[Design] Base mechanic and L5R

[Lev Lafayette]

Yep, the "keep" dice are added together and compared
against the target number. I'm OK with the bell curve
in this system; it means that most results hover in
the middling area and occassionally you have critical
successes and failures (in GURPS and Hero however, I
don't think it works).

Experience points are usually 2-3 per session. A Trait
costs 5 * the new Rank level. Skills cost the new Rank
level. So 3 XP to raise a Skill from level 2 to 3, 15
XP to raise a Trait from 2 to 3.

One issue that I was pondering over the past day or so
is whilst this method is *excellent* for skills it's
not so good for knowledges.

For example, a character with good natural ability
(Rank 4) in Agility will get a result from 4-24 in
say, Jumping. If they have a Jumping skill their range
will still be the same, but their average result will
go up.

However, this goes awry for knowledges. A character
with a good natural ability in (Rank 4) Communication
will get a good result even if they haven't any
ability in the language. That seems a little strange;
so for Knowledges it seems appropriate to reverse the
method; you roll Trait + Knowledge, but the number of
dice you keep for the target number is limited by your
Knowledge, not the Trait.

A character with 4 Charisma and 0 Japanese would
(hypothetically of course) roll 4 dice and keep 0! If
only they knew *some* Japanese...

What do you think?

OK.. Of to my last session of Dogs In The Vineyard...
First draft of an essay/rant on narrativism coming
soon.

All the best,


Lev


--- Curufea <curufea at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Are the dice added together?
> 
> Anyhow, I like it - although does it use bell curves
> (are the dice
> totalled).  I do think bell curves are better for
> skills, because the
> the sudden attenuations given for lack of skill.
> 
> Can traits be raised with experience?
> What is the cost difference for a starting character
> between traits
> and skills, or are they not compared to each other
> (ie distribute x
> trait points and y skill points)?
> 
> --- Lev Lafayette <lev_lafayette at yahoo.com.au>
> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > In the past I've pooh-poohed L5R because of the
> all
> > the detail it goes into creating an alternative
> mythos
> > for Feudal Japan when Japanese mythology and
> history
> > would have done just as well.
> > 
> > However, rereading the rules last night I was
> struck
> > by the elegant beauty of their base mechanic,
> insofar
> > it managed to simulate exactly what I've been
> seeking
> > for sometime, that is, a means to differentiate
> > between Traits and Skills (which I notice they
> also
> > use as their terms).
> > 
> > A character's Trait detemines how many dice they
> roll
> > against a target number. A character's Skill
> provides
> > bonus dice, but the total number of dice that can
> be
> > used is still limited by the Trait.
> > 
> > So for example, if a character has a Trait of 3
> and a
> > skill of 2, they roll 5 dice and pick the best 3.
> An
> > unskilled character with a Trait of 4 would simply
> > roll 4 dice.
> > 
> > Now L5R uses elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water
> and
> > Void) for Traits and uses d10s for dice, but there
> is
> > certainly no reason why the core mechanic can't be
> > used.
> > 
> > What do people think?
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > 
> > Lev
> > 
> > 
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> 
> 
> Peter Cobcroft
> curufea at yahoo.com
> Main: http://www.curufea.com/
> 
> 
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