Brian Koppi wrote : >I need to find a suitable mechanic for rolling open-ended >rolls using D20 and D10. Currently, the mechanic I use >is as follows:Honestly, I think your method is too math-heavy. Not that I think your players are mentally retarded, but heavy calculation is usually bad for mood. Have you tried the Ars Magica stress die system ? On a normal die roll, a 1 is a 1, a 0 is a 10, no open roll (OK, they use D10 only) On a stress die, a 0 is a 0 and you re-roll a certain amount of dices(depending on the trickiness of the action), if any turn a 0 you botched, reroll until there is no 0 left, the total amount of 0s rolled is the severity of the botch. (1 botch is mildly annoying, 4+ botches are usually lethal...) And if you roll a 1, you re-roll and double the result (a 0=10 on the reroll), unless it's another 1, then you re-roll and multiply the result by 4, aso. So in the end, most results are between 0 and 9, but when you re-roll you can really go through the ceiling (all time record in my saga : 1,1,1,1,8 = 8*16 = 128 !) You can do the same with a d20, it means exceptional results are rarer, but their score is usually even more impressive. In most systems I don't like negative dice results : you usually needs to reach a certain level to succeed, so a very high roll can help in near-impossible tasks, but rolling 9 or rolling -128 is just the same when you need a 12 to succeed in your task ! And if the task difficulty was 0 from the beginning (e.g. walking from your bed to the bathroom) , you probably shouldn't roll at all. But if the botch system doesn't suit your needs, and you're adamant about negative rolls, then if you roll a 20, it reads as 0, you reroll and the result is read as negative (1=-1), unless you roll another 20, in case you reroll and the result is read as negative and multiplied by 2, aso. I hope you'll find the dice mechanic of your dreams, Eve --------------------------------------------------------- Eve BERNARD E-mail : bernar-e@worldnet.fr ArM Code 1.2 4++ R H+ SG++ G+ Y10 C+ FZ+++ P!*# HoH(F+) Cd --------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to gmast-off@phoenyx.net. GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
