X dice by Y skill task system

[RobertFisher]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Rolling X dice by Y Skill has been quite successful:

Ever since I first read about the T4 task system, I've thought that something along the lines of roll 1D per skill level + characteristic score vs. difficulty based TN could work.

e.g. Maria Charles from the BITS Task System example would roll 4D+10 for Forgery-4 & Int A vs. whatever the Staggering TN would be.

I don't know that it quite works, though. The characteristic still maybe has too much influence. Maybe using d12s instead of d6s, halving the characteristic, or giving 2D per skill level?

& the TNs would still need to be worked out...

 

[robject]

No, the characteristic wouldn't be too heavy, if you let skill levels roam higher than CT and MT levels.

 

[aramis]

But, truth be told, there is no reason in T5 draft to take skills above 6; slap the remaining points on the pers dev tables.

Now, if we're going to talk about lots of dice...I'm preferential to the HG style mechanic: read the highest single die. Doublets count at face +1; triplets at face +2, etc... so a roll of 4,4,4,4,5,6 reusults in a 7 (4 plus the quad bonus of +3 = 7), and 6,6,6,6=9, and roll for a low fixed difficulty.

 

[robject]

In fact, that's what my wife did when we generated a couple dozen characters. She spent so many term rolls on the physical development table that her skill set is broad and shallow.

6 is a decent skill level, and spending more time on the phys + mental dev tables might make up for shortfalls. Even though we've rolled many T5 characters, I don't yet have a feel as to what the best balance is.

The short of it is, to be (for example) a certified Pilot, the character will need a skill + characteristic of 18, or will have to 'take a test' to attain it. A skill level of 6 and a characteristic of 12 would suffice. And if you expect to be attempting 'Hopeless' tasks, a skill level of 7 is needed.