JohnWithAgun
Topic Author
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat 18 Jun 2022, 14:27

lack of DC to modify

Mon 02 Jan 2023, 14:03

Hi fellow game masters.

How do you guys feel about the omission of of a difficulty class system / roll modifiers ?
As i have gone through the rules, it appears bane and boon are all the tools i have, so in turns of making things harder i have one dial to turn... well switch to flip in this case :P
With the average roll of a bane being 14ish, it feels like it will be very limiting in the long term, am i alone in fearing this?

Something like death saves and injury rolls appears to me like they would be very hard to fail with a high constitution score for instance, even with banes in place.
I suppose simply not allowing the players to roll for something if they have to many odds stacked against them is an option, but it seems like a big buzz-kill thing to do.

I like the idea of bane and boons but i am not sure it can stand alone, how does the rest of you feel on this topic?
 
Original AJ
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue 24 May 2022, 16:12

Re: lack of DC to modify

Mon 02 Jan 2023, 16:05

It works for me, the system is designed to be fast and simple with minimal maths.
Also, according to my analysis the averages for Bane, Normal and Boon are 7.175, 10.5 and 13.825 so a bane is pretty serious.
 
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Melvin
Posts: 121
Joined: Sun 22 Dec 2019, 01:45

Re: lack of DC to modify

Mon 02 Jan 2023, 19:58

You may also say it's impossible or that it needs first another roll (acrobatics to put yourself in good position for example) then another (attack?). And you can say there is a bane for the first or second roll, or maybe both!

You may also say that, like riding and weapons on a horse, you want the worst skill between two of them on the character sheet. And that it can have a bane (or not).

So even with the rules as written now you may have some fun AND mitigate the difficulty.
 
JohnWithAgun
Topic Author
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat 18 Jun 2022, 14:27

Re: lack of DC to modify

Thu 12 Jan 2023, 10:01

the TTRPG system, Shadow of the demon lord have a boon / bane system as well.

A bane/boon is a D6. They cancel each other out same as here. After you roll you read the D20 result and add/subtract the highest boon/bane result.
So a bane is anywhere between 1-6 with a higher likelihood of high result the more you have.

I think this system is nice and could be edited[copied]/home-brewed straight into Dragonbane.
 
Arioch1973
Posts: 61
Joined: Tue 30 Aug 2022, 16:45

Re: lack of DC to modify

Fri 13 Jan 2023, 15:26

I agree that the lack of grades for difficulty beyond boon and bane can be problematic. There have been suggestions that you should just require more than one skill roll, with different skills to simulate increased difficulty. But the game has very few skills, and there are only so many combinations that makes sense. Previous editions (swedish: Drakar och Demoner) had modifiers based on difficulty, that lowered or increased your skill value that you roll against. It was fast and simple. Boon and bane are even faster and simpler, but comes at the cost of the GM not having that much control over the difficulty.
 
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MacDhomnuill
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed 07 Dec 2022, 06:32
Location: Kansas, US

Re: lack of DC to modify

Fri 13 Jan 2023, 19:22

I have no interest in adding anything more to task resolution, most percentile games don’t use DC or roll mods and as a long time player of BRP based games like Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, etc I don’t need or want anything more that whats in the beta.
 
RenoGM
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed 17 Oct 2018, 04:20

Re: lack of DC to modify

Tue 24 Jan 2023, 02:31

I definitely do not want to see some sort of Difficulty rating. Part of the appeal of this game (for me) is that as a GM I can call for a check and I do not have to set any sort of difficulty and no one needs to add or subtract modifiers. This makes the game even easier to run and play extremely fast.
1. GM calls for a check.
2. Player instantly knows what they need to roll.
I love that! There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of RPG's with degrees of difficulty if that is more a GM's style.
 
JohnWithAgun
Topic Author
Posts: 134
Joined: Sat 18 Jun 2022, 14:27

Re: lack of DC to modify

Tue 24 Jan 2023, 09:34

I definitely do not want to see some sort of Difficulty rating. Part of the appeal of this game (for me) is that as a GM I can call for a check and I do not have to set any sort of difficulty and no one needs to add or subtract modifiers. This makes the game even easier to run and play extremely fast.
1. GM calls for a check.
2. Player instantly knows what they need to roll.
I love that! There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of RPG's with degrees of difficulty if that is more a GM's style.
You don't fear the player progression will come to a point were making a check is pointless?

A bane vs skill 18 ? and if the players have a way to negate that bane it becomes even worse :)
example
Dodging an attack from the troll under the bridge in Startingvile holds the same difficulty as dodging an attack from Sabatron the vile darkness, demon of the blackest pit.

but i do agree current form makes the game easy and fast.
 
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Short Fey
Posts: 398
Joined: Sat 03 Dec 2022, 14:45

Re: lack of DC to modify

Tue 24 Jan 2023, 10:50

I definitely do not want to see some sort of Difficulty rating. Part of the appeal of this game (for me) is that as a GM I can call for a check and I do not have to set any sort of difficulty and no one needs to add or subtract modifiers. This makes the game even easier to run and play extremely fast.
1. GM calls for a check.
2. Player instantly knows what they need to roll.
I love that! There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of RPG's with degrees of difficulty if that is more a GM's style.
You don't fear the player progression will come to a point were making a check is pointless?

A bane vs skill 18 ? and if the players have a way to negate that bane it becomes even worse :)
example
Dodging an attack from the troll under the bridge in Startingvile holds the same difficulty as dodging an attack from Sabatron the vile darkness, demon of the blackest pit.

but i do agree current form makes the game easy and fast.
I'm 50/50 on this.

I do agree there should be something to make rolls harder because as you say, once high enough banes don't pose a problem. And some actions should pose s challenge more than others.

But i want them too keep the streamlined approch as much as possible. One of the reasons i am interested in this game is how simple it is too run and my players agree. There have been games i been tempted to try but been put off due to all the modifers you gotta keep track off.

But i also think that while yes, once at 18 you can handel most problems eadily, is'nt that kinda the point?
You invested A LOT of advancment marks to get there, just so you can take on any checks coming your way with that skill.

And even then it is not necesserily easy to get there. Last play session a player got a total of three advancments in a skill they where 12 in (traning, free and a dragon roll). They failed all three. Bad luck sure but each time you go up the next mark gets 5% reduced in chance of increasing. So statistically it can take a long time to get to 18, only happening quickly if your really lucky.
Beware the fey!
 
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Mcgibs
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun 29 Jan 2023, 01:22

Re: lack of DC to modify

Wed 01 Feb 2023, 18:00

How does math work out with the stacking of multiple Banes? Like, there's nothing really mechanical stopping just adding more dice to the "bane pool". If a character is dazed, trying to push open an iron door while slipping in the mud being chased by goblins, they might have to roll 3 or 4 D20's and take the worst result.

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