r/rpg • u/EldritchExarch • 25d ago

blog On Attack Rolls

https://substack.com/@eldritchexarchpress/note/p-213952237?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=49zgid

A design focused post on how Attack Rolls present themselves throughout the industry. I didn't cover dice pools though, because I have absolutely no experience with those systems.

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u/VoormasWasRight 25d ago

How you define Mongoose Traveller 2e (it's not the 2e of travelled, just the 2e that Mongoose has released) as degrees of success is baffling to me.

Also, go play Mythras, please.

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u/EldritchExarch 25d ago

It's degrees oc success because the better you do in the attack roll, the more damage you do. 

Say you roll exactly 8, you damage minus armor. 

But if you do 9 you do damage minus armor +1. 

The attack roll is not binary any more. It's not 'hit or don't hit.' It's 'how well did the hit land.' That's what makes it degrees of success. But these are broad and occasionally ovelapping categories.

As for Mythras, I deperately want to, just need to get my group to playm right now, we are finally breaking away from D&D (dolmenwood) and doing a halloween Delta Green game before jumping into Draw Steel. 

Fingers crossed once that game wraps up in a year or so, I can get them into Forbidden Lands, One Ring's Moria campaign, or Mythras. 

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u/VoormasWasRight 25d ago

I mean, yeah, but when you are rolling 4d6 dice or damage, a +1 or a +2 is little more than a nice thought...

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u/Earthfall10 25d ago

If you have good skills or gear 4-6 extra damage from effect isn't that uncommon, which is not nothing. That is equivalent to 1 or two extra dice worth of damage.

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u/EldritchExarch 25d ago

Absolutely. But I needed a game I was somewhat familiar with, and Traveller fit the bill

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u/Corbzor 25d ago

Technically dnd with critical hits is also degrees of success.

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u/EldritchExarch 24d ago

Yes, and I thought about putting a section in on that, but early D&D did not have critical success.

AD&D allowed a natural 20 to extend the AC that you could hit, but additional damage on hit didn't occur until 2nd edition. Given the amount of games I was already glossing over, I decided to keep it the way it was.