[freeroleplay] Matching dice pools for fringe

[Troy Truchon]

On 7/12/06, Ricardo Gladwell <president at freeroleplay.org> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 2006-07-11 at 17:05 -0700, Troy Truchon wrote:
> > Since there seems to be much discussion on the new mechanic for the
> > fringe system I thought I'd throw a thought into the ring. After
> > reading the Nemesis system I really love the basic mechanic of
> > matching dice pools. That said I don't really like the Nemesis system
> > overall. Could a similar dice mechanic for the basis of the new Fringe
> > mechanic?
>
> The problem with matching dice pool mechanics for me is that they seem
> counter intuitive. The nice thing about traditional dice pool mechanics
> and roll over mechanics is that the idea of higher rolls being more
> lucky, the more successes you roll, dove tails nicely with player
> expectations as to how people succeed or fail at actions.
>
> Matching dice pool, though simple, seems to be a fairly abstract
> mechanism for success. Sure, high rolls still count when matching, but
> the matching aspect doesn't seem to gel all that well with examples of
> how things work "real world."

I agree its far from truly intuitive. But its a very fast system of
resolution. Indeed if you find some way to account for lesser matches
you could derive even more information from a single roll. You have to
admit that it does have the arcane feel of casting bones. Admittedly I
really don't worry too much about speed since I really only have the
time and availability for PBeM.

-- 
Troy J. Truchon
Computer Service Technician