Okay, I'm going to try this.
You see, I love to tinker with game mechanics. In large part this is because I love the conversation between unbounded player creativity, on the one hand, and what the hard-coded rules of the game require, on the other. There are a lot of subtle feedback loops a good mechanic can bring to the table. Also, a lot of unnecessary thought and cumbersome table time can result from poorly designed rules.
I know I'm not the only person afflicted this way. I mean, just look out at all the blogs, 'hacks', and fiddly subsystems which people feel compelled to think up and write out. It's an obsession. One I (obviously?) share.
I have a bunch of long-form reviews for games, adventures, and lone blog posts half-completed, lingering on my Drafts list.
So, I'm going to start this series of 'mini-reviews', wherein I will pick out just one rule (or maybe two or three interlocking rules?) which I think are the bees knees and have stuck into my at-home "d&d" games. In this way, I hope to express my appreciation for these many things, without feeling like I need to be long-winded and comprehensive about a whole game before sharing.
The first rule up is the dX roll from Neoclassical Geek Revival.
You see, I love to tinker with game mechanics. In large part this is because I love the conversation between unbounded player creativity, on the one hand, and what the hard-coded rules of the game require, on the other. There are a lot of subtle feedback loops a good mechanic can bring to the table. Also, a lot of unnecessary thought and cumbersome table time can result from poorly designed rules.
I know I'm not the only person afflicted this way. I mean, just look out at all the blogs, 'hacks', and fiddly subsystems which people feel compelled to think up and write out. It's an obsession. One I (obviously?) share.
I have a bunch of long-form reviews for games, adventures, and lone blog posts half-completed, lingering on my Drafts list.
So, I'm going to start this series of 'mini-reviews', wherein I will pick out just one rule (or maybe two or three interlocking rules?) which I think are the bees knees and have stuck into my at-home "d&d" games. In this way, I hope to express my appreciation for these many things, without feeling like I need to be long-winded and comprehensive about a whole game before sharing.
The first rule up is the dX roll from Neoclassical Geek Revival.
. . .
Like many D&D-derived systems, NGR resolves most contentious/uncertain situations with a die roll. However, instead of a standard roll (d20 or 2d6 being the most common core rolls) NGR uses three different methods to "roll", depending on how calm a character is at that moment.
When CALM, unhurried, and otherwise un-stressed the PC's "roll" is a flat 10, modified as appropriate. Those familiar with 3rd edition or Pathfinder will of course recognize this. I was never particularly fond of the rule in 3.x games, yet here I really like it. In part this results from it being the 'ground floor' for every character in the adventure rather than a thing each player has to remember to try. I also like that it encodes competency and consistency to rolls, while denying the potential of either extraordinary success or disastrous failure. It's milquetoast, ho-hum, and exactly where you want to be in everyday village living.
But we're talking about bandits in the woods and crypts of unknown dead, where suddenly things are stressful, and fast, and if you're standing around being calm you maybe aren't functioning with enough adrenaline to survive. In these moments, players can choose to have their characters go ON EDGE. Thereafter the character rolls 3d6 for required rolls. Some swing is introduced and rolls can suddenly range from 3 to 18, but it's a bell curve swing wherein the overall trend is towards the 9-11 range. No Critical rolls still.
The third, and final, step is the choice to make a character RECKLESS, after which they roll d20. Here we hit full 'swinginess', with equal likelihood of getting any number in the 1-20 range. It also opens up the possibility of Critical Success or Critical Failure. Wild times will be had.
So that's pretty simple.
There are two additional bits to the system which really are the twin 'cherries on top' for me though, bits which take it from a cool thought experiment to something used at my table.
Firstly, you cannot deescalate during the adventure. You cannot 'take 10' later on in the dungeon. You are on an adrenaline spiral, and eventually mistakes will be made. Love. It.
Secondly, it allows for a granularity of success and failure wherein 'simple' actions are easily -even thoughtlessly- dealt with early in the adventure, but incrementally these 'simple' actions become something that you start to view as risks.
Plus, it opens up all sorts of fun class abilities or skill/spell effects which will reset a character's adrenal level. I like the idea that focusing on being calm and competent should (eventually) provide some benefit to the PC. Also it makes possible monster abilities which advance a PC's stress without their say-so.
All on its lonesome, the dX roll made the price of NGR worth it for me--and it's not even the only cool idea in the game!
...so that's my first mini-review. Thanks to Zzarchov for the idea!
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