Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)
Okay, here's the deal. I don't like extended rolls. This isn't
something born of the new WoD; I've never liked extended rolls. I can't
really think of words to express why, I'm just not comfortable with them
as printed. Part of this is my desire to see the "one success only"
theme hold true throughout, but part of it is simply me not liking to
roll or have people roll big pools every round (or whatever.)
So this is my suggested house rule for extended rolls. Opinions,
particularly on game balance issues are welcome:
Basically, a player making an extended roll gathers together the
appropriate pool of dice as given in the book, but instead of rolling
several times to accumulate X successes, the player rolls only once.
There is a penalty of -1 for every 5 successes the book says they need
(so X/5, round up) on this roll, in addition to any other applicable
bonuses or penalties. One roll decides the ultimate outcome, and the
character spends whatever amount of time is necessary to complete the
task (ST's discretion.) One success means the task has been completed.
Additional success scored can be divided by the player rolling the
pool between completing the task and reducing the time required, so if
the character really wants to get done fast, he can shunt successes away
from the actual task in an effort to get done quickly.
If a player has (and is willing) to shunt 5 successes off on getting
done quickly, then he should get done in the shortest possible time, in
keeping with the theme of 5 successes being an extraordinary success.
Obviously, this means he rolled at least 6 successes, though, since the
first success always goes to "you got it done."
As always, contested rolls between two characters compare number of
successes to determine who wins. The number of successes rolled by each
is the number of successes compared - regardless of how many are
shunted to speed or left on completion.
Possible game balance issues I can see:
It becomes more likely that extended actions end up rolling a chance
die, due to this additional (and potentially large) penalty. (not sure
if I like that or not.)
Sometimes simply getting an extraordinary success means you get done
really fast, so why would you want to shunt successes in those cases?
(Maybe you don't - if time is the primary criterion in the task at hand,
then success at all generally measures the speed with which you finish.)
Okay, here's the deal. I don't like extended rolls. This isn't
something born of the new WoD; I've never liked extended rolls. I can't
really think of words to express why, I'm just not comfortable with them
as printed. Part of this is my desire to see the "one success only"
theme hold true throughout, but part of it is simply me not liking to
roll or have people roll big pools every round (or whatever.)
So this is my suggested house rule for extended rolls. Opinions,
particularly on game balance issues are welcome:
Basically, a player making an extended roll gathers together the
appropriate pool of dice as given in the book, but instead of rolling
several times to accumulate X successes, the player rolls only once.
There is a penalty of -1 for every 5 successes the book says they need
(so X/5, round up) on this roll, in addition to any other applicable
bonuses or penalties. One roll decides the ultimate outcome, and the
character spends whatever amount of time is necessary to complete the
task (ST's discretion.) One success means the task has been completed.
Additional success scored can be divided by the player rolling the
pool between completing the task and reducing the time required, so if
the character really wants to get done fast, he can shunt successes away
from the actual task in an effort to get done quickly.
If a player has (and is willing) to shunt 5 successes off on getting
done quickly, then he should get done in the shortest possible time, in
keeping with the theme of 5 successes being an extraordinary success.
Obviously, this means he rolled at least 6 successes, though, since the
first success always goes to "you got it done."
As always, contested rolls between two characters compare number of
successes to determine who wins. The number of successes rolled by each
is the number of successes compared - regardless of how many are
shunted to speed or left on completion.
Possible game balance issues I can see:
It becomes more likely that extended actions end up rolling a chance
die, due to this additional (and potentially large) penalty. (not sure
if I like that or not.)
Sometimes simply getting an extraordinary success means you get done
really fast, so why would you want to shunt successes in those cases?
(Maybe you don't - if time is the primary criterion in the task at hand,
then success at all generally measures the speed with which you finish.)
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram