Dalton Calford
March 10th, 2022, 16:55
Hi MBM,
I hope you and your family are feeling better.
I have been away for awhile using foundry and the sandbox system for playing Traveller. It has it's benefits, but, although I have invested a great deal in the FGU version of Traveller, I have not been using it as our group changed the mechanics of how we do our task system.
The basics of the task system that we use gives more weight to attributes and skills.
You begin with the basic difficulty just like regular Traveller - that gives you the target number (for ease of use, each difficulty target number is 5 higher then the previous)
The target number for comparison to the current system is as follows
Automatic (0) (Level 0) (no chance of fumble)
Simple (5+) (Level 1) (no chance of fumble)
Easy (10+) (Level 2) (no chance of fumble)
Routine (15+) (Level 3) (Fumble on natural roll of 2)
Average (20+) (Level 4) (Fumble on natural roll of 2)
Difficult (25+) (Level 5) (Fumble on natural roll of 3 or less)
Very Difficult (30+) (Level 6) (Fumble on natural roll of 4 or less)
Formidable (35+) (Level 7) (Fumble on natural roll of 5 or less)
Impossible (40+) (Level 8) (Fumble on natural roll of 6 or less)
Time modifies the difficulty based upon the number of time steps you are going up or down ie shift from Minutes to 10 second increments is one step higher in difficulty, or if you are taking your time, one step lower in difficulty.
Jump two steps and it is 2 difficulty levels up or down
Three time steps ie Jumping from hours to seconds, jumps four levels of difficulty
Four time steps is eight levels of difficulty etc. So something that should take minutes as a formidable task becomes automatic if you decide to take 1d6 10 hour blocks to try it. But, the odds of fumble from the original difficulty do not reduce. (just because you took more time, does not mitigate risk)
Difficulty is modified by skills - for example, a Routine task is becomes Easy for someone with 1 level in the skill ie, skills drop difficulty on a 1:1 basis
Level 0 skills do not modify difficulty, meaning an average person (attribute level 7) with basic training in the skill will be able to succeed on a roll of 8+
Average skills are average for those with an assumed skill level of 1, which make average tasks, routine for skill level 1 or Easy for skill level 2 etc.
JOT is a flat bonus to the die roll, but does not reduce the difficulty of the task
No skill increases difficulty by 1 or more levels depending upon the characters awareness of the task ie a caveman trying to operate a mainframe would bump the difficulty by multiple levels.
The core mechanic is as follows
2D6 (boon or bane applies)
Add Attribute ( ie if current strength 7, add 7 to the above roll)
Add Dice Modifiers
Add Equipment modifiers
If you roll the fumble result on the dice, consider the roll to be a failure with an effect of -6 or less. The fumble rules prevent players from gaming the time system to keep taking long periods of time to do tasks. It also puts extra risks on rushing jobs.
Once you have your Die Roll total, compare it to your Difficulty number.
The difference between your die roll total and the target number is your effect level.
For task chains, your task chain effect is based upon your effect divided by 5, round up - ie beat the roll by 0-5, +1, 6-10, +2 etc
This system means that your attribute is your bonus.
Skills or lack of skills modify difficulty.
Equipment such as a custom grip or laser sights, give bonuses but do not outweigh the bonuses from natural ability or skills
So, from an interface standpoint, nothing changes.
Our group enjoys this as it balances out attributes, equipment etc. It really makes the attributes feel important as an attribute of 6 is very different from 7 etc, and this makes taking damage and other such effects even more telling.
It would be nice if there was a way of defining the die roll/resolution mechanics and selecting it as an option.
This is just a suggestion/request, but it would allow me to come back to the FGU system and if the method is documented, allow other players to incorporate their own house rules using the current framework.
best regards
Dalton
I hope you and your family are feeling better.
I have been away for awhile using foundry and the sandbox system for playing Traveller. It has it's benefits, but, although I have invested a great deal in the FGU version of Traveller, I have not been using it as our group changed the mechanics of how we do our task system.
The basics of the task system that we use gives more weight to attributes and skills.
You begin with the basic difficulty just like regular Traveller - that gives you the target number (for ease of use, each difficulty target number is 5 higher then the previous)
The target number for comparison to the current system is as follows
Automatic (0) (Level 0) (no chance of fumble)
Simple (5+) (Level 1) (no chance of fumble)
Easy (10+) (Level 2) (no chance of fumble)
Routine (15+) (Level 3) (Fumble on natural roll of 2)
Average (20+) (Level 4) (Fumble on natural roll of 2)
Difficult (25+) (Level 5) (Fumble on natural roll of 3 or less)
Very Difficult (30+) (Level 6) (Fumble on natural roll of 4 or less)
Formidable (35+) (Level 7) (Fumble on natural roll of 5 or less)
Impossible (40+) (Level 8) (Fumble on natural roll of 6 or less)
Time modifies the difficulty based upon the number of time steps you are going up or down ie shift from Minutes to 10 second increments is one step higher in difficulty, or if you are taking your time, one step lower in difficulty.
Jump two steps and it is 2 difficulty levels up or down
Three time steps ie Jumping from hours to seconds, jumps four levels of difficulty
Four time steps is eight levels of difficulty etc. So something that should take minutes as a formidable task becomes automatic if you decide to take 1d6 10 hour blocks to try it. But, the odds of fumble from the original difficulty do not reduce. (just because you took more time, does not mitigate risk)
Difficulty is modified by skills - for example, a Routine task is becomes Easy for someone with 1 level in the skill ie, skills drop difficulty on a 1:1 basis
Level 0 skills do not modify difficulty, meaning an average person (attribute level 7) with basic training in the skill will be able to succeed on a roll of 8+
Average skills are average for those with an assumed skill level of 1, which make average tasks, routine for skill level 1 or Easy for skill level 2 etc.
JOT is a flat bonus to the die roll, but does not reduce the difficulty of the task
No skill increases difficulty by 1 or more levels depending upon the characters awareness of the task ie a caveman trying to operate a mainframe would bump the difficulty by multiple levels.
The core mechanic is as follows
2D6 (boon or bane applies)
Add Attribute ( ie if current strength 7, add 7 to the above roll)
Add Dice Modifiers
Add Equipment modifiers
If you roll the fumble result on the dice, consider the roll to be a failure with an effect of -6 or less. The fumble rules prevent players from gaming the time system to keep taking long periods of time to do tasks. It also puts extra risks on rushing jobs.
Once you have your Die Roll total, compare it to your Difficulty number.
The difference between your die roll total and the target number is your effect level.
For task chains, your task chain effect is based upon your effect divided by 5, round up - ie beat the roll by 0-5, +1, 6-10, +2 etc
This system means that your attribute is your bonus.
Skills or lack of skills modify difficulty.
Equipment such as a custom grip or laser sights, give bonuses but do not outweigh the bonuses from natural ability or skills
So, from an interface standpoint, nothing changes.
Our group enjoys this as it balances out attributes, equipment etc. It really makes the attributes feel important as an attribute of 6 is very different from 7 etc, and this makes taking damage and other such effects even more telling.
It would be nice if there was a way of defining the die roll/resolution mechanics and selecting it as an option.
This is just a suggestion/request, but it would allow me to come back to the FGU system and if the method is documented, allow other players to incorporate their own house rules using the current framework.
best regards
Dalton