I would like to get some feedback on how to develop a xd10 blackjack mechanic. I was thinking about using it for a spy game.

Here goes:

xd10 = to PC skill

Each d10 result represents:
1 = 1 or 11 (ACE)
2-9 = 2-9 (FACE CARD)
10 = 10 (10, J, Q, K)

PC is attempting to hack a secured computer.

GM determines opening number from 1-10. For example a 4, there some wiggle room for the PC.

PC can stake some of skill d10 to be awarded after IF the attempt is successful. For example, PC has Hacking skill of 7 and stakes 4d10 for possible bonus if successful.

GM reveals that the target number is a 15. The PC must get a 16 or higher to be successful WITHOUT going over 21.

PC rolls 3d10 getting 8, 7, 4. Keep the 8,7 and drop the 4. Final result is 15+4=19 and PC hacks into the system. Now the player gets the bonus 4 dice staked earlier.

Issues I see are, how to make the opening bid a critical element of the resolution and what exacting does the staked dice reward get you?

Now I came up with something along the lines of:

somehow the opening number must come to have more of an impact. Not sure how this would be accomplished, perhaps is the reward if successful. A higher number is more valuable, however leaves less wiggle room by the player. Or simply a random throw of 1d10 by each side, this becomes each side's opening number.

Then something like:

Lets say the initial TN for any action a PC attempts is always blackjack 21. To reduce the TN the player must bid some of his skill dice to reduce this down to a more favorable number. They first spend out of their Resource Pool and if that isnot enough they can spend skill dice.

21 = 0 (Impossible)
20 = 1
19 = 2
18 = 3
17 = 4
16 = 5
15 = 6
14 = 7
13 = 8
12 = 9
11 = 10 (Simple)

So if the player wants to lower the TN to 10 a simple task to succeed then they would need to spend 10 dice.

The TN also determines the number of d10 that the GM can use to roll AFTER the PC makes a successful roll. A chance for the GM to snatch victory from defeat by the PC at the last moment.

TN = d10
11 = 1
12 = 2
13 = 3
14 = 4
15 = 5
16 = 6
17 to 21 the GM must stand, just like blackjack rules.

PC can stake their skill dice to buy down the number of d10 the GM can roll.

For example:

Using the bid method, the PC outbids the GM with an opening number of 7.

PC has a Cool resource pool of 9 and a computer skill of 8. PC needs to hack into the security system of a top secret agency without getting caught.

PC spends 6 Cool dice (taking his resource pool down to 3). This makes the TN a 15. PC must roll between a 16-21 to be successful.

PC knows that the GM will 6d10 to roll AFTER if the PC's attempt is successful. PC decides to stake 6 (from computer skill of skill dice to ensure that the GM cannot roll after. This leaves PC with 2 dice left to roll.

PC rolls 2d10, getting a 6 and 5. 6+5+7=18 and the attempt is successful. The opening number 7 becomes the reward, so the player gets back 7 cool dice spent.

Another way would be to let you roll the staked dice for refreshing and building the Cool resource pool, getting up to 21. For instance, say you staked 4d10, you roll getting a 1, 4, 6, 9. Total it and it becomes 20 Cool points you've just earned.

But not so sure if this makes it any better.

Thoughts?

It'd be appropriate for James Bond/Oceans Eleven/Mission Impossible style espionage, but not for a more realistic setting.

C'mon guys.

James Bond = Baccarat

Card totals from 0-9; aces are 1, faces are 0 as are 10s.

Almost begging for d10s wouldn't you think?

Fang Langford

I would actually want to use cards with the 21 rules.   It's tactile and has the genre feel for James Bond spies.  

I would have player draw a number of cards for his skill.   AKA, if Bond has Drive 5 then he draws 5 cards for this driving task.  Then the player flips a card from the deck and adds any one of his "skill cards".  

Meanwhile, the GM flips 2 cards to represent the task difficulty.   Then the player seeing the GM total has the choice of throwing down a skill card or flipping a random one.   I believe the GM (the house) has to draw another card if the total is 12 or less or

If the player busts, the hero fails.  If the GM wins, the hero fails.

Hmm...I should playtest this.  21 is a pretty quick game, but I could see players dilly-dallying too much.

Quote from: Fang Langford;269223C'mon guys.

James Bond = Baccarat

Card totals from 0-9; aces are 1, faces are 0 as are 10s.

Almost begging for d10s wouldn't you think?

Fang Langford

Yes, I have looked at doing something like this as well.

GM determine how many successes are required to complete task. Player can spend a skill point to roll additional die.

Players roll xd10 from skill pool (some or all). Add the sum, anything less than ten is considered. If the sum is 11 or 12 the first digit is ignored. For example a roll of 2 and 3 is worth 5 (2+3=5). A roll consisting of 5 and 6 is worth 1 (5+6=11=1) - the first digit is dropped because the total is higher than 9.

- scores 1 to 9 = result 1 to 9.
- score 10 = result 0, fail. (Lose 1 skill die roll)
- If the total score is from 1 to 5 the player will roll leftover skill d10 to improve result
- 6 (2 successes)
- 7 (3 successes)
- 8 (4 successes)
- 9 (5 successes)

Essentially whenever your "running score" rolls over 9 it immediately drops the 10s and goes back to the bottom; a running score of 1-5 gets you nothing while a running score of 6-9 accumulates successes. If you don't have enough successes, you can continue to roll additional skill dice (at a cost of 1 skill point per die if your current running score is 1-5), until you either achieve the number of successes needed for overall success or run out of skill points for rerolls and give up (each time a 10 is scored a skill die removed).

Works well as a system to resolve high-stress or high-value PC skill actions in a more detailed/stake-setting way than the normal binary roll-success-or-fail mechanic.

Here was some feedback on it:

Some thoughts that I have for tailoring the process.

- Require players to stake the maximum number of skill points (Action points? Effort points? Attention points?) they can spend on this action before they begin rolling. This ensures (a) some element of pre-roll strategizing and odds-weighing and (b) a finite limit to how long the process can go on. (This would also require that you seldom if ever fully refresh your point pool between actions, or there's no reason to not stake your maximum pool every time.)

- Emphasize that there are no retries. If you give up or fail short of your required total, you don't get to start again after you get your skill points back.

Combat or conflict would probably take the form of "bidding" your accumulated successes against your opponent's to inflict disadvantage or injury, with the higher bid (modified for particular actions vs. other particular actions) beating the lower. Thus you might have periods of die-rolling as each side builds up their success fund, followed by a flurry of back-and-forth bidding as those successes are spent.

I just USE THE CARDS.