Re: (TFT) Is this horse dead yet?

["" <pvk@oz.net>]

--- Gavin@TheFantasyQuest.com wrote:
...
>This certainly makes sense in a skill-level system, but not necessarily in a 
>system where a character's only measure of skill - of all of his various 
>skills - is DX.
...
Good point. Though that seems to me to mainly be a limit of TFT's character system, at least TFT without house rules and compared to a system where different skills have different levels (e.g. GURPS). That is, in TFT, a very highly skilled character is mainly represented by high DX. It's just a simplification that one has to improve all trained physical abilities at once.

>And even more to the point, that's all in the training.  It doesn't in any 
>way apply to practical application.

I think it does, though, particularly when there are some tasks that are harder than others, such as when there are DX adjustments or rolls with more or less than two dice.

>It seems like "double-dipping" to apply the curve to learning ("learning 
>curve", anyone?) and ALSO apply the curve to application.  And really, 
>what's the point?  Who's to say a roll of 14 should be significantly 
>far-removed from a roll of 13?
>
>Don't you guys just think it comes down to opinion?

It is opinion, but I do think there is at least a few points, which I see about like this:

The bell curve is a more interesting shape for the chance of success than a straight line. It allows the designer and GM to set a point where a certain level of skill will make an outcome easy, uncertain, or hard. Unusual skill or circumstances can then swing that up or down in a way where a chunk of skill or difficulty can make a major difference in the likelihood of an outcome, instead of a generic percentage shift. If it's -5 for a certain shot, it be quite hard for typical 8-12 skill people, but people with skill 16+ will have a decent chance at it, which it seems to me does match many tests of skill better than a flat increase would. Also it allows narrower margins for extreme events (a 3 on 3d6 being a 1 in 216 chance, while a 1 on 1d20 is a 1 in 20 chance).

PvK
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