In addition to the [[Core Rules#Design Pillars]] one of my most important goals for Asmythe TTRPG is to create a game that can be played with a large number of teenage players. This means distributing as much of the decision making process as possible onto the players and making it simple enough to do quickly and fairly. - Simple dice system that resists cheating: no numeric modifiers to "forget". - Players can tell at a glance how successful their action is. - Players describe the results of their actions, with arbitration. Above all else, the game must be fun and engaging. - No matter what happens, players can still participate in the game. - Game systems encourage players to interact with each other during the game. - Game systems always prioritize fun over realism. # Die Pool These are the success probabilities for Asmythe TTRPG, generated from [AnyDice](https://anydice.com/program/3e5de), where 5,6 is success and 6 explodes. "0.0%" means that result is theoretically possible, but the probability is vanishingly small. | Difficulty | 1d6 | 2d6 | 3d6 | 4d6 | 5d6 | 6d6 | 7d6 | 8d6 | 9d6 | 10d6 | 11d6 | 12d6 | | ---------- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | | **1** | 33% | 56% | 70% | 80% | 87% | 91% | 94% | 96% | 97% | 98% | 99% | 99% | | **2** | 5.6% | 18% | 33% | 47% | 59% | 69% | 77% | 83% | 88% | 91% | 94% | 95% | | **3** | 0.9% | 4.6% | 12% | 21% | 32% | 43% | 53% | 62% | 70% | 76% | 82% | 86% | | **4** | 0.2% | 1.0% | 3.4% | 7.8% | 14% | 22% | 30% | 39% | 48% | 57% | 64% | 71% | | **5** | 0.1% | 0.3% | 1.0% | 2.5% | 5.3% | 9.5% | 15% | 22% | 29% | 37% | 45% | 52% | | **6** | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 1.8% | 3.7% | 6.6% | 11% | 16% | 21% | 28% | 35% | | **7** | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 2.6% | 4.6% | 7.4% | 11% | 16% | 21% | | **8** | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 1.8% | 3.2% | 5.3% | 8.0% | 11% | | **9** | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.7% | 1.3% | 2.3% | 3.8% | 5.7% | | **10** | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 2.7% | **Expected Action Pool** - Unskilled: 3-4 dice - Proficient: ~7 dice - Expert: ~10 dice - Master: ~12 dice # Attributes Random attribute generation is an important feature of Asmythe RPG. It gives players some control over their character while creating unexpected builds. It helps new players by suggesting a concept and experienced players by presenting a challenge. In Asmythe RPG all attribute combinations are viable because they are never used to gate other abilities. Attributes range from 1-6, but low values aren't fun and high values unbalance progression. The easy way to generate attributes is to roll 3d6 and take the median value. This gives a fairly flat distribution. 1 is rerolled, because nobody wants an attribute value of 1. | Attribute | Frequency | | --------- | --------- | | 1 | 0% | | 2 | 20% | | 3 | 26% | | 4 | 26% | | 5 | 20% | | 6 | 8% | ## Design Notes When designing the dice pool system my goals were simple: - Dice pool system: it is fun to roll a lot of dice. - Simple to understand: all dice are the same type - Exploding dice: doesn't change probability much but a lot of fun. - Don't take dice away from the player, it feels bad and they forget. - Ensure there is always a chance of failure, but lower chance with high skill - Small changes should be impactful. - Try to keep bonus/penalty small, 1-2 dice - Actions always cause something to happen, but not always what was intended. - Gain stress when a dangerous action doesn't meet the difficulty. Emergent: - Everything is rated 1-6 - 2 dice are equivalent to ~0.5 successes. - Stress dice are more impactful than bonus dice. - Bonus dice are less impactful at higher skill. - When pool is 2xDC, ~50% chance of success - When pool is 3xDC, ~70% chance of success - Diminishing returns at higher skill/ability. - Roughly +/- 20% chance of success per DC change; higher at lower skill, lower at higher skill. - Roughly +/- 10% chance of success per dice added/removed; higher at lower skill, lower at higher skill. Why not use one of the many other RPG systems? - Most other systems are designed for a specific setting and I want a generic system without classes. - Any system with a roll + modifier or dice-sum has too much math, math slows things down. - All the other systems I found, even die-pool systems, have a very flat probability curve. I want a curve with long tails; there should always be a chance of success or failure even at the extremes of ability. - Finally, and most importantly, creating my own system means I can take the best parts of other systems and put them together in a single coherent system. ### Stress Dice The idea of stress dice came from my son. I wanted a damage system that didn't take anything away from players and he suggested using penalty dice. This evolved quickly into stress dice. - Stress dice give the player something to hold, so they are less likely to "forget" about it. - Stress dice are random, which makes any action under stress more dramatic. - "Stress" can mean physical or emotional, so it works for a wide variety of damage types. - Is is easier to believe that people can recovery quickly from stress than from physical damage. ## License Asmythe TTRPG is published under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)