Deleted_Account
Mongoose
This varient brings back multiple levels of success to RQ.
Low-skill characters have a relatively high chance of getting a minor success. This makes low-skills not completely useless -- you can swing a sword and have it at least vaguely threaten someone.
As your skill goes up, your chance of getting a minor success approaches certainty. When this starts to happen, the rate of a major success starts climbing faster.
Major successes represent something between a crit and a normal success. A swing that is hard to parry, and threatens an extra attack if it connects.
I do this while requiring less math than the standard RQ rules.
First, when you roll your d%, check both directions.
If you roll a 5 2, check both 5 2 and 2 5. If either one beats your skill, you succeed.
If both beat your skill, you majorly succeed.
If you roll doubles and you beat your skill, you crit. No more dividing by 10 -- just look for doubles.
If you roll 00, you botch.
Example, if you have a 60% skill:
33: Double, less than 60%. A crit.
75: 57 is less than 60, but 75 isn't. A minor success.
29: 29 is less than 60, but 92 isn't. A minor success.
05: 05 is less than 60, and 50 is less than 60. A major success.
78: 78 is greater than 60, and 87 is greater than 60. A failure.
00: Double zero, botch.
Combat chart:
Dodge vs Attack:
Parry vs Attack:
If the defender chooses not to defend, use the Fail column.
Possible results:
Min: do minimium damage
Hit: do normal damage
Major: Halve Armor OR Special
Crit: Ignore Armor OR do Max Damage+Special
Counter: Defender can choose to consume a reaction to counter attack the attacker.
Give: Defender may choose to give ground and take no damage, or hold his ground and take min damage.
1*AP: apply the weapon's AP against the attack.
2*AP: apply twice the weapon's AP against the attack.
Special:
Slashing: Slice.
If the location is armoed, lose 1d4 AP on the armor at that location. This happens after the armor is applied to the attack.
If the target takes at least 1 point of damage, the target takes 1 damage for the next 1d3 rounds from bleeding to that location.
Crushing: Smash.
If a limb is hit, it is useless for 1d4 rounds.
If the chest is hit, the target is knocked prone, and takes 1 fatigue level.
(-10% to all actions, and possibly more)
If the head is hit, the target takes 2 fatigue levels.
(-20% to all actions, -1 m movement, and possibly more)
Piercing: Impale.
If weapon does at least 1 point of damage (ie, gets past armor), then the target is Impaled. The weapon does an extra MIN+1 damage (Armor ignored) when withdrawn.
The attacker may withdraw it immediately, or may choose to leave the weapon in the target, in which case it does 1 point of damage if on every action or reaction by the target, other than "do nothing and grit in pain". The impaled target may choose to remove the weapon with an action.
...
One could instead use previous RQ version's "Special" effects for Major successes.
In case you are curious, the curve for Major successes looks something like:
with the /'s being the old-style success curve.
The curve for "normal" successes is the mirror of the major success curve across the old-tyle success curve.
The chance of a crit is 1/11th of your skill (pretty close to 1/10th).
Mathematically, if you have a skill that is P%
Major, or better: roughly P^2
Minor, or better: rougly 1-P^2
Crit: roughly P/11
Botch: 1%
Failure: roughly (1-P)^2
Edit:
The effects on success. First, a Minor Success is easier to get under this system. At 50% skill, you have a 75% chance of getting a Minor Success or better.
10% skill: ~19% chance Minor or better, 1% Major
25% skill: ~44% chance Minor or better, 6% Major or better, 2% Crit.
50% skill: 75% Minor or better, 25% Major or better, 4% Crit.
75% skill: ~94% chance Minor or better, ~56% chance Major or better, 6% crit
90% skill: ~99% chance Minor or better, ~81% Major or better, 8% Crit
In effect, at each 1% increase in skill, you gain a total of 2% spread between Minor Or Better and Major Or Better success chance.
At low skills, your Minor success rate goes up fast. By 70% or so, it slows down.
At low skills, your Major success rate barely moves.
At high skills, your Major success rate climbs quickly.
The following remains true:
Major Or Better + Minor Or Better = Skill * 2
This allows low-skill soldiers to at least swing the sword in the general direction of the target, while high-skill soldiers swing in a way that is hard to hit.
If you value Minor successes as 1, Major successes as 3, Botches as -1, and Crits as 3, the average result of a roll is Skill * 2.09 - 1%.
Alternative 1: Doubles on failure are Fumbles (-1), and 00 is a Botch (-2). Fumbles when attacking combat cost you 1 reaction or 1 action to recover. Botches cost 1 action and 1 reaction to recover.
When defending, Fumbles are identical to Botches, except a Botch also costs you an extra Reaction.
Alternative 2: Doubles on failure are Minor Successes, except 00 which is a Botch. Then rolls under 5% are not auto-successes: instead doubles are auto-successes.
Low-skill characters have a relatively high chance of getting a minor success. This makes low-skills not completely useless -- you can swing a sword and have it at least vaguely threaten someone.
As your skill goes up, your chance of getting a minor success approaches certainty. When this starts to happen, the rate of a major success starts climbing faster.
Major successes represent something between a crit and a normal success. A swing that is hard to parry, and threatens an extra attack if it connects.
I do this while requiring less math than the standard RQ rules.
First, when you roll your d%, check both directions.
If you roll a 5 2, check both 5 2 and 2 5. If either one beats your skill, you succeed.
If both beat your skill, you majorly succeed.
If you roll doubles and you beat your skill, you crit. No more dividing by 10 -- just look for doubles.
If you roll 00, you botch.
Example, if you have a 60% skill:
33: Double, less than 60%. A crit.
75: 57 is less than 60, but 75 isn't. A minor success.
29: 29 is less than 60, but 92 isn't. A minor success.
05: 05 is less than 60, and 50 is less than 60. A major success.
78: 78 is greater than 60, and 87 is greater than 60. A failure.
00: Double zero, botch.
Combat chart:
Dodge vs Attack:
Code:
Botch Fail Dodge Major Crit
Hit Major Hit Min Give Counter
Major Crit Major Hit Min Give
Crit Crit Crit Major Hit MinParry vs Attack:
Code:
Botch Fail Parry Major Crit
Hit Major Hit 1*AP 2*AP Counter
Major Crit Major Hit 1*AP 2*AP
Crit Crit Crit Major Hit 1*APIf the defender chooses not to defend, use the Fail column.
Possible results:
Min: do minimium damage
Hit: do normal damage
Major: Halve Armor OR Special
Crit: Ignore Armor OR do Max Damage+Special
Counter: Defender can choose to consume a reaction to counter attack the attacker.
Give: Defender may choose to give ground and take no damage, or hold his ground and take min damage.
1*AP: apply the weapon's AP against the attack.
2*AP: apply twice the weapon's AP against the attack.
Special:
Slashing: Slice.
If the location is armoed, lose 1d4 AP on the armor at that location. This happens after the armor is applied to the attack.
If the target takes at least 1 point of damage, the target takes 1 damage for the next 1d3 rounds from bleeding to that location.
Crushing: Smash.
If a limb is hit, it is useless for 1d4 rounds.
If the chest is hit, the target is knocked prone, and takes 1 fatigue level.
(-10% to all actions, and possibly more)
If the head is hit, the target takes 2 fatigue levels.
(-20% to all actions, -1 m movement, and possibly more)
Piercing: Impale.
If weapon does at least 1 point of damage (ie, gets past armor), then the target is Impaled. The weapon does an extra MIN+1 damage (Armor ignored) when withdrawn.
The attacker may withdraw it immediately, or may choose to leave the weapon in the target, in which case it does 1 point of damage if on every action or reaction by the target, other than "do nothing and grit in pain". The impaled target may choose to remove the weapon with an action.
...
One could instead use previous RQ version's "Special" effects for Major successes.
In case you are curious, the curve for Major successes looks something like:
Code:
/
/ |
/ .
/ .
/ ^
/ .^
/ .^
/ ..-^
/..--^with the /'s being the old-style success curve.
The curve for "normal" successes is the mirror of the major success curve across the old-tyle success curve.
The chance of a crit is 1/11th of your skill (pretty close to 1/10th).
Mathematically, if you have a skill that is P%
Major, or better: roughly P^2
Minor, or better: rougly 1-P^2
Crit: roughly P/11
Botch: 1%
Failure: roughly (1-P)^2
Edit:
The effects on success. First, a Minor Success is easier to get under this system. At 50% skill, you have a 75% chance of getting a Minor Success or better.
10% skill: ~19% chance Minor or better, 1% Major
25% skill: ~44% chance Minor or better, 6% Major or better, 2% Crit.
50% skill: 75% Minor or better, 25% Major or better, 4% Crit.
75% skill: ~94% chance Minor or better, ~56% chance Major or better, 6% crit
90% skill: ~99% chance Minor or better, ~81% Major or better, 8% Crit
In effect, at each 1% increase in skill, you gain a total of 2% spread between Minor Or Better and Major Or Better success chance.
At low skills, your Minor success rate goes up fast. By 70% or so, it slows down.
At low skills, your Major success rate barely moves.
At high skills, your Major success rate climbs quickly.
The following remains true:
Major Or Better + Minor Or Better = Skill * 2
This allows low-skill soldiers to at least swing the sword in the general direction of the target, while high-skill soldiers swing in a way that is hard to hit.
If you value Minor successes as 1, Major successes as 3, Botches as -1, and Crits as 3, the average result of a roll is Skill * 2.09 - 1%.
Alternative 1: Doubles on failure are Fumbles (-1), and 00 is a Botch (-2). Fumbles when attacking combat cost you 1 reaction or 1 action to recover. Botches cost 1 action and 1 reaction to recover.
When defending, Fumbles are identical to Botches, except a Botch also costs you an extra Reaction.
Alternative 2: Doubles on failure are Minor Successes, except 00 which is a Botch. Then rolls under 5% are not auto-successes: instead doubles are auto-successes.
