[Design] New Base Mechanic

[Lev Lafayette]

Well, we've just finished our Outbreak of Heresy:
Transylvannia in 1550 game and for the final session I
decided to try something quite different an adopt a
new base game mechanic.

The principle was effectively the same; a distinction
between traits and character skills, when maximum
effectiveness largely determined by the Trait. Instead
of a d100% skill roll followed by a d6 Trait roll, I
used the base system used in Legend of the Five Rings
where the skill plus trait are combined into a rolled
pool, but the player chooses the best dice limited by
their Trait.

Two major differences from the Lo5R system that I used
was;

1) Using d6s rather than d10s. This may not seem that
significant, but it is. A d10 has too much of a random
range when dealing with a more realistic game like
Mimesis compared to the cinematic Lo5R.

2) For knowledges, as opposed to skills, I reversed
the trait limitation. That is, the effect was limited
by the character's knowledge rather than their trait.
This, I believe, is very significant. It means that a
character requires to have some knowledge of (say)
history, rather than relying on an their attribute
default. "Intelligence" may assist a character in
evaluating or recalling historical facts, but it does
not give them any "default" ability in the subject.

Converting traits was relatively easy as I had already
been using the same system for effect rolls. It simply
provided greater clarity to convert the abstract
numbers into straight d6s (without losing comparison
value with other "3d6" game systems e.g., D&D,
RuneQuest, GURPS etc). i.e.,

Old Trait	New Trait
3.5		1
7		2
10.5		3
14		4
17.5		5
21		6

... and so on. The progression should be obvious.

I made a slight error in my skill/knowledge
conversions which caused some minor problems with the
skill differentiation system which I'd previously
implemented (that is; Basic skill level, Advanced
skill level, Expert skill level and Master skill level
and 'Guru' with percentage values of 40%, 70%, 90%,
100% and 101%+). Instead I used 1 die for every 20% or
part thereof in a skill. This resulted in too many
dice being rolled (sometimes up to 8) 

The following is the preferred levels;

Skill Level	Old percentage	New Skill/Knowledge
Normally learned by;	
Basic 		40%		1			Childhood
Advanced 	70%		2			Adolescence
Expert 		90%		3			Adulthood
Master 		100%		4			Middle-Aged
Guru 		101%+		5			Senior


The core mechanic seemed to work quite well; indeed
very well. For physical actions, simple total the
trait and skill dice and select the number indicated
by the trait. If you are, for example, jumping across
a ledge use the Agility trait (say 3) and the
Athletics skill (say 2). Roll 5 dice, keep the best 3
and compare the result with a target number. For
mental actions, reverse the trait/knowledge
relationship. To recall a historical fact use the
History skill (say 2), and the Intelligence trait (say
4) and keep the best 2 dice. Simple competitions are
made by comparison of results.

What I'd *really* like would be a table that
determines the distribution curves for things like
'4d6, keep the best 3' or '5d6, keep the best 2'.
Hmmm.. There's a few maths savvy people on this list,
so I imagine someone knows the algorithm.

Another facet I noticed is that the method had
potential to be applied in a manner like Dogs in the
Vineyard, or Hero Wars, insofar that a single die roll
could be used to express 'narrative moments' rather
than 'blow-by-blow' simulations (unless of course, the
latter was required). Further Hero War's rather clever
contribution of "everything is resolved in the same
scale" could also be utilised; there is no reason why
personality characteristics or wealth cannot be
represented in the same fashion.

In a nutshell; it worked and shows great potential for
further development. This is a keeper.

Now, preparation for the next Mimesis RPG game; early
Zanzibar using the old Thieves' World campaign pack!

PS: And for those who think I've spent too long
experimenting with different systems for the base
mechanic... This is *very* important!


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