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+----- Thread: Roll High or Low? (/thread-52.html)
Roll High or Low? - Don Jones - 04-19-2016 11:09 AM
One of the mechanics we have received the most feedback on from Netherstorm is the question of when to roll high and when to roll low. The rule was that, if you were rolling against a difficulty level, you would roll low. However, if you were rolling an opposed roll against another person, you would roll high. For example, if you were sneaking through a room, you might have a 40% of using your Stealth skill to do so undetected. In that case, roll under 40. However, if there was a guard in the area actively paying attention, you would make an opposed roll. You would roll and add your Stealth bonus to the roll, the guard would roll and add a Perception bonus to the roll and whoever rolled higher was successful.
The feedback we've had consistently is that this is confusing for players and GMs. While the "roll under your chance" method is intuitive by itself, switching back and forth between that and opposed rolls is a mechanic that many find slow the flow of the game.
For Netherstorm Advanced, all rolls are high. Instead rolling under a base 30% for spell success, now spellcasters roll over a base 70%, adding their spell level and other modifiers to their rolls. This way, whether attacking with a sword, casting a spell, or using a skill, all rolls use the same mechanic. GMs simply need to get used to setting a higher difficulty for harder tasks, rather than setting a lower chance of success.
We welcome any input and suggestions on this, as well as all other things Netherstorm.
RE: Roll High or Low? - Eric Spahr - 04-19-2016 01:17 PM
I kind of like the split mechanic for skill use. It makes a clear feel for the different types of tasks and circumstances. I would keep things the way they are for now. That's my vote anyway.
RE: Roll High or Low? - Don Jones - 04-19-2016 05:31 PM
(04-19-2016 01:17 PM)Eric Spahr Wrote: I kind of like the split mechanic for skill use. It makes a clear feel for the different types of tasks and circumstances. I would keep things the way they are for now. That's my vote anyway.
Thanks for the feedback, Eric. We're still testing it out, so you're feedback is helpful.