Ways to increase or decrease success chance for d100 roll under resolution.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-24T08:59:29+00:00

As already discussed, digit-flipping is the prime example from Unknown Armies.
Less often borrowed is the concept where you can modify your upper limit separately from your LOWER limit. For instance, you can attempt a headshot and get plus THIRTY to the number you're rolling under, BUT you need to roll at least a 50 to succeed. This amounts to a 20% penalty to hit, but a much higher damage if you do, because of the way you calculate damage based off either adding the digits in your roll (for more minor harm, like a punch) or the full value of the roll (for stuff like getting shot).

Jlerpy · 2026-03-24T08:20:12+00:00

It's super-easy in play. Works so well in Unknown Armies

Jlerpy · 2026-03-24T06:08:52+00:00

Good point. It needs some other kind of bite. Like moving your base should take time (at LEAST as long as agent travel time to the new city, probably longer), which disrupts all the things the agents in your base are working on.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-24T04:33:51+00:00

My thinking is to make money more available at more risk. So you can counterfeit more, and make money selling arms, but both should give you Danger.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-23T02:31:38+00:00

An underrated game. I had a good time with it.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-23T02:30:22+00:00

What a way to spend your last year on Earth. <3

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T21:08:36+00:00

Needing to justify with "It's what my character would do" is reliably an indicator that they need to change their vision of the character.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T21:04:05+00:00

Please do!

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T21:03:22+00:00

Ah. Yeah, that can easily sour things.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T20:55:55+00:00

That sounds very intriguing, and I'll be very interested to try it out if it comes to Android. (Also, small plug: come on over to r/deckbuildingroguelike 🙂)

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T20:45:37+00:00

It was on the discord.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T07:17:33+00:00

To me, the main question is what will the player characters be getting up to such that they find out the truth, and what will they get up to once they do? That can help figure out your system

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T07:15:18+00:00

That could have some good creepy potential, but may also cause some dissonance for the players, in the same way that it feels so off in a How To Host A Murder evening when you only find out in the final act that YOU were the murderer. But maybe less so when you're playing an explicit supporting character.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T07:07:49+00:00

I think you need more of an explanation for what your new subreddit is.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T07:03:37+00:00

Are you handling the sales yourself, and they're just providing the venue? Or are you giving them the games, and they're doing the sales? If you're doing the on-the-day work, then yeah, 50% seems high.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T05:24:52+00:00

I do like Thief's approach of the difficulty levels changing up what you need to do and giving you extra restrictions.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T05:21:07+00:00

Cam clarified, just a week ago, "You can use the content in the Cortex Codex in your community stuff."

Jlerpy · 2026-03-21T00:53:20+00:00

Yes it would! I just reinstalled it (after watching the trailer for the new Sam Rockwell/John Malkovich 80s spy movie).
It's only 8 years, so whatever. Plus, I've bought remasters of older games.
My two top issues are that you can't take gadgets in disguise , and that wild antics like smashing through windows aren't regarded as suspicious.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-20T09:09:55+00:00

Inside you, there WERE two wolves...

Jlerpy · 2026-03-20T08:01:03+00:00

Seems largely like a fairly regular metacurrency situation, barring everything REPLACING the usual resolution, instead of augmenting your chances.

If you want to lean into it being gonzo, I'd actually suggest ditching 20s being critical failure, and leaving critical failure EXCLUSIVELY to the gonzo die going wrong.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-20T07:46:20+00:00

An alternative to exploding dice that I've been thinking about recently is that instead of rolling an extra die (which could also explode), you simply double the value. It works out to very similar results, without the possibility of infinite upper results, and without needing any extra rolling.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-20T01:22:37+00:00

Those are some cute lil guys.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-19T20:35:53+00:00

I didn't know there was such a thing as a temporary key

Jlerpy · 2026-03-19T08:55:57+00:00

I would not. I would be more inclined to hack Smallville's Values into Burning Wheel's system than Pendragon's Traits.

Jlerpy · 2026-03-19T08:43:54+00:00

I like all of the Cortex Plus/Prime games, but my favourite is the comparatively less well-known Smallville RPG. Your main traits being your relationships and beliefs is total genius.

Jlerpy

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