Quote from: MarionPoliquin;325544Granted, my example was less than perfect.

On the other hand, having to pick from a hand of cards is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier. It's a bug, not a feature. This is exactly the kind of mechanics that make it very easy for players to lose attention when it's not their turn.

wrong again. Players don't have rigid "turns" in CF, any more than they do in most RPG's.

CF uses a 54 card deck... and suit matters... in place of dice so you have a hand of 4 cards. so you have the option of any of four "known rolls" and one unknown... So if you've  bad hand, you avoid hard tasks... if you have a couple kings, you try to pull those in when it matters.

moreover, if you hold 4 kings, you know nobody else does... including the GM... so expected results are much closer to average than dice provide.

In play, its no more nor less intrusive than dice.

Quote from: aramis;325548wrong again. Players don't have rigid "turns" in CF, any more than they do in most RPG's.

CF uses a 54 card deck... and suit matters... in place of dice so you have a hand of 4 cards. so you have the option of any of four "known rolls" and one unknown... So if you've  bad hand, you avoid hard tasks... if you have a couple kings, you try to pull those in when it matters.

moreover, if you hold 4 kings, you know nobody else does... including the GM... so expected results are much closer to average than dice provide.

In play, its no more nor less intrusive than dice.

Nope, this is exactly what I was talking about earlier. Having a hand of cards introduces decision-making to the resolution mechanic. Worse, you have the choice between the cards in hand and the deck. (Note: I do own Castle Falkenstein but it's buried deep in a pile of boxes and my memory of the mechanics is a mite cloudy, so please bear with me.)

With most dice mechanics, a player invariably picks up the dice, throws the dice and reads the result. In Castle Falkenstein, a player might simply pick up the cards, choose a card a read the result. But you'll often get a player who picks up the cards, mulls over his hand, hesitates, asks other players what he should do, etc. The probability that the other players will turn their attention elsewhere is much higher.

Besides, "no more nor less intrusive than dice" doesn't mean much considering the number of painfully intrusive dice mechanics out there (I'm looking at you, Exalted).