I'm posting this to get some more eyes on it - people familiar with SilCore will probably have more to say, but I'm interested in any input. For anyone who is unsure, this represents a house rule in the way that the Complexity mechanic works.

First, a mechanical definition of my "new" Complexity: the character's Complexity rating in a skill is a measure of how much a character can adjust to conditions that modify the number of dice rolled – i.e., Skill Applications. It applies to any situation where the number of dice rolled is modified, excluding Emergency Dice.

For our purposes, Complexity defaults to 0 and has no theoretical limit to how high it can be purchased (but in theory, most characters will not have Complexity higher than 3). The difference between the character's Complexity and the Complexity of the task is added to the character's skill level and thus affects the number of dice rolled. The GM does not normally set the Complexity of a task; it is solely the province of the player to decide how many dice he or she wishes to sacrifice. In some cases, particularly static tests, the GM may impose a Complexity for the task using existing guidelines (remembering to adjust the Complexity levels from SilCore down by 1). Equipment can influence the complexity of a task. For example, a particularly difficult to use piece of equipment might have a Complexity rating of 2. A character with Complexity 2 in the appropriate skill would use it with no penalty, while one with Complexity 0 would suffer a 2 die reduction. An extremely helpful piece of equipment might be Complexity -2, which means it reduces the Complexity of any task using it by 2.

Opposed tasks are always Complexity 0, even if there are differences between the complexity levels of the opponents. They do not depend on the opposed skills being the same skill. Complexity in opposed tasks only comes into play when one party chooses, and Complexity is implemented in the same way as Deception Attacks. One party chooses to lower the number of dice they roll in exchange for the opposition's die pool being reduced an equal amount. There can be a bidding process where the opposition increases the Complexity of the task, until either side chooses to stop bidding, one or the other has been reduced to rolling unskilled, and/or both have hit their Complexity limit.

The Complexity limit is the most important thing to remember because it applies to any other Skill Applications being applied as well – a character with Complexity 3 can "absorb" 2 dice in reductions as a result of an opposed task's Complexity and still be able to sacrifice one die for their own Skill Application.

Here is an example:   Max is jumped in an alley by a ruffian. Both are armed with swords. Max has AGI +1, Melee 3/2 and Defense 2/4, the thief has AGI 0, Melee 2/2 and Defense 3/0. The alley is poorly lit and both of them suffer a -1 to their rolls. The thief feints, choosing to sacrifice 1 die in a deception attack as well as 1 die to counteract the lighting penalty. The thief will now roll 1 die with no penalties. Max could parry with his Melee skill and not suffer any penalty (since his Complexity is 2), but instead he chooses to Dodge. Max has 3 dice he could choose to sacrifice (Complexity 4 minus the 1 die the thief forced him to take). He sacrifices 1 to counteract the lighting penalty, and then bids the thief's Complexity up 1 die. Now he is rolling 1 die with no penalties, but has forced the thief to roll unskilled. The thief, already having sacrificed two dice, has no way to compensate for Max turning the tables on him.

During Max's turn, he knows he has a defensive advantage as well as higher Agility, so he trades 1 die from his Melee Complexity to compensate for the poor lighting as well as increasing the Complexity of his attack by 1 die. At this point, Max is rolling 2 dice with no penalties. The thief plays it safe and parries with Melee, absorbing the one die penalty. He would roll 2 dice with a -1 penalty.The interplay between Complexity and Skill becomes much more subtle at high skill levels, where characters have a greater cushion in the amount of dice they can potentially sacrifice. A character with a high skill level and high Complexity (say 10/10) against an opponent with Complexity 5/5 is at a serious advantage – should the lower skilled opponent execute a Complexity 5 deception attack, the higher skilled character can absorb that, sacrifice 5 dice to counteract environmental or other penalties and still roll 5 dice compared to the other's unskilled roll.

What I would like to know is...can anyone foresee any issues with this? Any questions, ambiguity, anything? This is likely to be my "default" house rule for replacing Complexity. If anyone uses it in play I'd also love to know how it turns out.

Looks ok. Our group never had any troubles with the default complexity rules. What are you trying to achieve that the base rules don't? Knowing that would make examining the house rule easier.

Quote from: James McMurrayLooks ok. Our group never had any troubles with the default complexity rules. What are you trying to achieve that the base rules don't? Knowing that would make examining the house rule easier.

I think Complexity is a great idea, but a flawed implementation. I want it to be less about adding and subtracting bonuses and more about resource management, which is what Skill Applications allow. If you take this portion of the SilCore FAQ:

   It is a measure of the combination of practical experience and theoretical knowledge that enables the character to handle more complex tasks. This includes the character's versatility in that field, as well as the depth of knowledge he has related to that field. One thing that may help your understanding is to think of it as your character's "technique" or
adaptability.

"Theoretical knowledge" to me really sounds like something that should be part of the skill level. "Technique" or "adaptability" really grabs me though - that's what Complexity should be about. In fact, Technique isn't a bad label for what I'm trying to simulate as opposed to Complexity. Really, I would have liked for the Skill Applications rules to be a bit more fleshed out and to encompass the idea of Complexity.

Note that it might be possible to take the root of this house rule and still use it with the existing Complexity rules...I'd have to think about it.

James, in case you're interested here is close to a final "Draft" of my house rules. It's short and to the point, keeps Complexity pretty much the way it is but also tries to integrate Skill Applications a bit more:

Here's the latest "Draft" - I like it a lot better, it's more streamlined:

• For the purposes of these house rules and to reduce confusion the character's Complexity rating in a particular skill is called Technique. All references to Complexity refer to the Complexity rating of the task.
• Final Complexity is determined by subtracting the character's Technique from the task's Complexity or opposing character's Technique.
• Per the FAQ, on opposed rolls the difference is added as a modifier to the character's roll who has the highest Technique.
• Complexity differences may be taken as either modifiers to the die roll or dice pool at the player's choice.
• Die pools can only be dropped to 0 by any means – Complexity, Deception Attacks, etc. After that, die penalties must be taken.
• All Complexity reductions must be accounted for before Technique can be employed.
• Characters may only use Skill Applications a number of times during a round as their Technique score.
• All existing Skill Applications are available.
• Complexity penalties may be bought off by utilizing Technique.

EXAMPLE 1:
A character with Security 3/1 is attempting to pick a Complexity 5 lock. The final Complexity is 4. He has the following options:

• Reduce his skills by 3 dice and take a -1 penalty. He would not be able to use any of his Technique for Skill Applications.
• Reduce his skill by 2 dice and take a -2 penalty. He would have 1 die to use for Skill Applications – he could sacrifice that die to pick the lock in half the time, but he would be rolling unskilled and have a -2 penalty to the roll.
• Take a -4 penalty. He would have 1 die to use for a Skill Application – that can even be used to buy off -1 from the Complexity penalty (he would roll 2 dice and have a -3 penalty).

EXAMPLE 2:
A character with Stealth 5/5 is trying to slit the throat of a guard with Notice 2/2. This is an opposed roll, so the final Complexity of the character's task is +3. The character can choose to either add a +3 to his final roll, add 3 dice to his pool, or some combination. He has his full 5 points of Technique to use as well.

The area is very dimly lit (-2 to the character's rolls) but the guard has nightvision goggles negating the environmental penalty. The GM rules that slitting the target's throat is a called shot, and will cost the character 3 dice from his Stealth pool.
The character chooses to take the +3 to his rolls, giving him an overall bonus to his die roll of +1. He then spends 3 dice of Technique to negate the called shot penalty, for a final die pool of 2 dice.

EXAMPLE 3:
A character with Defense 3/2 is running away from a gunman with Small Arms 4/4. The character is at Medium Range and is Sprinting; he gets a +3 to his Defense roll and the gunman receives a -1. The gunman chooses to take his Technique bonus as dice, giving him 6 dice and a -1 modifier. The Defender knows the Gunman has a good chance of plugging him so tries to move unpredictably, in essence executing a "deception defense" – dropping his skill 2 dice in exchange for the Gunman's skill doing the same. However, the Gunman bids him up a die – the character is now rolling unskilled, and the Gunman is rolling 3 dice. Just to prove his point, the Gunman uses another point of Technique to compensate for the -1 range modifier and now is rolling 2 dice unmodified. Note, had the Gunman instead chosen the Technique bonus as a +2 modifier, he'd  be rolling 1 die but with a +1 modifier. In the end, it pretty much works out the same.