Success Rate

Discussion on game mastering Fading Suns. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
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Darksyde
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Success Rate

Postby Darksyde » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:07 pm

So, odd segue but I've been playing in a RT game recently and the stat as target roll under mechanic is similar to FS, just percentile instead of a d20. What we have noticed in our RT game is that it has made doing anything outside of your specialties early on very rough, with players way more likely to fail than succeed. Have you guys had any similar issues with FS starting characters? If you don't specialize are you pretty much up the creek without a paddle and when you do you are a one trick poney?

Bogie
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Bogie » Tue Jan 12, 2016 12:19 am

Using the LifePath system we tried to minimize the over-specialization problem a bit by spreading points around. I found that when I make characters to run for various demos they are usually good at two or three things and lacking in most others. It is possible to specialize yourself into a corner still though.
Colonel Bogie
Director - FASA Games
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Bertjammin
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Bertjammin » Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:43 am

Having run RT for sometime before picking up FS again I'd suggest that, while the probability mechanics may be similar, in RT (in fact this applies to all the WartyK rpgs) new PCs do tend to be "subject specialists" and have very tight focuses. This isn't such an issue in FS. Not to say that you don't get "one trick ponies" but it's more like the areas of focus you get have wider applications than the more niche characters in the FFG 40k games.

I think a large part of this is due to the Lifepath system and while you can point build a PC I insist that my players use the life paths to create rounded and "setting applicable" characters.

I also find it's important to make sure that players know what their PC is capable of and good at. I've had a couple of occasions where people have followed a life path and created their concept (which they are happy with) but haven't stopped to look at the numbers they have and consider what they mean. You might think your Hawkwood scion is a wonderful leader but if you bought Dex and combat skills rather than Presence and social skills you are going to be playing them wrong (or you built them wrong).

I'd also say that there is a onus on the GM to build adventures and encounters that match the PCs abilities and focus. If you have a group of intrigue focused Decados courtiers throwing them at an abundantly tentacled Symbiot host is going to make for a one sided encounter. (Another reason why I never run published adventures without modification)

In a nutshell:

* Use the life paths
* But don't let the player do it unaccompanied
* When they've finished, walk them through the character to make sure it meets their expectation of what they want to do in game
* Write appropriate encounters, dramas and epics.
"The crazy ol' Vorox"

Something witty, pithy and observant ought to go here.

Oh well.

Follow my current campaign and my general musings about GMing Fading Suns at: http://trialsofarcadia.blogspot.co.uk/

Leviathan of Maddoc
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Leviathan of Maddoc » Tue Jan 12, 2016 5:15 pm

I've found that for FS and other closed roll single-die test systems it helps to pepper the game with a number of tests that have bonuses, usually for non-dramatic,t not crucial rolls. If you roll against your worst stat 12 times in one game even if you roll fairly well you feel like your character has no utilty. If you roll against a broader spectrum of abilities, especially the ones your character is focused on, you feel more capable in the game.

Bogie
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Bogie » Tue Jan 12, 2016 8:09 pm

Colonel Bogie
Director - FASA Games
Line Developer - Fading Suns / Noble Armada
Hail Freedonia!

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Bertjammin
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Bertjammin » Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:39 am

"The crazy ol' Vorox"

Something witty, pithy and observant ought to go here.

Oh well.

Follow my current campaign and my general musings about GMing Fading Suns at: http://trialsofarcadia.blogspot.co.uk/

Leviathan of Maddoc
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Leviathan of Maddoc » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:01 pm

And really it doesn't hurt your game to throw out a +1 to the roll on a whim. +1 on a D20 roll doesn't really start to shift the odds in any real way unless the character is just terrible at that skill. There's no shortage of reasons to to give players a little help. Slaver trying to intimidate someone who doesn't want to be a slave? +1. Reeve trying to convince someone he's telling the truth while dressed in court robes? +1. Charioteer running the pre-flight take-off they've done 10,000 times in a ship they know better than their wife? Have two +1s. If it's not a situation where realistically the player should be rolling with a penalty, it's ok to give a small bonus.

Darksyde
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Darksyde » Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:27 pm

Thank you for all the input! Some great tips and advice that I"m sure I'll use.

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Bertjammin
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Re: Success Rate

Postby Bertjammin » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:13 am

"The crazy ol' Vorox"

Something witty, pithy and observant ought to go here.

Oh well.

Follow my current campaign and my general musings about GMing Fading Suns at: http://trialsofarcadia.blogspot.co.uk/


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