I don’t know if I like the D8 as the base die. The chance of success is lower than with a D6. Don‘t know if it’s your intention to make the game harder. IMO a 6 is hard enough.
I totally understand. However, with Trauma being handled with pools and attributes not degrading, I found starting PCs way too powerful in my earlier playtest (with D6s). I know that changing Trauma to be handled similarly to MYZ / FBL Editor mitigate this, but there are some conscious design decisions that led me to making it as it stands:
- I want to push the envelope of what the Year Zero engine (YZE) is capable of. An alt setting with just the names changed isn't enough of a creative challenge for me, and I am really excited to see how far this engine can be flexed.
- The MYZ / FBL Trauma mechanic is not universally loved. My 2 groups are split, and I'm sure this will carry over outside of my own gaming tables.
- One of my major motivations is to make a "WFRP-Lite" game using the YZE. Hence I am trying to emulate some of the mechanics here.
- Dice pool sizes will be getting tweaked (esp bonus dice from weapons) to ensure that stunts and weapon crits aren't exceedingly rare. This is probably the hardest thing to balance.
There are a few things I could do to really shake things up. For example, I could use a "Skill Die" simular to Savage Worlds. Basically, each level in a skill would provide a single die upgrade. So at Skill Level 1, you get a D8, at Level 2 you get a D10, and at Level 3 you get a D12. Artifact Dice multi-successes would also apply, so a 10-11 would be 2 successes, and a 12 would be 3. Attributes and gear would still use a D8.
This method would keep the game unforgiving for unskilled characters, but would allow those with skill to be much more effective.
Anyway, not sure if that convinces you of my aims, but I have been putting a LOT of thought into this.
I make YZE games (https://drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?author=Matt%20Kay) and produce predominately Free League content on my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@3skulls)