Other Editions and Rules I Like

[Sigtrygg]

No.
The character succeeds if they roll a success.
The player knows their dice roll. A DM fail doesn't trump a PC success.

The interesting thing is if the player rolls a failure - they don't know if they have failed or not.

I agree about the each roll a d6 - simple and fast.

 

[WHULorigan]

This is my favourite rule too, and something I've not seen in other games in quite this form.

Uncertain Tasks, like all of the Task system, first appeared in the Traveller's Digest by DGP, starting with an article on how to set task difficulty in a consistent way across skills and eventually being a 1-page task system cheat sheet in each issue, published alongside the Grand Tour scenario.

It was also carried forward into T5. And in that system, since it is a [multi-D6] roll-low system with [# of dice] = Difficulty, the GM can specify the number of uncertain dice.

The player assumes that each die rolled by the GM is a "3" and bases his estimation on that total. (He of course can also know that the minimum and maximum that the GM can roll on any of those dice are 1 and 6, of course, and can add that information to his decision process).

 

[WHULorigan]

It’s the roll under aspect that gets me. Even in D10 percentile systems, cheering for low numbers on a dice roll just feels wrong.

But there is a certain elegance to +/-1 die per difficulty level adjustment.

Roll-under never bothered me (neither does the ½D (or D3) in T4/T5 that some people loathe for some reason). I also like the elegance of the +/-1 die per Difficulty-level adjustment, but the problem some people had was that the system as presented seemed to make Characteristic Stats overpowered as compared to Skill-levels in the Task-Resolution system, since your target number was based on your controlling stat and modified by your skill-level (and any other mods) for a roll-under target-number. That is why T4.1 and T5 introduced the "This is Hard" Rule when your skill-level was less than the task-difficulty level. But I think that makes the system more clunky (although it works).

The better (and more elegant) House-Rule (that I am surprised GDW/IG/FFE never developed) is to make skill-levels subtract a difficulty die per skill level instead of add a +1 Mod to the Task # per skill level. That pits skill directly against the difficulty and resolves the stat-dominance problem and relieves the need for the "This is Hard" Rule.

 

[Arkathan]

I really enjoyed West End Games Star Wars roleplaying game's dice pool mechanic; you had a number of dice available to roll based on attribute or skill level; add them up and try to score higher than the target number (generally a multiple of 5). My only change for that game would be to give a -1 per die, so that even amazingly skilled 15d6 checks might still score a zero.

It was a fun approach; and rolling a bunch of dice basically guaranteed success at simple tasks. I'm not sure how well it would carry over into Traveller, though. Maybe a pool of 4 + (Modifier from appropriate Characteristic) + skill level; -1 per die for results of 0 to 5 per die; -3 per die for unskilled, Jack-of-Trades reduces that penalty by one for each level of JoT. If you want extra space-opera, allow rolls of six to 'explode'. Various modifiers are only applied to the total rolled, or to the target number.

Yes.
We mixed in the Star Warriors game with the micromachines as minis on an SFB mapsheet. Then the Micromachines troops on FASA ship/station sheets for boarding actions. Did a lot of scenarios from the X-Wing games and Rogue Squadron.
Got assigned to a different shift for a while, and they ran into the problem you highlighted under a different DM.
With my game, they used points to improve their ships, and got them shot out from under them often enough that we never saw the uber skills.

 

[Yatima]

DGP's Digest magazine issue 1.

Actually, looking back through my collection, Uncertain Tasks were not introduced in DGP's Traveller's Digest magazine issue 1 after all. If you look at the first four issues of the Traveller's Digest the task system is introduced gradually:

• Issue 1: The article 'Using Skills Effectively' introduces the concept of Simple, Routine, Difficult and Formidable Tasks as well as the 3, 7, 11, 15 roll mechanic.
• Issue 2: The article 'Easy Task Definition' introduces the concepts of Task Duration and Repeatability, as well as the compound stat Determination.
• Issue 3: The article 'Damage and Repair' introduces the concept of Damage levels, adapted from Striker to fit the task system.
• Issue 4: The article 'Accidents and Mishaps' introduces the concept of Mishaps to the Task system. Incidentally, the task system was presented as a two-page cheat sheet from this issue forward.

Uncertain tasks were actually introduced in DGP's Grand Survey (1986), forerunner to the later Worldbuilder's Handbook. They are included on the task system Cheat Sheet on page 2 and described as part of the sensor panel rules on page 13. They first appear in Traveller's Digest in issue 6 in the article 'The Referee's Guide to Using Tasks', which mentions their introduction in Grand Survey. I was not aware - always good to check the sources.

J

 

[collins355]

Actually, looking back through my collection, Uncertain Tasks were not introduced in DGP's Traveller's Digest magazine issue 1 after all. If you look at the first four issues of the Traveller's Digest the task system is introduced gradually:

• Issue 1: The article 'Using Skills Effectively' introduces the concept of Simple, Routine, Difficult and Formidable Tasks as well as the 3, 7, 11, 15 roll mechanic.
• Issue 2: The article 'Easy Task Definition' introduces the concepts of Task Duration and Repeatability, as well as the compound stat Determination.
• Issue 3: The article 'Damage and Repair' introduces the concept of Damage levels, adapted from Striker to fit the task system.
• Issue 4: The article 'Accidents and Mishaps' introduces the concept of Mishaps to the Task system. Incidentally, the task system was presented as a two-page cheat sheet from this issue forward.

Uncertain tasks were actually introduced in DGP's Grand Survey (1986), forerunner to the later Worldbuilder's Handbook. They are included on the task system Cheat Sheet on page 2 and described as part of the sensor panel rules on page 13. They first appear in Traveller's Digest in issue 6 in the article 'The Referee's Guide to Using Tasks', which mentions their introduction in Grand Survey. I was not aware - always good to check the sources.

J

Yes, and the UTP was promulgated in Challenge magazine issue 29 as the way of the future. That article said this about uncertain tasks...

 

[Geir]

While I really like the idea of uncertain rolls, and they have their place, but in the explanation, if you failed, you know it's not good, for sure. And it's more rolls.

The variant I prefer is that the player rolls one dice, the Referee the other (hidden) and announces what the player 'knows' or 'experiences' - if they (player) know they needed an adjusted 8 and rolled a 1, they know they failed and it's pretty clear that they did. If they rolled a 6, they think they're probably good, but just don't know for sure. It also allows the Referee to be 'disingenuous' , or or just silent about the difficulty of the task or other unknown factors (a.k.a. DMs).

 

[Yatima]

What I hadn't realised is that the DGP Task system was lifted and adapted for the first edition of 2300AD (Traveller: 2300AD, 1986) including uncertain tasks. The mechanic is adapted to 2300's 1D10 system, however. The DGP guys are actually credited in the Referee's book front matter:

Gary Thomas and Joe Fugate of Digest Group for their task system design and development.

 

[Sigtrygg]

The Digest magazines feature a single page summary of the task system. Sadly even with my magnifying glass I can no longer read it.