I started a thread on this in the past, but I can't find it. The problem is that if a person rolls a 12 on any attribute, their rogue can never fail. I had a guy roll up a rogue who ended character generation with over 6 MCr and 28% of a ship.
I think the double-term spent in jail was supposed to be a counter to this, but with a high attribute, it's just not disincentive enough.
I'm going to try out some house rules, but I thought I would propose them here. These are incomplete ideas; I'll need help making them actually work.
A) Count boxcars as an automatic miss.
The advantage is that this is similar to a mechanic already in play, namely spectacular failures. Disadvantage is that it's only 3%, hardly a disincentive.
B) Expands on A: Each term after the first, the auto-failure drops by one.
Advantage is it's ongoing, so it should limit things. But, it's still not a big enough disincentive, I don't think, at least early on.
C) Expand again on A and/or B: spectacular failure (boxcars or, if using B, target raw roll) doubles jail time. Perhaps only after a success.
D) My son suggested making rogues roll more than once for their risk/reward. All would have to succeed in order to get the reward. He wasn't sure what specific numbers would be.
E) Use fame (infamy, for rogues) as a counter to schemes. For every X infamy points, the rogue has to use one of these other ideas. Or, for every X infamy points, you spend a year in jail (instead of the flat 8 years now).
F) Add a mechanic to simulate having partners or having to pay off the local mob boss. This could be coupled with D. The alternate rolls would be taken out of the earnings or the rogue's hide.
G) Allow the big payoffs only once each. (Exception: ship shares become single shares, rather than the current geometric progression, but you can get them more than once.)
H) Have a chance that the scheme was so taxing for the term, that the rogue didn't get a chance to earn all the skills he otherwise would have earned.
Any other ideas?
I think the double-term spent in jail was supposed to be a counter to this, but with a high attribute, it's just not disincentive enough.
I'm going to try out some house rules, but I thought I would propose them here. These are incomplete ideas; I'll need help making them actually work.
A) Count boxcars as an automatic miss.
The advantage is that this is similar to a mechanic already in play, namely spectacular failures. Disadvantage is that it's only 3%, hardly a disincentive.
B) Expands on A: Each term after the first, the auto-failure drops by one.
Advantage is it's ongoing, so it should limit things. But, it's still not a big enough disincentive, I don't think, at least early on.
C) Expand again on A and/or B: spectacular failure (boxcars or, if using B, target raw roll) doubles jail time. Perhaps only after a success.
D) My son suggested making rogues roll more than once for their risk/reward. All would have to succeed in order to get the reward. He wasn't sure what specific numbers would be.
E) Use fame (infamy, for rogues) as a counter to schemes. For every X infamy points, the rogue has to use one of these other ideas. Or, for every X infamy points, you spend a year in jail (instead of the flat 8 years now).
F) Add a mechanic to simulate having partners or having to pay off the local mob boss. This could be coupled with D. The alternate rolls would be taken out of the earnings or the rogue's hide.
G) Allow the big payoffs only once each. (Exception: ship shares become single shares, rather than the current geometric progression, but you can get them more than once.)
H) Have a chance that the scheme was so taxing for the term, that the rogue didn't get a chance to earn all the skills he otherwise would have earned.
Any other ideas?
