Revision Dice Survey

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Which roll system would you prefer to see? (See post below for synopses)

Fudge dice
5
25%
Static dice
0
No votes
Dice steps
12
60%
Legacy dice
3
15%
 
Total votes: 20

Revision Dice Survey

Quote

Post by Tony »

Hello, friends.

The GM team has been working for more than a year on a massive overhaul of the DW system, a top-to-bottom revamping and rebalancing to enhance game experience. However, in the course of doing that, surveying players, and doing research, we've discovered that there's an inherent flaw in the current DW dice system that we've been using for 14 years.

If you've played, you've noticed that stacking bonuses has been the crux of success. You've also noticed that the higher your base die (the 1d#) gets, the more difficult it is to actually beat something near or below your power level.

We've decided to address this, and we've come up with 4 solutions to do so. Please note that these are vague concepts and don't have hard-and-fast rules attached to them yet. Every single one of these will be fine-tuned, tested, and tweaked to offer the best experience we can. This is more of a broad-strokes, philosophy-type decision than a details decision. We will make the best out of any of these and present it to you when it's ready.

1) "Fudge" dice
"Fudge" dice is the nickname given to a set of new die rules that would utilize unique multi-sided die that have 3 different results -- negative, zero, and positive (-, 0, +). This "die pool" system adds up the positives and negatives to choose an integer that can be positive or negative. A very small bonus is added onto the final result of the pool based on a character's skill, gear, feats, and miscellaneous bonuses. The GM then assigns the final result a "grade" like "Terrible," "Mediocre," "Great," and "Divine."

Pros: This is the most efficient and easiest of the options, and allows characters to be written and played with minimal mathematical effort. The dice rolling is done all in the dicebot with minimal input on the player's part. This system is VERY lightweight and easy to comprehend. This system emphasizes storytelling and roleplay, as it is easiest to assign small but meaningful bonuses and penalties according to context.

Cons: This is the least utilitarian of the options. Customization will be vastly cut down because there are only so many different ways to reflect a bonus or a penalty in the fudge system, so redundancy will force a lot of fat-trimming in the system. This system poorly reflects characters' individuality in die rolls.

2) Static dice
Static die is simple and familiar; it is assigning a dice value that every single roll will be made on with bonus attached to the end of it. This is 1d20, 1d100, 1d60, whatever we choose.

Pros: This option is extremely level, very predictable, familiar, and relatively easy to use. It allows for continued use of customization options.

Cons: "Boring." This stagnant die doesn't change under normal circumstances, and it lends itself to bonus stacking. It is a poor representation of a character's individuality.

3) Dice "steps"
This system utilizes a base die (1d#) that increases at regular increments according to a character's ability. The testing form has used Skill Levels as the deciding factor, so as a character's skill levels go higher, the base die changes at regular intervals. A "bonus tail" would still be used, but would exclude whichever factor is used in determining base die.

Pros: Familiar. "Steps" is a compromise between static die and the DW's current iteration. It scales to a character's ability and allows for continued -- albeit reduced -- customization. By nature, this die system provides a "power cap" that keeps some characters from escaping others while maintaining a hierarchy of achievement.

Cons: Familiar. The "bonus tail" on Steps can unbalance the rolling if not rigidly maintained, leading to vast power gaps if too much bonus is added onto the end. Variance gaps exist, slightly larger than "fudge" dice, but considerably less than legacy dice.

4) "Legacy" dice
The DW's current "rolling base" die system, in which the bonus directly influences the base die (1d#).

Pros: Familiar. This is what we've been using for 14 years and it has served us well. By adding a new function into Kefka, these rolls can be made expedious and simple by simply using a 1dw+# command, which will automatically calculate the base die and take a burden off of many players.

Cons: Lends itself to wide variance gaps between characters' abilities, emphasizing bonus stacking and can lead to out-of-control power gaps between characters of similar abilities.

Please choose one of these four options, even if you're ambivalent towards the end result. We need as many of your inputs as possible so that we can best tailor the experience to as many as possible.

Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Craig
Tony
AJ
Packie
Jamie
Brendan
Cody
Kalem
Lily
Lana
Tony
Aide-de-Camp
Posts: 831
Joined: October 10th, 2008, 9:41 pm
Location: Lubbock, Texas

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