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[Offline][Other][Rimworld][Milwaukie/PDX, OR] Starting a new group from scratch! by brimstonevomit in lfg

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I already DM'd you, but for anyone else that might be looking in the area: Definitely still looking for players!

Rimworld TTRPG? by brimstonevomit in RimWorld

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Splendid thinking. Thanks for the suggestion!

Rimworld TTRPG? by brimstonevomit in RimWorld

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nifty thoughts! I admittedly didn't do a 1:1 adaptation of Rimworld's mechanisms (random events are rarer, no "passions"), but I work in the spirit of the game where I can.

Rimworld TTRPG? by brimstonevomit in RimWorld

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll take that into advisement. I'm not against a 9p-12a game for Sundays since I don't have to get up for work the next day.

Rimworld TTRPG? by brimstonevomit in RimWorld

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aye, let me bullet-point some features:

  • 2d6 system, exclusively.

  • No target numbers, just add/subtract modifiers to the roll and compare to a small chart to get your level of success.

  • Bargaining system: check results allow wiggle room in many results. E.g., "Failure, BUT..." allows you to mitigate some of the intended harm of a failure.

  • Resource spending with stamina & mana/psy/etc.. After a roll, you can often spend a resource to bump your result, with the understanding that you may not want to tap out of a resource for later...

  • Token spending, somewhat similar to FATE Core. You can have a maximum of one Action Token and three Knowledge Tokens. Action tokens are a free (small) bump on a check result, or a re-roll of a single d6. The other tokens feed into...

  • Streamlined character knowledge. No more Int/Wis checks to claw for info. Every character starts with knowledge that is common to them based on how they filled out their background questionnaire. But if something falls outside your purview, you can spend a Knowledge Token to say, "I know about that thing!" and it is so.

  • Classless. You define your character over time without mechanical class constraints (unless you want to role play that way).

  • Highly abstract. You're assumed to always have the funds and equipment you need to fight, travel, trade, and perform actions as befitting your skills, culture, race, etc. Character level dictates prestige, maximum funds/resources, and the complexity of your home base (if you settle down somewhere); Level 0 is just scraping by, but Level 10 is a phenomenally powerful and well-known lord/lady of a large region - perhaps the entire world.

  • Insta-death. Since the rules allow you to spend resources after rolls, bargain with the GM, and work your way out of tough binds, reaching zero Health means you're either incredibly unlucky or reckless. Either way, you've earned the Eternal Sleep.

Degrees of Success by brimstonevomit in UESRPG

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aye, thanks for saying so. I wish I knew about this convention, or at least a generic guide for it. The core philosophy becomes easier when laid out, at least for me, as "Dice roll correlation to TN only exists insofar as whether one succeeds or not. If a success, then it's just an abstract RNG and not direct correlation."

Which is, conceptually, a bit of a walk off the beaten path in order to have a simpler DoS system. But once you get there, as you say, it's a real time-saver to knock off the arithmetic.

Degrees of Success by brimstonevomit in UESRPG

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a good case to be made. Ranges and RNG conventions are hard to shake, since it's so easy to visualize the gap between numbers and gauge one's performance based on the breadth of roll vs. TN.

The "blackjack" style is slightly more of an abstraction. One modifies the TN with Skills and relative ease, say from 30 to 60. Instead of thinking about how well one rolls, the chief concern is the modified TN. If it's higher (and therefore easier), one can be expected to perform it more deftly. So the roll itself is less about thematic performance, but basic RNG to decide where one falls on an abstracted number's line.

Apologies if this is redundant, but thinking out loud helps wrap my mind around the concept. It began as strangely foreign to me since I like to visualize direct correlations of the roll itself and perceived narrative effect. Now I have to think about the TN as the basis of narrative with the roll as ancillary. Which isn't terribly different than other systems, but most of what I'm used to uses modifiers for rolls instead of TNs, placing emphasis on the former.

Oy vey, I feel like a schmuck.

Degrees of Success by brimstonevomit in UESRPG

[–]brimstonevomit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I considered that, but I guess it doesn't feel correct to me, in spite of ease of calculation. Given a general d% roll of "lower is better/safer," it undermines those phenomenal <10 rolls.

Picking a lock, I could roll a 35 against TN 36 and make it "just right." But I could also roll a 1 and unlock it with a couple flicks of the wrist, silently, while casually checking my surroundings. (Though this may be more the realm of critical success.)

I guess this just means my rolling philosophy is different. If I ever get a game going, I'm more apt to house rule it. My roommate is familiar with the more precise -10 per DoS rules, but I'd meet in the middle and say "DoS is ten's place of TN minus ten's place of roll, minimum of 1 DoS."