I was thinking of an action mechanic where you have a pool of dice of the same type (lets say d6) called your opportunity pool.
A character has a list of stunts/abilities/cliches/aspects/etc that are rated in terms of range:
e.g. a character called Alf might have
"gunslinger" with range 4-6,
"rally driver" with range 6-6 and "
danger sense" with range 1-2.
Say Alf is walking down an ally in a bad neighbourhood. An unnoticed stalker is about to shoot him dead.
Player rolls his opportunity pool and gets say [1],[4],[6],[3]. This means that Alf has the opportunity to sense the danger ([1] is in the range 1-2), fire his gun ([4] is in range 4-6), and fire his gun again ([6] is in range 4-6 and 6-6, but he can't apply his rally driving skills while walking), with 3 giving him nothing.
Alf's player describes how Alf gets a feeling of being watched, and turns in time to see the gunman taking aim. Without hesitation, Alf draws his pistol and fires two rounds into his assailant's torso.
How would you decide how many dice to roll in the Opportunity pool?
Would this be adaptable to a non-action mechanic? I personally think it would be best to have a separate simple resolution mechanic for particular tasks the player wants the character to initiate, and keep this one for action sequences.
Should abilities be arranged into categories for certain types of action so that there are less to check every time the player rolls and it is more realistic, or should all abilities be tested, for open-endedness and to allow novel solutions to problems?
This would be a cool thing to do with cards. Then each opportunity could be each own card and you wouldn't have to keep referencing a table to see what you can do.
If your opportunity pool is a limited resource, let the player decide how many dice she rolls. The more you dice you roll for the current action, the more opportunities you will have. But the trade off is you'll be more vulnerable in the next action.
Whisper:
Do you mean for example that I could write the name of each ability on index cards and then use these as a deck to draw from?
I was actually hoping to introduce choices... for example using Alf from my original post:
Alf is driving along and suddenly a car full of gangsters with tommy guns pulls out beside him and are about to start shooting in his direction.
He rolls only one useful result which is [6]. He has a choice whether to use rally driving to take a sharp turn into an alley to try to lose them, or gunslinging to shoot one of the tires and avoid the gangsters that way.
I honestly prefer a system where my PC can do his tricks anywhere, anytime. What is the payoff in limiting so savagely and often illogically the PC's options?
The payoff is that the dice determine the direction of the story. What's the payoff from limiting the character to hitting only when the player rolls high enough?
__________________
'For GOD the father Almighty plays upon the HARP of stupendous magnitude and melody./For innumerable Angels fly out at every touch and his tune is a work of creation./For at that time malignity ceases and the devils themselves are at peace.' - Christopher Smart Jubilate Agno (Fragment B Part 2)
The payoff is that the dice determine the direction of the story. What's the payoff from limiting the character to hitting only when the player rolls high enough?
That dice determine where the story goes. And this does NOT result in situations like "why doesn't she just shoot the motherfucker?!"
Whisper:
Do you mean for example that I could write the name of each ability on index cards and then use these as a deck to draw from?
I was actually hoping to introduce choices... for example using Alf from my original post:
Alf is driving along and suddenly a car full of gangsters with tommy guns pulls out beside him and are about to start shooting in his direction.
He rolls only one useful result which is [6]. He has a choice whether to use rally driving to take a sharp turn into an alley to try to lose them, or gunslinging to shoot one of the tires and avoid the gangsters that way.
I was thinking that you would draw several cards from the deck (the same number of cards as the dice you would roll). Then you could chose from among the cards in your hand as to what action you actually take.
But perhaps that doesn't interface well with how you've set up your trait ratings/ranges.
I assume rolling outside the 'gunslinger' (or whatever) range can be interpreted as, 'She shoots and misses,' rather than, 'She chooses not to shoot.'
I also assume you allow the same latitude in more traditional games: 'Let's see, I rolled a seven, my THAC0 is 12 and his AC is 3. Apparently, my fighter just decided not to take a swing this round.'
__________________
'For GOD the father Almighty plays upon the HARP of stupendous magnitude and melody./For innumerable Angels fly out at every touch and his tune is a work of creation./For at that time malignity ceases and the devils themselves are at peace.' - Christopher Smart Jubilate Agno (Fragment B Part 2)
I assume rolling outside the 'gunslinger' (or whatever) range can be interpreted as, 'She shoots and misses,' rather than, 'She chooses not to shoot.'
I also assume you allow the same latitude in more traditional games: 'Let's see, I rolled a seven, my THAC0 is 12 and his AC is 3. Apparently, my fighter just decided not to take a swing this round.'
I see your point. Still, it's important for me as a player that my PC can do anything that suits the game genre, at least in a game where my only chance to affect the plot is via my PC's actions.
That dice determine where the story goes. And this does NOT result in situations like "why doesn't she just shoot the motherfucker?!"
"She takes out a couple, but they just keep coming. She weaves through the interstate but damn, their driver's good. And another car full of them starts moving in to intercept. More cover fire; she can't get a good shot at anyone swerving down the road like this. Maybe if she could just...
"Moments later, both pursuers' vehicles lie in a mangled smoking heap on the bridge behind her. And above, too - her own car is now slowly sinking into the muddy banks of the river. Oh well, it wasn't really hers anyway."
Give the players enough leeway to weave the results into their story and things shouldn't be too contrived.
And I think you should be able to check all abilities. The character sheet could just separate them into three sections depending on where the range is centered so you can quickly pick which ones apply.
Quote:
Would this be adaptable to a non-action mechanic? I personally think it would be best to have a separate simple resolution mechanic for particular tasks the player wants the character to initiate, and keep this one for action sequences.
I don't see why you can't use this for everything. Social resolutions could have stuff like "logical argument", "antagonizing people", "veiled threats", "manipulate relationships", etc. and the players could form the acting character's winning negotiation tactic according to what the roll gives them.
__________________ The reply I usually get is "don't think about what is most effective-- role-play your character" to which I respond, "I am role-playing-- my character is a competent warrior". - BASHMAN Pointage: 1 "Fundamentally Oral" from Shadowjack; 1 "Semiotician" from Geza Echs; 1 "Sage of RPG Open" from Darth Tang
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