From: ajoseph@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK
Date: Sat 18 Aug 1990 - 09:56:33 EEST
Hi Folks, well there seems to have been a lot of discussion
about experience in RQ. Most of the discussion seems to be
about the problem of the polymath (or JOT) encouraged by the RQ
experience system. Our old gaming group also noticed this
problem, exemplified by the weapons caddy, a person whose sole
job is to carry around a selection of weapons so that his
master can take turns in striking with a variety of different
weapons on avarage improving equally with each (maybe not
unreasonably), but also improving as fast (assuming he hits at
least once with each weapon before changing) as somone who
specialises (sp?) in one weapon. This is, of course, an extreme
example, but it does show up the general problem. We decided we
wanted an experience system that reflected what we believe to
be the situation in the 'real world'.
So, you have to decide what the(/your) truth is about the real world. We decided that we wanted our experience system to encompass the following points:
This deviates from the RQ rules in that we decided improvement can be achieved by both success and failure, that is, you can learn from mistakes as well as successes. This also includes the idea that the amount which you use a skill will affect the rate at which it improves.
b) The more you know about something the harder it is to learn something new about it.
This conforms with both the old RQII and new RQIII training. Although this is also included in RQII to some extent, we didn't like the way it was implemented.
c) The more intelligent you are the quicker you learn.
This is yet another bonus for intelligent characters, but none of us objected to it and we were still happy to play not so bright characters, and in any case who said life was fair!!
Okay well those were our objectives, we had played an SF game, Universe which had a lot of good ideas, but was very poorly put together. However, Universe has an interesting experience system which we borrowed and modified to get the following:
Since the actual maximum improvement for any character in each skill range will remain constant (unless their intellgence changes) it can (should) be calculated beforehand.
4) The method of gaining a skill improvement is as follows: each time a skill is used (whether successfully or not) the actual number shown on each of the dice (this assumes rolling two D10 to get a percentile roll) is checked if one or both of the numbers displayed is an improvement number for the current skill level, then ONE improvement point has been gained. The improvement numbers for the skill ranges are as follows:
SKILL RANGE 0-25 26-50 51-75 76-100 101+ IMPROVEMENT NO 0,1,2,3 0,1,2 0,1 0 0
[In this as in standard RQ the GM says when it counts, no
playing around to get higher skills]
Thus a character with a skill of 38 who rolls 92 gets one
possible improvement point, if the character had rolled 33
although they would have successfully used their skill they
would not have gained a point. Also not that a roll of 00 will
always result in a possible improvement point, the character
will learn never to do that again! Note that any points gained
in excess of the characters maximum are lost. Also as with
standard RQ there is no actual skill improvement until after
the R&R period.
Okay well as far as it goes we think it's okay, note as
with any new system it will take a while to get used to and at
first (particularly in the heat of battle) it may be difficult
to remember to look at the numbers on the dice for skill
improvements, however, this soon becomes second nature. One
point to note that at higher skill levels characters may only
be able to get a fractional improvement, such fractions should
be noted and kept, added together until they make a full point.
[You may want to round to easy fractions ie 1/2 1/4, or if your
feeling particularly adventurous to keep all fractions,no rounding]
This may seem unfair; however, comparison of this system with
the old (RQII) system will show that on avarage a frequently
used skill will improve slightly faster.
So far so good, we now have a reasonable (we think)
system where the more you use a skill the faster it will
improve, but there is still the following problem:-
A party comes up against a locked door, the master locksmith
tries to pick the lock and fails, so somone else tries and then
somone else ... Okay now let's be honest; if a master locksmith
failed to pick a lock how many of us would even bother to try?
Why? because if he can't, what chance do we stand? So, in order
to introduce some semblance of reality we rule that each
character after the first attempting to do the same thing
receives a cumulative -20% modifier; i.e., the first person does
it at normal skill, the next at -20%, the next at -40%, -60%,...
Naturally, your modified skill must be positive to allow you
chance to succed or improve. This will encourage the best
person to try and do something first; i.e., specialisation. This
rule is also used in other situations in a modified form, for
instance when moving in a double line formation, we allow only
the two front people to use their full spot hidden/trap skill
to the front, and may allow a modified roll for the second
rank. However, in the case of a party searching a room, each
character would get their full skill (for the part of the room
they are assumed to be searching).
In this as in all things we play with a great deal of
GM's options; let's face it, if you don't trust your GM you might
as well not be playing. This sort of system encourages
specialisation since the best get to do, and those who get to
do (or at least try) get better. So, for instance in our party
one of the main fighters is best at spotting hidden (ambushes),
but the main thief is the best at spotting traps.
Anyway, that's a sample of the experience system we use; it does involve a little more book keeping than the original RQII system, but we think it provides a more realistic and hence a more enjoyable system. I would be greatful for comments about the system, particularly from any who try it for a while. I hope its interested you, have fun
Adrian
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