I prefer the 3d6 probability curve better than 2d6 or 1d20. It's why when I do attribute checks, I have player roll under their stat on 3d6 (like The Fantasy Trip).
Should get a chance to break them in this weekend.
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
BX House Rule: Thieves’ Ability: Find/Disarm Traps
I have an adventure I'm working on that relies heavily on the theives' ability to find/remove traps. I've really put some thought into the traps themselves, and don't want to have that dismissed by a binary (fail/pass) roll to discover the trap. So I developed these tables based on the Cleric's Turning table, but using 3d6 instead of 2d6.
I prefer the 3d6 probability curve better than 2d6 or 1d20. It's why when I do attribute checks, I have player roll under their stat on 3d6 (like The Fantasy Trip).
Should get a chance to break them in this weekend.
I prefer the 3d6 probability curve better than 2d6 or 1d20. It's why when I do attribute checks, I have player roll under their stat on 3d6 (like The Fantasy Trip).
Should get a chance to break them in this weekend.
Some good ideas here, Richard! I like the range of uncertainty to certainty that you're playing with a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like we should be design the "failure triggers trap" rule to align with the mechanics for when a failed Pick Pockets roll is noticed by a potential victim. Perhaps....
Allan.
I think you'll also want to look at the absolute probabilities in your chart vs. the Thief's standard chance to disarm: 1/216 = only a 0.46% chance to disarm a trap for level 1 thief vs. 10% chance at the standard probabilities.
ReplyDeleteAllan.
The "T" in the -No Traps chart under "If trap IS present..." should be a "C". Great work btw - are there any modifiers for having high IQ/Dex?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll get that fixed in my master version.
DeleteI was considering the modifier thing. The standard thieves' abilities don't account for this, so that's a reason to leave it out.
But this is a different system, and based on more of an attribute check approach, so that's why I considered including it. My original thought was...
– Intelligence modifies find roll.
– Dexterity modifies disarm roll.
Except, those things (find/disarm) are somewhat combined above. So now that I consider it in that context, this really is just a chance to find traps. And a separate disarm check is required.
So what should that be?
– a 3d6 under Dex?
– the standard % roll on original Thieves' Abilities table?
– How should it be modified by result on Find roll?
Thoughts?
Now that you mention it - Clerics Turning Table doesn't have any modifiers. So maybe keep it a straight roll - and instead shift the difficulty depending on the type of trap. So if it is an easy trap give the Thief a level higher on the table - more difficult/complex use a lower level result.
DeleteThis is pretty cool. I like the concept. I'm up for testing it with Muggsy even. And I want to steal it for my games in the future. Looking forward to the final results!
ReplyDeleteI was actually planning on having Muggsy test it!
ReplyDeleteHi Richard,
ReplyDeleteThis is not a comment on your post (though I'm always into the idea of adapting the Turn Undead table to all sorts of purposes), this is an attempt at getting in touch.
I'm working with a publisher on an adventure gaming/OSR magazine and we'd like to talk to you about publishing two of your monsters in our first issue in exchange for money.
Would you be able to shoot me a quick email if you're interested?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteTrying again when not logged in with my work account. You can reach me at (my first name) at (my last name) dut com.
DeleteThanks!
Sent you an email from NewBigDragon. Haven’t heard back from you so you might check your spam folder.
DeleteThanks - I did get your email and responded yesteday, but strangely I only have an empty draft in my email... Will write again in a few hours, sorry about that!
Delete