons all have a quality attached to them that signifies how well crafted they are. This is represented by a weapon quality die. Standard quality weapons are a d8 quality, with masterwork/Hattori Hanzo/Damascus Steel weapons at a d10-d12 and poorer quality weapons at a d4-d6 range.

After using your weapon, roll your quality die. On a result of a 1, the quality drops a die step and the weapon gains a -1 to damage rolls. Minimum damage is still 1. When you roll a result of a 1 on a d4 quality die, the weapon is broken and only does 1d2 damage. 

Different factors can make the quality roll more difficult. If a character doesn't take a turn to clean and hone the blade with a maintenance kit, then the quality roll will reduce a die step on a result of a 1 or 2. This is cumulative with using a weapon constantly without maintenance. Using a sword for three battles without maintenance would make the roll a 1-3. Other factors that can increase the difficulty include hitting a very hard object (stone, a dragon turtle's shell), leaving a bow strung constantly, or sunder attempts.

ACKS Optional Rule: Instead of the -1 to damage, you can roll on the Scavenging Treasure table on page 210 of ACKS each time your weapon goes down in quality, I'd roll a d16 to ignore the Shoddy Construct and Roll Twice results, since you won't want this weapon breaking so early. 

Weapon Maintenance and Repair

Maintenance can be oiling and honing your sword, waxing and unstringing your bow, cleaning your musket out, etc. You can use a repair kit to bring up your weapon's quality die by one step, up to the maximum quality for its type. A repair kit is 7 gold and comes with the tools needed to repair the weapon it's for out in the field one time. Repairing your dinged weapon back to its maximum quality die using a blacksmith is simply equal to half the cost of the weapon. Repairing a broken weapon is just the cost of the weapon.

A maintenance kit is 20 gold. These help to keep the difficulty low when making a weapon quality roll. They are good for five uses, then must be restocked for 5 gold, representing buying more oil or wax or other consumable items.

Other Items

You could also do this with armor and shields, with the negatives being a loss of AC or Initiative (or just using the Scavenging Treasure table, which I do prefer). Magic items probably won't need to be honed, or maybe they don't need to make the rolls at all. Haven't decided yet, but I think I prefer the former. These rules are meant to add some more depth to my wilderness survival games, where a broken sword can really mean the difference between life and death. But, I still want to keep it simple for myself and my players

Dice Dungeon Generator

So in an attempt to do more mechanical exercises for D&D, I made a quick and dirty dungeon generator. I've given it a couple of tries, ran through some, and am running my girlfriend through a solo ACKS adventure through one. After some much needed tweaks, here we are. It doesn't take very long to generate, even with larger rooms. You can make some pretty big sprawling dungeons with this. And like with all things, you aren't beholden to the rules. If you want a secret passage to bypass half of the dungeon, you should do it. Make that dungeon yours! This just lays out the barest of bones. So grab some d6s and a d10 and let's get ready to generate!

Dungeon Generator

First, you have to decide how many rooms you want in your dungeon. You can simply roll a dice (I rolled a d30 and got an 11), pick a number, or just do the steps below until you feel like you have enough rooms.

Draw your starting room. I draw everything like a flowchart, with rooms being circles and hallways being lines. Next you can roll how many rooms connect into your current room. For each room, roll for their location, what stands in the way of them, and which vertical level the other room is. You can pick which ones to roll and which ones to leave out. If you want everything on the same level, simply ignore the second table and for the third table, use a d8 instead of the d10. If you want something that uses only the cardinal directions, like a building, then for the third table, use a d4 instead of a d10.

1d6 # of Rooms Connected

1-3   One

4-5   Two

6      Three

1d6 Vertical Level of Next Room

1      Above Current Level

2-5  On Same Level

6      Below Current Level

1d10 Location of the Hallway

1      North

2      East

3      South

4      West

5      Northeast

6      Southeast

7      Southwest

8      Northwest

9      Straight Up

10    Straight Down

1d6 State of the Hallway

1      Open

2      Closed

3      Locked

4      Blocked

5      Trapped

6      Hidden

From here, you interpret the dungeon results. Sometimes you get weird results, but they often lead to cooler rooms. If you have a set amount of rooms and you ever roll more Rooms Connected than you have rooms, those hallways are simply dead ends. Getting a room on the same level as your current one but with an entrance going straight up/down means the room is simply bigger and has a second level.

And that's it. You can use several dungeon stocking and dressing generators from various D&D retroclones. I've been using the ACKS one and that seems to work out really well in the solo game I'm running. Some point this week, I want to post up some game reports of those games. Let me know if there are any additions or changes you'd make to this. I'll see if I can scan and post up an example of usage with this.

Amnesia Tables and Addendum

Here is the original post about amnesia. Since I don't really like editing blogs I've published, I have an addendum to the previous Amnesia rules.

When a player tries to claim a memento, they should make a DC 10 Intelligence check. Failure means that they don't claim the memento and regain the chip they threw in, but they cannot claim that particular memento again for a whole week.

Here are some tables one can roll on to make up a memory to attach to a keepsake.

Living Being
1 - This is a distant family member from your past. A cousin, great uncle, niece, or someone not a part of your immediate family.
2 - This is an old lover from your past that for some reason, you left (or they left you).
3 - This is your current lover, who you do not remember.
4 - This is an old friend from your childhood.
5 - This is an old buddy from your time in your profession (an old war buddy or co adventurer).
6 - This is an immediate family member (parent, sibling, or child)
7 - This is an old mentor of yours
8- This is an old rival from your past that wants to stir things up
9 - This is an old enemy from your past out to get you.
10 - This is your trusty animal friend (dog, horse, familiar). Reroll if human.

Location
1 - This is where you met your most important lover
2 - This is your ancestral home.
3 - This is where you went to school
4 - This is where you lost your virginity
5 - This is where you killed your first person
6 - This is the place where your mentor would teach you
7 - This is the place where you were left for dead before your amnesia
8 - This is where your parents were murdered
9 - This is where you met your best friend
10 - This is where your childhood died

Event
1 - This event marks a battle that you fought in
2 - This event is where you proposed to your lover
3 - This event is where you got into a terrible fight with your rival
4 - This event marks when your mentor and you became close
5 - This event is one you loved in your childhood.
6 - This event is where you had your coming of age ceremony
7 - This event was one you and your parents loved most
8 - This event is where your lover left you for your rival
9 - This is the event where you met your animal companion
10 - This event ostracized you from your community


Items
1 - This belonged to a friend that died in battle
2 - This is what you gave to your lover to seal your bond
3 - This is important to your parents
4 - This belongs to your animal companion
5 - This was your mentor's before they passed away
6 - This reminds you of a time you had with a close friend years ago
7 - This was an important charm for your community
8 - This is your family's totem
9 - This was important in your childhood
10 - This item is linked to how you lost your memory

Concept: You can roll this or pick a sense (sight, smell, etc) and roll one of the table above to see what it reminds you of
1 - This was an idea that your mentor believed in fervently
2 - This was something that you would have died for
3 - This was something you never really care about
4 - You absolutely hate this concept and fight against those that would uphold it
5 - This was something your lover believed in greatly
6 - This was an important concept to your community

Knacks! There's Always a Chance!

I know I promised some tables for my Amnesia rules in the last post, but unfortunately, it takes me a bit longer to get some good inspiration for long tables. Instead, here's something else I've been thinking about.

Skill lists are a touchy subject in the OSR community I've found. Many people would rather player skill and ingenuity be used in games, and that skill lists discourage this. While I don't completely believe this, I have seen people excited to try to roll a skill, only to look at the modifier and sigh that it's not high enough. Not really intentional discouragement due to skill lists, but rather skill lists encouraging specialization rather than a jack-of-all-trades style to skills. I like skill lists and have always allowed player ingenuity to take the forefront. I would like to encourage anyone to try skills they may or may not have.

I feel Savage Worlds has figured a way around this with their skill system. Everyone rolls what is called the Wild Dice, a d6 that can give you a chance of success, even if you are terrible at a skill. It allows for you to be completely lucky at something, but still doesn't override skill specialization. Now, the Wild Dice is rolled for almost all rolls, and I am unsure if I want a full on luck system for all rolls, or just something for skills. Also it works better in Savage Worlds because they have the exploding dice concept. I've always liked my games to be a bit more survival and gritty, so I want just enough of a system to give a better chance of success without making the game too easy and making skill specialization worthless.

So I think I have something I like conceptually, but I'd have to playtest it with some people. I call them knacks. These would work well in any D&D game that has a skill list, like 3.5/Pathfinder, 5e, etc. If using this for 3.5/Pathfinder, just a note that I've removed the concept of Trained Only skills. Any skill can be used if you aren't trained. This may seem weird for Knowledge skills, but think of it as the PC hearing a random tip or trivia about that piece of information.

Knack

Adventures have inborn talents to do certain things they might not be trained in. At character creation, pick a category, Physical or Mental. This represents your knack. Physical skills are those tied to Strength and Dexterity, while Mental skills are tied to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Whenever you roll a skill that falls under your knack, but you have no skill points in (or aren't proficient as is the case with 5e), then you can add your Knack Die. This is a d4 that you roll with the d20 and adds a bonus to your skill roll equal to the result on the d4.

If you ever put a skill point in a skill you have a knack in (3.5) or become proficient in a skill you have a knack in (5e), then you lose the d4.

Edition Differences

3.5/Pathfinder

If the skill is a class skill, then you don't get the +3 knack bonus when you put a skill point in there. No double dipping here.

Optional Rule: At level 4,8,12, and 16, your Knack die steps up by one (d6, d8, d10, d12).

5e

Instead of getting a knack die for all Mental skills, you have to pick four you aren't proficient in. This is because the Mental skills severely outnumber the Physical skills in 5e.

Edit: For 5e, instead of choosing between Physical and Mental Knacks, simply choose four skills you aren't proficient in as your knacks

If you are rolling an advantage or disadvantage, just roll the Knack die once and apply it to the relevant dice roll.

This system does make characters a little more competent at skills, which I don't mind personally. I think this helps to encourage players to try new skills while still rewarding skill specialization. I'd want to play test this some more, but my big worry is that it may encroach too much on the rogue. But if I made this more of a default house rule, I'd give the rogue the ability to have better knacks. I also wonder how useful this will be in higher levels of Pathfinder, with DCs in the 30s. Though at that point, you've got skill points and feats to spare for your character. That's why I made the optional rule above, but I'd love for more play testing opportunities.