Deleriad
Mongoose
I'm always interested in figuring out what the mechanics behind a system are. Something that's interesting but not immediately apparently about MRQ is that it features three types of skill test percentile roll.
1) Simple skill tests. We all know these. Roll smaller than or equal to the target number to win.
2) Opposed skill tests. Again this is pretty clear from the book. All participants roll and the one who rolls best, wins.
3) Reaction skill tests. This is the type of skill test that is not explicitly named. It is what the "1 roll" dodge and parry tests are. Basically this is a 2-step process. 1) the first roller rolls; if the result is a success the result is put on the table otherwise the reactor does not need to do anything 2) the reactor rolls and tries to beat the roll that is on the table.
A reaction skill test is not the same as an opposed skills test though, clearly it is similar. In theory it could be used for any contest in which one person acts before the other - even if only a split-second before. For example, if someone in a bardic contest sings first then the next singer can try and beat the performance.
This not a statement about whether or not this is a bad system - just interesting (to me). For comparison, RQ3 also had 3 types of percentile rolls:
1) simple tests, 2) resistance table rolls, 3) opposed rolls (e.g. scan vs stealth).
1) Simple skill tests. We all know these. Roll smaller than or equal to the target number to win.
2) Opposed skill tests. Again this is pretty clear from the book. All participants roll and the one who rolls best, wins.
3) Reaction skill tests. This is the type of skill test that is not explicitly named. It is what the "1 roll" dodge and parry tests are. Basically this is a 2-step process. 1) the first roller rolls; if the result is a success the result is put on the table otherwise the reactor does not need to do anything 2) the reactor rolls and tries to beat the roll that is on the table.
A reaction skill test is not the same as an opposed skills test though, clearly it is similar. In theory it could be used for any contest in which one person acts before the other - even if only a split-second before. For example, if someone in a bardic contest sings first then the next singer can try and beat the performance.
This not a statement about whether or not this is a bad system - just interesting (to me). For comparison, RQ3 also had 3 types of percentile rolls:
1) simple tests, 2) resistance table rolls, 3) opposed rolls (e.g. scan vs stealth).