The Universal Game Mechanic

[Fritz_Brown]

Well, WJP, I was avoiding mentioning MT because we were talking CT. But, that is why I am looking at incorporating the "Special" roll into my house rules (MyT). I have also considered something akin to your second point - really a way to allow nearly point-based chargen or take a risk with random, but your possibilities are less limited. Lastly, MyT is a way of bringing in a greater range of skills while maintaining the CT levels.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Well, WJP, I was avoiding mentioning MT because we were talking CT. But, that is why I am looking at incorporating the "Special" roll into my house rules (MyT). I have also considered something akin to your second point - really a way to allow nearly point-based chargen or take a risk with random, but your possibilities are less limited. Lastly, MyT is a way of bringing in a greater range of skills while maintaining the CT levels.

 

[far-trader]

No heat intended here, well not above boiling at least Jump in B. Lee Adamson, Jr. the water's nice and warm

And a belated welcome aboard

WJP and I have a difference of opinion on a point or two is all. More discussion and points of view can only make things clearer and better, besides unless a notable takes note all this is very much MTU, YTU, and not OTU.

Updating the basic chargen as you say is another way to even the field, but except for the ones already done means more work. And as you note, you'd just be trading more variety for higher ranks if not done with some thought.

 

[far-trader]

No heat intended here, well not above boiling at least Jump in B. Lee Adamson, Jr. the water's nice and warm

And a belated welcome aboard

WJP and I have a difference of opinion on a point or two is all. More discussion and points of view can only make things clearer and better, besides unless a notable takes note all this is very much MTU, YTU, and not OTU.

Updating the basic chargen as you say is another way to even the field, but except for the ones already done means more work. And as you note, you'd just be trading more variety for higher ranks if not done with some thought.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by B. Lee Adamson, Jr.:
Hmm, I'm not sure if I want to get into this. It seems a little heated, but...

I don't think it's heated, but maybe I'm just reading the posts wrong.

This thread was started to discuss the creation of this task system, and debate about it was what I was looking for.

Opinions are valued, even if not always agreed with.

Assuming the above task system really is broken, which I'm not making a judgement on yet, because I haven't fiddled with it enough...

Well, it was never a complete, finished task system. I've been brainstorming it here.

The good news is...

I've about got it worked out so that it does work!

I still like CTI better, but the UGM will give CT players some more choice.

I think the task system should be made to work with advanced chargen, but also that basic chargen should be modified a bit to bring it in-line with advanced.

That's a great thought, but that's already been done for us by DGP in the MTPM.

See my post above.

If you make those two adjustments with your CT Basic characters, they'll come out on par with Advanced chargen characters.

It's pretty simple, really.

I've considered it a non-issue since I first bought MT back in the 80's.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by B. Lee Adamson, Jr.:
Hmm, I'm not sure if I want to get into this. It seems a little heated, but...

I don't think it's heated, but maybe I'm just reading the posts wrong.

This thread was started to discuss the creation of this task system, and debate about it was what I was looking for.

Opinions are valued, even if not always agreed with.

Assuming the above task system really is broken, which I'm not making a judgement on yet, because I haven't fiddled with it enough...

Well, it was never a complete, finished task system. I've been brainstorming it here.

The good news is...

I've about got it worked out so that it does work!

I still like CTI better, but the UGM will give CT players some more choice.

I think the task system should be made to work with advanced chargen, but also that basic chargen should be modified a bit to bring it in-line with advanced.

That's a great thought, but that's already been done for us by DGP in the MTPM.

See my post above.

If you make those two adjustments with your CT Basic characters, they'll come out on par with Advanced chargen characters.

It's pretty simple, really.

I've considered it a non-issue since I first bought MT back in the 80's.

 

[Berg]

Originally posted by WJP:
The good news is...

I've about got it worked out so that it does work!

I still like CTI better, but the UGM will give CT players some more choice.

Well... Do you know how long I've been waiting

 

[Berg]

Originally posted by WJP:
The good news is...

I've about got it worked out so that it does work!

I still like CTI better, but the UGM will give CT players some more choice.

Well... Do you know how long I've been waiting

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by far-trader:
WJP and I have a difference of opinion on a point or two is all. More discussion and points of view can only make things clearer and better...

Absolutely. Your opinions are welcome.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by far-trader:
WJP and I have a difference of opinion on a point or two is all. More discussion and points of view can only make things clearer and better...

Absolutely. Your opinions are welcome.

 

[Berg]

I was wondering if anyone had seen this...

Traveller Plus

A task is an attempt to use a character’s abilities to accomplish a particular
end. This can include using a skill, or taking advantage of the character’s innate
abilities.

A task can be anything ranging from laboring to repair a computer, aiming to
hit a target in combat, or piloting a starship to a safe landing.
There are two categories of tasks: skill checks and characteristic checks.

SKILL CHECKS
A skill check (SC) is an attempt by a character to use a skill
to achieve a goal in the game.
The base chance for success in a skill check is 8+.
However, no matter the DMs, a roll of an unmodified 2 is
always a failure. See Murphy’s Rule, on page 24.
DIE MODIFIERS
Apply DMs to the base chance as follows:

Skill DMs
Per skill level of appropriate skill +1/level
Possesses another skill in same cascade -2
No familiarity with a Common skill -4 or more

Difficulty DMs
Easy (almost always successful) +4
Simple (easy to perform) +2
Routine (typical attempt) +0
Hard (difficult to perform) -2
Formidable (not easy even for experts) -4

Situational DMs
Rushed/Under Pressure -2
Limited knowledge -4 or more
Technology Differences -1 per 2 TL difference

Skill checks are usually denoted
SC:<Name of Skill>/Difficulty.
For example, the notation SC: Engineering/Hard would mean a skill check of
Engineering at the Hard difficulty level.

There's more for doing Characteristic checks and combat, etc...

Thought?

 

[Berg]

I was wondering if anyone had seen this...

Traveller Plus

A task is an attempt to use a character’s abilities to accomplish a particular
end. This can include using a skill, or taking advantage of the character’s innate
abilities.

A task can be anything ranging from laboring to repair a computer, aiming to
hit a target in combat, or piloting a starship to a safe landing.
There are two categories of tasks: skill checks and characteristic checks.

SKILL CHECKS
A skill check (SC) is an attempt by a character to use a skill
to achieve a goal in the game.
The base chance for success in a skill check is 8+.
However, no matter the DMs, a roll of an unmodified 2 is
always a failure. See Murphy’s Rule, on page 24.
DIE MODIFIERS
Apply DMs to the base chance as follows:

Skill DMs
Per skill level of appropriate skill +1/level
Possesses another skill in same cascade -2
No familiarity with a Common skill -4 or more

Difficulty DMs
Easy (almost always successful) +4
Simple (easy to perform) +2
Routine (typical attempt) +0
Hard (difficult to perform) -2
Formidable (not easy even for experts) -4

Situational DMs
Rushed/Under Pressure -2
Limited knowledge -4 or more
Technology Differences -1 per 2 TL difference

Skill checks are usually denoted
SC:<Name of Skill>/Difficulty.
For example, the notation SC: Engineering/Hard would mean a skill check of
Engineering at the Hard difficulty level.

There's more for doing Characteristic checks and combat, etc...

Thought?

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Berg:
Well... Do you know how long I've been waiting

It's a-comin', It's a-comin'

I'm very please with the results of the UGM without influence of stat.

I've got three different ways to use stat, and I'm figuring which would be the best way.

I'll post the results soon.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Berg:
Well... Do you know how long I've been waiting

It's a-comin', It's a-comin'

I'm very please with the results of the UGM without influence of stat.

I've got three different ways to use stat, and I'm figuring which would be the best way.

I'll post the results soon.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Berg:
I was wondering if anyone had seen this...

Traveller Plus

I have seen that. There's some good ideas there. I noticed that he and I share some of the same ideas too (not just on the task system--but in other parts of his system).

But, the biggest problem I have is that he barely addresses stats. He addresses them some, but not enough.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Berg:
I was wondering if anyone had seen this...

Traveller Plus

I have seen that. There's some good ideas there. I noticed that he and I share some of the same ideas too (not just on the task system--but in other parts of his system).

But, the biggest problem I have is that he barely addresses stats. He addresses them some, but not enough.

 

[Berg]

Post it with all three ways

Indicate which is your prefered way, and make the others optional rules

Contain them in a nice pdf like TPlus and well...

 

[Berg]

Post it with all three ways

Indicate which is your prefered way, and make the others optional rules

Contain them in a nice pdf like TPlus and well...

 

[Supplement Four]

Question to any following this thread:

What if referencing stat using the UGM rarely had an effect on the roll?

What I mean is, what if every level of stat *were* referenced differently, and all were capable of providing different results....but in typical play, the DM on most stats would be +0DM.

I've got an easy way of implementing that, and I'm almost leaning that way to keep "in the spirit" of Classic Trav as officially written.

In CT, stats rarely come into play. They're referenced here and there, sure. There's the DEX and STR mods in combat. But, under most tasks (typically listed under skill descriptions or just in misc. game material), stats are typically ignored in CT.

I'm thinking the UGM could support that type of play.

If you want your Stat-8 guys to consistently roll just a little bit better than your Stat-7 guys, then you use CTI.

But, if you want to stick with typical CT philosophy, but still use a very "Classic Trav" type task system, you can use the UGM.

Now, stats under the UGM would still provide different benefits at different levels, but this differentation would apply only occassionally to a task roll.

For the most part, stat won't have impact on a skill roll.


What are your thoughts on that?

If this sounds good, I can definitely bend UGM in that direction.

Comments?

 

[Supplement Four]

Question to any following this thread:

What if referencing stat using the UGM rarely had an effect on the roll?

What I mean is, what if every level of stat *were* referenced differently, and all were capable of providing different results....but in typical play, the DM on most stats would be +0DM.

I've got an easy way of implementing that, and I'm almost leaning that way to keep "in the spirit" of Classic Trav as officially written.

In CT, stats rarely come into play. They're referenced here and there, sure. There's the DEX and STR mods in combat. But, under most tasks (typically listed under skill descriptions or just in misc. game material), stats are typically ignored in CT.

I'm thinking the UGM could support that type of play.

If you want your Stat-8 guys to consistently roll just a little bit better than your Stat-7 guys, then you use CTI.

But, if you want to stick with typical CT philosophy, but still use a very "Classic Trav" type task system, you can use the UGM.

Now, stats under the UGM would still provide different benefits at different levels, but this differentation would apply only occassionally to a task roll.

For the most part, stat won't have impact on a skill roll.


What are your thoughts on that?

If this sounds good, I can definitely bend UGM in that direction.

Comments?