I thought you would like a response I got from someone about this
. "This is pretty interesting! I like the idea of using the dice to generate and record the stats, and using the stats to record changes to the status of the character. I also think its creative to have equipment as an extra die that is 'added' to a stat (at least if this IS what you mean by the 'treasure like armor' example)
I presume a tough monster might have multiple dice for its key stats (e.g. a big monster might have multiple STR dice), and all would have to be reduced.
Leaving out rules for combat is a little bit cheeky, given their centrality in most RPGs! I'd be curious to see how you intended that to go.
My main concern with the system is with the resolution mechanic:
- the d20 seems dwarf the stats - why bother recording stats in the range +/- 1-3 if you're going to add 1d20 to them? They don't seem to make much practical difference to the odds.
- likewise the differences between difficulty levels the maximum range for a human is +/-3, which is only one difficulty band on your current scale.
- so I think you need to either a) increase the range of the basic stats; or b) use a smaller die than 1d20, with narrower difficulty bands.
- finally, I don't see why you are adding 1d4 to the main 1d20 roll; unless this extra die has a special function you haven't described, you might almost as easily leave it out and adjust all the Target Numbers by 2-3 points.
I'm curious why you score the stats at +/-3 rather than just counting them at the face value of the (i.e. 1-6). What is the benefit of that to outweigh the awkwardness of translating every number you read from the dice and working with negative numbers? And do you see a special benefit in NOT having a way to represent a STAT of 0?
If you feel you really need negative stat scores, the dice might be a bit easier to read if the scores 1-3 on the dice corresponded to scores 1-3 of the stats, and you read 4-6 as the negative numbers. Or you could have custom dice...
You might streamline things even further by giving NPCs/ monsters a smaller set of stats. Depending on the style of game, a lot of monsters might e.g. need only Size and Skill. Why use 6 dice to represent a critter that will only ever appear in one combat scene? A minor NPC might not need ANY stats, if it is in a non-combat role. Or just a single STR score, so it can fight if need be.
Having said all of this, the dice system seems most useful for one-shot games or transient NPCs. If a character is going to appear in another session, its scores will have to be written down anyway...
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