Three d100 rolls

[Deleriad]

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).

 

[Trifletraxor]

The typical sneak vs. perception opposed roll in RQ3 heavily favoured the sneak. I think MRQ's opposed roll is actually a step in the right direction, at least if houseruled a bit. SOme good suggestions have come up here on the forum already.

SGL.

 

[Lord Twig]

The typical sneak vs. perception opposed roll in RQ3 heavily favoured the sneak. I think MRQ's opposed roll is actually a step in the right direction, at least if houseruled a bit. SOme good suggestions have come up here on the forum already.

SGL.

I agree. The Mongoose opposed roll works great and returns a very nice result. The higher your skill, the better the chance you have against any opponent.

The only problem is the halving rule. Numerous fixes presented on this forum though.

 

[Utgardloki]

As I revamp the rule system into Runequest - UL, I'll be spelling this out in terms of maybe 3 or 4 types of rolls.

1. Simple rolls, as described above.

2. Action-Reaction rolls. One person makes a roll (e.g. attack, or sneak), and the other makes a reaction (dodge or perception). The trick is to make sure things are not too impossible for the action or the reaction.

3. Opposed rolls. Ideally, these would be rare. Subtypes would be immediate contests (e.g. grabbing for a gun) and extended contests (e.g., trying to throw somebody off a cliff).

4. Ability rolls. This is currently lacking in MRQ, leading to complaints about 3-STR weaklings beating 18-STR barbarians because the weakling has built up his Athletics skill. My concept is that succeeding on the skill roll (e.g. Brute Force) allows the character to treat his attribute as a bit higher than normal by 1 or a few points, and then the attributes are compared.

I've spelled out how to apply 4. above for a brute force or lifting test. The method is:

* The character rolls Brute Force.

* If the roll is a Success, he can add 1 to his effective STR for this test.

* If the roll is a Critical Success, he can add 3 to his effective STR for this test.

* If the roll is Super-Critical (less than 1% of his effective skill), he can add 5 to his effective STR for this test.

* If he spends a hero point on this test, he can add another +1 to his effective STR.

The character's effective STR is then compared to the opponent's STR or the SIZ of the object. This way, it is impossible for Mr. 3-Strength to do more than hold his own against Mr. 9-Strength, and then only as long as he can keep rolling under 1% of his effective skill and has hero points to burn.

 

[JohnLokiBeard]

+1 seems a little low for using a Hero Point; I'd say +3, as 'Hero Point = Critical without needing to roll' is an easy to remember benchmark across the system.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

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.

This is only true if you follow the Players guide PDF rather than the rule book, examples and table as it is actually written...

 

[Utgardloki]

One thing that most games do not handle elegantly is the idea of a cooperative roll.

For example: suppose a city watchman asks you what you are doing at 2 am, and the true answer is that you are running home with the loot you stole from the mayor's house before anybody notices that it is missing and sets the city guard out looking for the thief. Obviously, this means an opposed roll in which you try to lie (or at least cover up the truth) and the city guard tries to perceive the truth.

But what if you are in a room, and the mayor is lying dead in a pool of blood, and you are standing over the body holding a bloody knife, and the city watchman asks you what you are doing, and the truth is that the mayor was just killed by an assassin and you were trying to protect him, stabbing the assassin with your daggar before he teleported out of the room. You want the city watchman to know the truth, and the city watchman wants to know the truth, but the city watchman has a very strong reason to believe that you are lying.

In Runequest, this can be handled very easily by adding your Influence % to his Perception %, and making the roll. If we assume both scores are 37%, then you have a 74% chance of convincing him not to drag you off to the jail in chains.

I think in RQ-UL, the major mechanic will be "add scores together if applicable, multiply by the difficulty factor (x5 for Very Easy tasks, x1/5 for Very Hard tasks), add bonuses and penalties, then roll under." Opposed rolls would either be an Extended Contest (keep rolling until one guy succeeds and the other guy fails) or else an Immediate Contest (if both succeed or fail, the winner is the one with the higher default score).