Goodman Games

The funniest thing is, one of the players in one of my college D&D campaigns had a character called Dan Druff! In that same game we also had Spliffy Ganga the thief and Xavier Fist Redlance III, Fighter!

Colin

@Collin: Amusing, but again, if there is no risk, there's no reason to roll the dice. DMs who have characters roll dice to see if their characters can tie their shoes are highly annoying.

I suppose some of my game theory on die rolls is heavily influenced by RISUS. It's a full system in 6 pages. Well worth reading even if you never play it. (When you get to the download page, I highly recommend downloading Encounter Critical for a nostalgic look back at an "old classic".)

I'm not saying there shouldn't be a risk, mate; rather, that there's a severe disconnect between the word Easy and how difficult DC5 (described as "child's play" in the game) actually is. The solution is to rename/redescribe the DCs appropriately.

Incidentally, that would also tie in perfectly with your approach of not rolling for anything easy anyway (which I share and is core to my design of Atomic Highway). By renaming/describing the base level DC5 as Risky or somesuch, you make it immediately clear that you don't roll for anything less demanding (i.e. "easy") anyway.

Two birds, one stone, simple solution.

Colin

Yeah. I know I haven't weighed in on it. But I really like the solutions that meinvt and jmuchiello are proposing, where DCs are decided on a couple of different axis. Not only "how difficult" but also how risky or what sort of game effect is under consideration.



Add another axis relating to the "drama" of the story (either Robin Laws' beats or just winging it) to determine where in that range the DC should fall and I think there's a solid framework for some fun gaming.

I think I found a solution for improving wizards and clerics without the use of DM Prestidigitation or messing with the stats...

I've written out a new table entry for all the spells that fits the range of 9 to 11 for the casting check results. The DC for success is still 12... to keep from losing the spell. in this lesser result, the wizard gets a little bit of use out of the spell, but it misfires in some embarrassing way. the wizard also loses the spell for the day.

The reason for the range is that it allows characters with stats as low as 5 or 6 to cast more often, but not as competently. The bumbling wizard, or daft old priest is a well loved classic

Below are some examples:

Animal Summoning:

9-11: spell succeeds, but the animal summoned is weak and sickly and the wizards appearance takes on similar characteristics of the summoned creature as well as smelling strongly of dung for the next 1d3 turns. Animal is ½ HD & Move, stats & saves are -1 below normal. Spell lost for the day.

…

Choking Cloud:

9-11: As result of 12-13 except that the cloud lasts for 1 round and there is a 50% chance the cloud won’t follow if the target moves after casting. The wizard is afflicted with horrifyingly loud flatulence for 1d3 turns. During this effect, every time a move silently check is made within15ft of the wizard: there is a 40% chance that the wizard farts so loud it ruins any chance of surprise. Spell lost for the day.

…

Invoke Patron:

9-11: As results for roll of 12-13, but the “price” for service is doubled due to the wizards desperation. The wizard will be at -2 on their next attempt to cast this spell. Spell lost for the day.

…

Cleric spells: not lost for the day, but a -1 is added to the next casting attempt


Bless (self):

9-11: the cleric manages to gain some recognition from a representative of their Deity which grants the cleric the same benefits as a roll of 12-13, but for only 1d8+CL rounds.

Bless (other):

9-11: the supplicant receives +1 on saves for the duration of the spell.

Darkness:

9-11: As a result of 12-13, but half duration and range.


Thoughts?

Tortog,

I think this is a brilliant idea!

This should be presented to Joseph Goodman.

How does one page the management at this establishment?

Thanx

Hers's one result I'm particularly proud of:

Read Magic:

9-11: As a result of 12-13, but there is a 50% chance that the wizard has unknowingly made a translation error that will cause the spell to mutate the first time it is cast. The results are totally random, and might even be a benefit… or things could go horribly wrong. Either way the spell is permanently altered to this new form and only usable by that wizard. Any attempts by others to learn the spell provoke a willpower save DC= 15 or go insane trying to figure it out; if they do succeed then their results are just as random & as permanent. Spell lost for the day.

Cursed/ trapped scrolls.... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

If anyone's interested I'll post the rest.

maybe craete a thread for these, as they're a lil bit off topic.. interesting tho.

_________________
Author of Arcanix RPG - fantasy medieval d6 system
learn more : http://arcanixrpg.webs.com

Paged! I'll drop the boss a line.

//H

_________________
The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

Exactly.