[Mechanics] nWoD MET: Playing With A Full Deck

[Jadasc]

In pursuit of my ongoing desire to work up my own "stake-to-the-heart-breaker," I've come across this suggestion on how to make the card pull system of the new Mind's Eye Theatre system faster and more friendly for LARPing. The system is detailed here (http://astatine210.livejournal.com/60284.html), with his testing percentages written up here (http://www.boreworms.com/astatine/test/dieroll_distribs.html). The quick summary:


Compute the relevant die pool. (Attribute+Skill+Modifiers+[Woodj]). Call this n.
Take a complete (52+both jokers) deck of cards. Shuffle.
Draw three cards.
For each Joker you draw, draw two more cards.
Ignore Royalty (Kings, Queens, Jacks); they always fail.
For each card less than or equal to n, you have a success.
If n is more than ten, some of your lower cards count for two successes; for instance, if n is 12, Aces and Twos count for two successes.


The percentages on the linked page look "close enough" for my purposes; do any of you with a taste for mechanics see any glaring errors or problems?

[DariusSolluman]

Well...

First: I don't like 'roll under' style systems- they always feel non-intuitive. So a draw under style isn't super better.

Second, one of the non-trivial advantages the nMET card system has is it can be replicated without cards, via the fingers behind back of two people mod 10. Your prop is more elaborate by a fair degree.

Third, it'd be interesting to see a combat resolve using your system. I'm not sure what the handling time would be like- on one hand, you're drawing more cards, but on the other, no math is required.

Fourthly, I applaud finding a more accurate distribution of rolls that isn't as hyper obsessed with pass/fail.

[xReubenx]

I haven't seen the new MET rules, but it wouldn't it be quicker and easier to roll dice?

[Peter Svensson]

Many people do, but for some players dice really breaks the mood, or aren't feasible given the playing location.

[xReubenx]

Pulling out a deck of cards in the middle of a fight or intense social situation doesn't break the mood?

[DariusSolluman]

I'd argue feasibility is a greater concern.

That is, there's not always a handy table around, and self-contained dice rolling platforms (ie, tupperware) and be bulky enough to not easily fit with a great many costumes.

Cards, on the other hand, easily fit in a great many more costumes.

[Tao Jones]

A single ten-sider inside one of those plastic bubbles you get vending machine toys in has worked wonders for us. There's even the tiny bubbles and tiny dice that can go on a chain around your neck...those work even on costumes with no pockets.

I don't see any reason to make the card drawing process more complex, unless it was just for the same of making it more complex.

[Jadasc]

I don't see any reason to make the card drawing process more complex, unless it was just for the same of making it more complex.

Well, my thought was "the card drawing process becomes slightly more complex, but the success-calculating process becomes simpler, because it skips the addition/division step." More like a dice pool in that way.

I also believe that "shuffle a deck, cut, draw three" is faster than "mix up a hand of ten, fan, let the other guy draw" -- especially when working as an ST, and you can use one shuffled deck as a horde of mooks. Your dice solution cuts out the fanning step, but the other parts are still in place.

[Astatine]

A single ten-sider inside one of those plastic bubbles you get vending machine toys in has worked wonders for us. There's even the tiny bubbles and tiny dice that can go on a chain around your neck...those work even on costumes with no pockets.

I don't see any reason to make the card drawing process more complex, unless it was just for the same of making it more complex.

The single big disadvantage of the single-card draw (or, for that matter, the default MET system using a d10) is that it's slow. You have to add on one number, subtract a second and then divide. It's true that a lot of roleplayers are pretty nifty at arithmetic - but by no means all.

With the three-card draw, you just have to look at the cards to see if you've done well or not; it takes significantly less time and less brainpower. Get a pack of cards, give it a try, and you'll probably see what I mean.