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Cinco: Flattening Curves

I like the 1:1:1 odds of success, bargain, and failure much better than the 1:2:3 odds . Besides being more appropriate for heroically competent characters, the d6 pool in general is more effective at distinguishing simply between qualified and unqualified characters without reducing the resolution procedure to an optimization game. There's one problem: aspects and inspiration each add 1 die to the pool, turning a 33% chance of success into a 55% chance into a 70% chance, not to mention additional dice from features. This eliminates friction from the equation, turning these rolls into road-bumps rather than opportunities for decision-making. I looked at FATE for direction. There, aspects have a cost to be invoked at all. That's a little extreme, isn't it? But there's an interesting in-between that came to mind and that I really liked: instead of spending inspiration to invoke aspects, why not spend inspiration to establish facts about your character which would make an

Cinco: Away From D20

Aspect bonuses put players in an awkward position. You could want a new aspect, but starting a new one with +1 or even +2 will be less helpful than investing in one of your existing aspects—especially when you need a +4 to see more successes than outright failures. The choice is to optimize or not, which is a trick question that misdirects player creativity. 5e has a similar trick with ability score increases, with each class having an ability which you would be wrong not to prioritize. This trick is neither fair nor fun. It's opaque and imposes strict expectations on characters. It causes players to fall into the trap of making obvious non-choices or else, knowingly, make their character relatively 'worse' at the game. It's no help to us that, at least, the vast majority of tabletop systems have formal trade-offs between different stats which make them worthwhile in different situations. This is its own can of worms , but at least these worms justify each other. Ther

Cinco: First Chapters

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Putting together everything I've written so far into something more cohesive and referential! Most immediate influences here: The Goblin Laws of Gaming , Into the Dungeon: Revived (Piecewise characters) His Majesty the Worm , Wolves Upon the Coast (Player-defined quests or missions) Prismatic Wasteland (Collaborative world-building—just really fun) You Awaken in a Strange Place (Player-defined bonuses for rolls) Without further ado! The screenshots are slightly out-of-date. Playing the Game Your character is your interface with the game as well as your avatar in the fiction. They consist of aspects and features, and have three fluctuating attributes: hearts, bulk, and inspiration. Aspect Checks Aspects represent your character’s origin, culture, profession, faction, or any other qualities which make them who they are. Each gives a bonus for D20 rolls when that character attempts something unlikely or exposes themself to danger. These rolls are called aspect checks, and turn

Playing Shadowdark

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I tried out Kelsey Dionne's Shadowdark this morning with Alex as the game master and joined by Moth as another player! We were going through Alex's megadungeon that he had made for OD&D , one in which I had played before but died just a couple rooms in. Got farther this time! :P This is a session report as well as a review of Shadowdark . It's a mixed bag but more good than bad. It hangs onto conventions from classic D&D that I think it is (or should be) better than. Session Report Moth and I both rolled up halflings. Apparently Alex's dungeon has historically only ever seen little player-characters. To compensate for our small stature, we were accompanied by two human retainers: Karl Marx and Felix Guattari. We entered through a sewer, walking along a quay on the left. Some blue guys in the dark were mad at us for entering the dungeon, so we fucked off into the door immediately on the left where we came upon a dozen-ish white-collar skeletons. I told them t

Cinco: Equipment & Encounter Difficulty

Sort of a two-parter, since they relate to each other. Combat Equipment Assume characters can afford most things. What matters are what they can carry in their hands and on their body: let's say 3 bulk. Some items also require a hand (or two) to carry in order to use. Pick weapons (magic weapons deal an additional ½ ♥ of damage): Light weapon (–½ ♥) → 0 bulk, 1 hand Medium weapon (–1 ♥) → 1 bulk, 1 hand Heavy weapon (–1½ ♥) → 2 bulk, 2 hands Pick armor (characters have a base of 3 hearts): Light armor (+1 ♥) → 1 bulk, 0 hands Heavy armor (+2 ♥) → 2 bulk, 0 hands Possible combinations: Medium weapon, light armor, shield Heavy weapon, light armor Medium weapon, heavy armor Medium weapon, light armor (leftover: 1 hand, 1 bulk) Light weapon, heavy armor (leftover: 1 hand, 1 bulk) Heavy weapon (leftover: 0 hands, 1 bulk) Medium weapon (leftover: 1 hand, 2 bulk) Light weapon (leftover: 1 hand, 3 bulk) Hands are a short-term "What are you holding right now?" thing, but bulk is a

Cinco: Encounters & Monsters

Let me share an example of four level-1 encounters, from easy (2 ♥) to deadly (8 ♥). Remember that characters deal a hit on a roll of 20 and up, choose to dodge or exchange hits from 10 to 19, or take a hit without dealing one on 9 or less. Easy Encounter Round 1: Monster strength 2 of 2. Alice dodges an incoming blow (8+3). Bob dodges an incoming blow (15+3). Claire dodges an incoming blow (10+2). David defends themself and lands 1 hit (17+4). Round 2: Monster strength 1 of 2. Alice lands 1 hit but takes 1 in turn (11+3); 2 hearts left. Medium Encounter Round 1: Monster strength 4 of 4. Alice lands 1 hit but takes 1 in turn (9+3); 2 hearts left. Bob dodges an incoming blow (9+3). Claire dodges an incoming blow (17+2). David dodges an incoming blow (13+4). Round 2: Monster strength 3 of 4. Alice dodges an incoming blow (16+3). Bob lands 1 hit but takes 1 in turn (8+3); 2 hearts left. Claire defends themself and lands 1 hit (18+2).

Cinco: Growing Burdens

I suggested shifting goalposts more in favor of players, and a second idea: removing hearts altogether in favor of burdens, fictional effects which disadvantage the character by subtracting their value from rolls. Did that work out? Nope. Simulations Let's assume the original scale and its melee effects for a second: 20+: Triumph 11–19: Compromise 1–9: Failure 0-: Catastrophe For a sequence of attempted melee results, the outcomes for different aspect bonuses are as follows:  Aspect Bonus Total Turns Hits Dealt Burdens +0 6.4 2.6 5.4 +1 7.6 3.2 6.3 +2 8.7 3.9 7.2 +3 9.9 4.7 8.2 +4 11.3 5.9 9.2 +5 12.7 6.9 10.2 This means that a character can take from 5 to 10 "hits" (in the form of burden) while dealing on average 2 hits plus their aspect bonus. Their aspect bonus soaks up the effect of the burden accumulated until it exceeds the bonus, at which point it will basically always take 5 burdens to down the character. This al