I don't know if this was posted to TML or not, sorry if this has been
posted before.
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Category 11, Topic 26
Message 200 Thu Nov 28, 1991
LESTER.SMITH at 18:27 EST
Greetings again.
I'd like to take a minute to talk a bit about the D20 task system we're
planning for the Traveller revision.
First, the skill or attribute level you have is your target number for an
Average task. Easy is vs. twice that number; Very Easy versus four times the
number. Difficult is vs. half the number; Very Difficult vs. one-fourth. For
instance, a character with a skill level of 8 would be rolling for the
following numbers or less:
Very Easy: 32
Easy: 16
Average: 8
Difficult: 4
Very Difficult: 2
If you don't have any skill at all, you roll percentile dice vs. your
controlling attribute. For instance, an Easy test of Observation, for a
character with no Observation skill but an Intelligence (Observation's
controlling attribute) of 14 would be 28% (percentile roll vs twice the
attribute level).
A roll of 20 always misses (5% chance), and a roll of 1 always hits ( (again a
5% chance), unless the referee decides otherwise.
Now for task philosophy. Mundane, everyday tasks are not rolled for. Does the
character have an applicable skill? Yes? Then he or she succeeds. Every day
tasks with some risk of failure involved become Very Easy or Easy. Success
means PERFECT PERFORMANCE; failure means less than perfect, depending upon how
badly the roll missed by. Example: I make my Navigation skill roll exactly,
and I enter the system right on target; I fail it by 2 points, and I miss my
window by enough distance to make my landing 2 hours late (or some such
determination by the referee).
Now, some people have been arguing that a character with skill level 1 in
Traveller has roughly a 50% chance of succeeding at an Average task, while a
character with a skill level of 1 in T2K2, for instance has only a 10% chance.
That's very true. But given the change in task philosophy, a character from MT
trying for an Average task with a skill level 1 would, when converted to the
new system, be making a Very Easy task roll with a skill level of 2--a 40%
chance of success. Couple this with the fact that new system characters tend
to consolidate their skill points, rather than dispersing them quite as much,
and that reasonable tests can be made vs the related attribute, and I think
you'll find the new system works very nicely. It certainly won't leave a
universe full of bumbling fools, as might have been suspected.
As I've said before, I realize that the new system FEELS different from the
2D6 one. And that's a valid point. But the 2D6 system has some problems of
its own. My own complaints about it have always been that tough tasks price
low skill levels right out of the market, and that doesn't feel right to me
to have no chance at all if a character has at least a modicum of skill. For
instance, a MT character with a skill level of 2 has no chance of succeeding
with with a Difficult task. But the equivalent character in the new system
would have a skill level of 4, needing a 2 or less for a Difficult task and a
1 or less for a Very Difficult task.
Also, the 2D6 bell curve has always bothered me. (I realize I'm treading upon
sacred ground here, for some, but it's the truth.) A +1 modifier does not
mean the same jump for a character with skill 10 as for one with skill 6, for
instance. In the new system, a +1 is a +1 is a +1.
Those are my comments for the moment. Any questions or comments? I'd be happy
to respond.
Sincerly,
Les
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