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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Burton has an excellent point.
Though I'd played D&D since 1976, by the time (1984) when P&P came out I
was tired of D&D's poor design. 3rd Ed. D&D has done an excellent job of
improving the game, not least because it came up with a single better and more
elegant game mechanism for attributes and another for combat. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> P&P would be simpler to
learn and easier to play if it only had a single elegant skill/combat mechanism
(that worked well for all things). So far as I see the P&P attribute
(ability) system is fine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> One of the things that I liked
about RuneQuest was the skill improvement system as we played it with our
houserules. Each successful use of a skill would get a checkmark to the skill.
When time was available to ponder what had happened (after a battle - not
during) one could roll to increase in any skill checked. Multiple checks
meant an improved chance of successfully increasing the skill. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> In combat P&P gives an
automatic expertise, once only per skill, that requires knowing the CDF of the
highest CDF opponent the skill was used against. Actually I believe that Scott
uses a house rule modification eliminating the once only limitation. Rule 2.22
also lists other ways expertise is gained.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Burton.Choinski@MATRIXONE.COM
href="mailto:Burton.Choinski@MATRIXONE.COM">Choinski, Burton</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=POWERS-AND-PERILS@geo000.CITG.TUDELFT.NL
href="mailto:POWERS-AND-PERILS@geo000.CITG.TUDELFT.NL">POWERS-AND-PERILS@geo000.CITG.TUDELFT.NL</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 16, 2003 7:22
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Phoenix</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The
biggest problem that I see P&P "classic" to have is differing rules for
what really could use the same mechanism. Combat uses one form of die
roll mechanism, while Magic uses a similar method. Ranged combat has a
kind of odd "bolt-on" flavor. Skills are resolved with a different
mechanism (and where some are EL based, while others are percentage, how the
skills are handled is also different. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Even some
skills or abilities (Climbing, swimming, dodge) have special case resolution
mechanisms that make it unweildy. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I
see no reason why a general skill mechanism cannot be figured out that can
apply to all skill tasks. The hard trick has always been to retain the
"cinematic" feel (or "conan-ness", if you prefer) where a PC can take on a
bunch of mooks and have a reasonable chance of making it out (if he is
careful), but not to make it so much so that player characters can completely
run roughshod over the world. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I
think a good part of the complexity can be evened out if some of the odd
mechanisms can be collapsed into fewer ones. An example of this I might
point to is my "target-12" skill variant system, on Wout's site.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=672460815-16102003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2> --
Burton</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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