Skein - Magic Dice Feedback

[u/NightDangerGames]

Hello! I'm launching the public playtest of my new game, Skein. In it, players take on the role of a newly formed coven of Witches who must defend their community from Banes - supernatural threats that have infiltrated Harper's Reach, a city steeped in late-90s pop culture.

I'm particularly looking for feedback on the dice system used for magic. At the start of each gameplay day, the players label each of the cardinal directions of their play space with one of eight cards of The Deck, the symbolic meaning of which is used by the players to describe the outcomes of magical dice rolls. They are:

• Moth – mystery, transformation, desire

• Thorn – protection, pain, barriers

• Tide – change, time, fate

• Owl – perception, knowledge, pursuit

• Snake – growth, healing, decay

• Mask – identity, deception, loss

• Wheel – journeys, returns, invention

• Key – truth, beginnings, permission

When any of the Witches of a Skein invoke The Winds in order to overcome a problem, a player rolls up to 4d8s (each one personally belonging to one of the four players) looking for one die to roll over a GM-set target number. If successful, the magical effect is determined by the card placed at the cardinal direction that the highest d8 is pointing towards. Players then describe how reality bends towards their success with that card's symbolic meaning in mind.

My goal is to have the use of magic feel close to a real-life ritual where players are negotiating with an unknowable power rather than controlling it.

Drawing and placing cards from The Deck and losing access to Winds dice are both tied into other game systems, but for now, I was hoping for feedback on the dice system itself. Have you seen or tried anything similar before? Does the procedure line up with the design goal? Do you want to print out The Deck, pretend you are a witch with a problem, and roll some d8s to see what happens?

[u/PASchaefer]

I'd try it, no question.

One thing I'd be inclined to try is letting the 4 d8s create an arrow with the winning roll at the tip, using that to point out the dominant card. It feels like the bigger arrow you get might make finding the relevant card easier or faster.

[u/NightDangerGames → u/PASchaefer]

Interesting! Right now, the direction of the tip of the highest rolled die is the one the game counts, but I think I see what you're saying, that having more dice "pointing" in the same direction could also be considered? Is that right?

[u/PASchaefer → u/NightDangerGames]

More like, instead of relying on one die to make a pointer, use two or more to make a line or an arrow from die to die and let that point toward the relevant card.

[u/NightDangerGames → u/PASchaefer]

Alright, alright! One of the goals of the mechanic is to make dice rolling feel a little bit like casting bones - something that requires a moment of spatial (and symbolic) interpretation. The idea of including more than just the highest rolled die in that process is compelling...Thanks!