10-15-2016, 01:01 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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I try 'til I succeed
So I've been toying with using the rules for Taking Extra Time (p. B346) in a new way. If a person says their willing to e.g. search a room until they find something, I make a secret roll. If they succeed, I tell them what they find. If they fail by 5 or less, I add time as given on p. B346 (so if they fail by 2, it takes four times as long as normal; if they fail by 5 it takes 30 times as long as normal). If there is nothing to be found, they search for 30 times as long as normal whether they want to or not.
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10-15-2016, 02:38 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
I usually decide upon two options:
1. Rule that they will eventually succeed, in which case they don't need a skill roll at all. Just roll randomly to see how long it takes. 2. Give them a cumulative -1 penalty on each successive attempt until they either get a success or a critical failure.
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10-15-2016, 03:18 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Not bad, though it may be slightly harsh when there is no failure penalty. (The expected trials to hit a 5 or lower is a bit under 22, not 30...)
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10-15-2016, 11:19 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Quote:
Example: Jacob is picking a lock on an old abandoned mine shaft to get away from the wendigo chasing him. His skill is 12. He has a good set of lockpicks for +1 to the roll and lock is old and busted, but still serviceable (+5 to rolls to pick it). His leftover time spent margin is 7 (12 + 1 + 5 = 18 - 11 = 7). Since this normally takes 1 minute to do, his margin allows him to do it in 18 seconds (60 seconds x 0.3 = 18 seconds). Frantically, Jacob gets the lock off, heads inside, and bars the door from inside.
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10-16-2016, 03:14 AM | #5 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Quote:
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10-16-2016, 09:28 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Quote:
*My personal best right now is about 1:15 minutes on most household door locks and about 45 seconds on most padlocks.
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10-16-2016, 10:37 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Feb 2014
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
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10-16-2016, 11:12 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Oct 2008
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Quote:
My current campaign has the perk: Unwavering Skill: You can always take 11 instead of rolling a skill check when used outside of combat and not used at reduced time. One perk/skill. Requires at least 4 points in the skill to take. And for the single character with two of the perks I have allowed for tasks where the approximate penalty is known and no great penalty on failure (like picking an analyzed lock), I allow the player to specify the variable time when related to the difficulty. Like in picking locks and an analysis of the lock might give "it is -23 to -25 to pick" and then he can just say "I will pick that with these bonuses as base and as much extra time as needed" and get in the variable time. So in effect I have used that for a few years, except that in my campaign you must not be hurried so cannot get it below base time. |
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10-16-2016, 01:33 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Quote:
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10-16-2016, 01:43 PM | #10 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: I try 'til I succeed
Why would searching multiple times give a penalty for spending more time on it? Double-checking and triple-checking make you BETTER at spotting where you went wrong, not increasingly worse.
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Tags |
alternate rules, time spent |
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