Non-opposed rolls (baking a cake, running up a wall) use standard D6 RTD mechanics.
Combat is [Attacker's Roll] - [Defender's Roll] = [Damage Dealt]. There is currently no penalty for rolling hideously below the defender, because I didn't want a situation where attacking someone tough was quite possibly counterproductive.
Rolls of any sort are prone to modifiers based on the skill level of those using them.
| Name | Bonus | Experience to Next Level | Total Experience to Attain |
| Inexperienced | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| Dabbling | +0 | 4 | 2 |
| Novice | +1 | 8 | 6 |
| Apprentice | +2 | 16 | 14 |
| Adept | +3 | 32 | 30 |
| Expert | +4 | 64 | 62 |
| Master | +5 | 128 | 126 |
As might be expected, Inexperienced is the default level, though players generally begin with several skills at a higher rank.
Experience is gained by using skills, or, more specifically, by rolling certain numbers along with certain modifiers. Base experience point gain is as follows:
| Roll | Experience | Effect |
| 6 | +2 | You succeeded better than expected. May have unfortunate side effects. |
| 5 | +2 | You succeeded perfectly, or at least as perfectly as you could given the circumstances. |
| 4 | +1 | You succeeded. Note that depending on the action, this might still not be quite what you wanted. |
| 3 | +1 | You succeeded somewhat. Usually this means less of an effect than you intended, or progress made but not completion. |
| 2 | +0 | You failed. Depending on the action, this might just mean nothing happened, or it could have negative consequences. |
| 1 | +0 | You failed miserably, making the situation worse. Good luck. |
This is then modified by the inverse of any modifiers, as well as the normal modifiers to any opposed rolls. For instance, rolling a [6-2] would provide 4 experience points in the relevant skill- 2 for rolling a [6], and 2 for having a -2 modifier to the roll. Rolling a [1+4] vs [6-4], on the other hand, would not actually decrease your experience points, but would theoretically grant a total of -8; 0 for the base roll, -4 for having a +4 bonus, and then -4 again for attacking an opponent with a -4 penalty.
The result, obviously, is that rolling high or performing difficult actions is more rewarding than rolling low or performing easy ones. In theory, penalties might also apply to actions with little or no consequences; for instance, baking a cake would grant experience as normal because you're risking materials and attempting a certain result, even if it's not the most exciting or dangerous task in the world. Making a cake nobody intends to eat using materials that will evaporate in a moment anyway might not, since there's absolutely no reason failure would be any different than success.
Modifiers are applied to rolls depending on the difficulty of the action. These modifiers are the inverse of the bonuses granted for a given skill level, so barring other conditions, for instance, an Expert swordsman can perform Expert sword actions at no penalty, or Master actions at -1 total, or Adept actions at +1, and so on. Rough guidelines for the respective level of various actions is as follows:
Inexperienced: No idea what you're doing. The sort of thing you can pull off on your first try. "Never done this before."
Dabbling: You understand vaguely how it works, but don't really have the kind of formal training or experience to claim you're good at it. "I've done it before."
Novice: You understand more or less how it works, just not particularly well. You can probably achieve useful effects, however. "I know how to do it, but I'm not very good at it."
Apprentice: You're decently familiar with how it works, but not really at a professional level. You can achieve useful but possibly somewhat limited effects. "I'm okay at it."
Adept: You're very familiar with how it works, possibly to the point of it being your profession. You can achieve useful and in-depth effects. "Yeah, I'm an it-er."
Expert: You're exceptionally familiar with how it works, probably to the point where you're a skilled practitioner of your art. You can achieve powerful and in-depth effects. "Yes, I'm a damned good it-er."
Master: You're unfathomably good at it, being able to accomplish things lesser people likely weren't even aware was possible. You can achieve just about anything you'd expect with your craft, plus several things few people would even think of, much less think possible. "Oh, you haven't heard of me?"
Levels above Master are theoretically possible, but would obviously require quite a bit of effort to accomplish.
Knowledge from various skills may be applied to effects from other skills. For instance, a swordsman who is also a brawler might be able to perform actions a swordsman or brawler alone could not.
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Topic: Roller's Block (RTD Brainstorming Thread) (HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY) (Derm is 5k) (Read 743535 times)