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d6-d6

Last week I investigated the probabilities associated with spending a fate point to invoke an aspect in FATE. The version we looked at was using FATE dice, which produce results from -4 to +4.

There is a common variant to using 4dF, which is to use d6-d6, which produce results from -5 to +5. The distribution of this dice variant looks like this:

d6-d6-Probability
So the question is, should we spend our Fate Points differently if we are using the alternate dice variant?

We can use this cumulative probability graph to help us decide:

d6-d6-Cumulative-Probabilit

Just like with 4dF, there is a threshold when you roll -2. At this point, spending a fate point will bring your result to 0; however, you would have a 42% chance of rolling a result greater than 0, and a 42% chance of rolling a result less than 0.

So if you roll a -2, and a 0 just won’t do, you’re better off with a re-roll. If you don’t feel like gambling, and a 0 is good enough, keep it.

For every result above -2, you are better off keeping the +2. For every result less than -2, you are better off re-rolling.

4dF

One of the core elements of the FATE system is that you can spend a Fate Point to invoke an aspect for +2 to your result, or to reroll. However, it has never been obvious to me when it is more advantageous to do one over the other. I’ve taken a look at the statistics and present them to you below:

Typically the fate system requires 4dF, which give results from -4 to +4 with the following distribution:

4dF-Probability

On 4dF almost one in every four rolls will result in a 0, and almost six rolls in ten will be within the range -1 to +1.

To determine when it is best to reroll vs. add +2, lets look at four cases. We can evaluate each case using this cumulative probability chart:

4dF-Cumulative-Probability

CASE 1: You Roll a -4
The worst possible result. This roll should happen once in every one hundred rolls, but now that it has happened, what should you do?

If you add +2, you have 100% chance of getting a -2; however, if you reroll, you have a 94% chance of getting at least a -2, and an 81% chance of getting better than a -2.

Verdict: Reroll


 

CASE 2: You Roll a -3
This roll is still pretty bad. You should expect to see it once in every 20 rolls.

In this case, if you add +2, you have a 100% chance of getting a -1; however, if you reroll, you have a 81% chance of getting at least a -1, and a 62% chance of getting something better. Those odds are still better than even.

Verdict: Reroll


 

CASE 3: You Roll a -2
This roll is fairly common, you should expect to see it three times in every 25 rolls.

Adding +2 now gives you a 0, which is your most common result. Rerolling now gives you the same odds of getting a better result or worse result. 19 results in 50 will get you something better, 19 results in 50 will get you something worse, and the remaining 12 results will get you the same thing.

If you want to gamble, you can roll the dice, but if it was my money, I’d take the sure thing. It is an average performance for your character, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Verdict: Reroll, or keep the +2, it’s about the same.


 

CASE 4: You Roll a -1
You’re going to see this result once in every five rolls. It is expected; an old friend. Adding +2 at this point results in a +1, which is better than 62% of the other possible results. You can reroll at this point if you are desperate, and a +1 result just won’t do it, but expect to end up with either the same thing, or something worse four times out of five.

Verdict: Keep the +2.


 

From this point on, it will always be advantageous to keep the +2 versus rerolling, with the likleyhood of rolling something better diminishing very rapidly.

So in summary, if you roll a -3 or -4, the odds are in your favor to reroll. On a -2 it could go either way. On anything that is -1 or above, keep the +2.

Languages in Dungeon WorldUsing languages that the player characters are not supposed to understand has always been tricky for me in games. I’ve always been of the opinion that if there is something important that the characters need to know, just tell them! However, in the back of the Planarch Codex, one of the Kickstarter supplements for Dungeon World, I noticed the following move that caught my imagination:

When you interact with someone and don’t share a common way of speaking or doing business, roll+Cha. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2. On a miss, choose 1 but they’re clearly not happy with you.
• you make yourself understood
• you grasp more-or-less what they want
• you don’t look like a fool, child, or asshole
• you catch something they didn’t intend you to understand
• you make progress in learning how to interact with these people; start a new countdown or fill in a box of an existing one

The GM should use the number of filled-in boxes in your countdowns as a measure of your fluency, helping determine when to roll this move.

Countdowns were introduced earlier in the Codex, essentially you draw three to six boxes on your sheet (depending on length or in this case difficulty of learning a given language) and the GM can give you incentives to progress down them, or make progressing down them part of a move, etc. When they are full, a thing happens. In this case it would be “Become fluent in language X”

This seems like a great way to have languages be part of a game, because no matter what you roll, the player will always have the option to understand what they want, and can choose a level of understanding that reflects how important they think the conversation is.

Inspired by this, I’ve come up with language related moves for the other mental traits:

When you study a written text in a language that you are not fluent in, roll+Int. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2. On a miss, you can choose only 1.
• You grasp the purpose of the text. (It’s a warning sign, It’s a treatise on herbology, It’s the name of this mine shaft, etc.)
• You understand more-or-less the literal meaning of what has been written.
• You glean a hidden meaning, metatextual element or cultural context.
• You don’t take a long time.
• You make progress in learning how to read this language; start a new countdown or fill in a box of an existing one.

When you actively listen to a language that you are not fluent in, roll+Wis. On a hit, you understand the conversation, more-or-less. On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7-9, choose 1.
• You gain additional information about the speakers. (Where they are from, level of education, etc.)
• You understand a reference not meant for the casual listener.
• It isn’t obvious that you understand what is being said.
• You make progress in learning how to understand this language; start a new countdown or fill in a box of an existing one.

I think these moves would be great in a game where you’ve already asked your players “What is your character’s home language?” and maybe “What language is your character trying to learn?”. They could even start with a Countdown partially filled out!

The Infinity Gauntlet

The Infinity Gauntlet

The culmination of the Infinity Gems posts is finally here!  Behold the ultimate power of the Infinity Gauntlet!

The Infinity Gauntlet, when used to its full potential, makes its wielder a nigh unstoppable reality shaping god. There are only two known beings with powers greater than the Infinity Gauntlet, the Living Tribunal and the One Above All… and yet, for better or worse, I present to you a power set for the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game that you could provide to a savvy player who’s collected and controlled the ultimate power of the Infinity Gems.

Further Reading: Infinity Gems on Wikipedia, Infinity Gauntlet on Marvel Database

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The Infinity Gems are a set of near-infinitely powerful artifacts in the Marvel universe.  The red Power Gem gives access to all the power in the universe that ever has, or ever will exist. In addition to the increased toughness that comes with wielding the power gem, its user can also duplicate almost any physical superpower. The Power Gem can boost the effects of the other Infinity Gems, and provide unlimited power to any machine that uses it as a power source.

The Mad Titan Thanos was able to take the Power Gem from the the Champion of the Universe, but its power has since been used by Drax the Destroyer, Thor, She-Hulk and Namor.

The power set provided below will allow you to use the Soul Gem in your Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game.

The Six Infinity GemsFurther Reading: Infinity Gems on WikipediaInfinity Gems on Marvel DatabasePower Gem on Marvel Database
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The Infinity Gems are a set of near-infinitely powerful artifacts in the Marvel universe.  The orange Time Gem makes its master near total control of the past, present and future. Its user can travel through time, stop and start time on a whim, accelerate or stop aging, and trap others in infinite time loops. In conjunction with the other gems, it can allow a person to exist at all points in time simultaneously!

One of the earliest owners of the Time Gem was an Elder of the Universe known as the Gardiner, but it has since been in the hands of Gamora, Namor, Thor and Captain America.

The power set provided below will allow you to use the Time Gem in your Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game.

The Six Infinity GemsFurther Reading: Infinity Gems on WikipediaInfinity Gems on Marvel DatabaseTime Gem on Marvel Database
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This is another compendium class for the Dungeon World game I am running.

Bloodbound Magus

The Bloodbound Magus has researched Alien Beings of the Otherworld, and dabbled in the magics only whispered of in the dungeons beneath the great schools of magic. When you complete a magic ritual that binds you to an otherworldly being create a bond with the otherworldly entity. The next time you level up, take the following move:

DARK PAST: You have dabbled in the worst sorts of mystical arts and tied yourself to an otherworldly being or cosmic horror of immense scope and notable inability to relate to the morals of man. When you trawl through your memories or reach out on your connection to a greater being for something relevant to the situation at hand roll + Int or Wis. On a 10+ ask the DM two questions from the list below. On a 7-9 ask one question. On a miss, you can ask one question anyways, but that means you were personally complicit in creating the situation you are dealing with now. The questions are:

  • When I dealt with this creature (or one of its kind) what did I learn?
  • What black magic do I know that could help here?
  • Do I know anyone who might be behind this?
  • Who do I know who can help us right now?

If you took DARK PAST, count the following moves as class moves for you; you can choose them when you level up.

BLOOD MAGIC – When you cast a spell you can choose to fuel the magic with your own blood. You can spend Hit Points one for one to a maximum of a +3 bonus to the roll. You must make this decision before your roll.

DESTINY’S PLAYTHING – At the beginning of each session, roll + Bonds with your otherworldly entity to see what is revealed about your immediate future. On at 10+ the GM will reveal a useful detail about an upcoming adventure. On a 7-9 you get a vague hint about it. On a miss, something bad is going to happen to you.

SPEAK WITH BLOOD – When you have time to complete a short ritual, and a sample of someone’s blood, you can summon forth the secrets trapped within. Roll + Int or Wis, on a 10+ hold 3; on a 7-9 hold 1. While you are speaking with the blood, spend your hold one for one to ask the GM or relevant player the following questions:

  • What was your character’s lowest moment?
  • For what does your character crave forgiveness? and of whom?
  • What are your character’s secret pains?
  • In what ways are your character’s mind and soul vulnerable?

On a miss, you alert the owner of the blood sample of your location and the nature of the ritual you were attempting to perform.

The Infinity Gems are a set of near-infinitely powerful artifacts in the Marvel universe.  The yellow Reality Gem grants its user the power to alter cosmological constants and bend the laws of physics to their whim. The Reality Gem can grant wishes, and create new dimensions.

The Reality Gem was stolen from the Collector, an Elder of the Universe, by Thanos the Mad Titan.  Since then it has passed through the hands of both Black Bolt and Mr. Fantastic, among others.

The power set provided below will allow you to use the Reality Gem in your Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game.The Six Infinity Gems

Further Reading: Infinity Gems on WikipediaInfinity Gems on Marvel DatabaseReality Gem on Marvel Database
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One of the coolest concepts from Dungeon World is the idea of the Compendium Class.  Conceptually it is an idea similar to Dungeons and Dragon 3.x Prestige Classes, or D&D 4e Paragon Paths / Epic Destinies. What I like about the implementation if it is that they require specific fictional conditions before you can use them, but they are short and simple enough to create that if there is a specific request from a player or need for your campaign, it doesn’t take too long to grab and re-skin some moves from other classes, or other Apocalypse World based games and come up with something thematic and very relevant to the game you are playing in.

I’ve built a few Compendium Classes for my current Dungeon World game that I plan to share on this blog.  The first one, Karnarath Penitentiary Tracker, can be found below.

Karnarath Penitentiary Tracker

When you sell your soul to the devils of Karnarath Penitentiary, you take whatever job they give you. For you, they have decided that you will hunt down the blackguards and monsters that haunt the world for the rest of eternity. The next time you level up take the following move:

IMMORTAL SERVANT – You are immortal, and will never die from old age. In addition when you use the LAST BREATH move, instead of bargaining with Death, you will bargain with the current owner of your soul.

If you took IMMORTAL SERVANT, count the following moves as class moves for you; you can choose them when you level up.

HOT PURSUIT (Roll + Wis) – When you follow a trail of clues left behind by passing creatures, roll+WIS.

On a 7+, you follow the creature’s trail until there’s a significant change in its direction or mode of travel.

On a 10+, you also choose 1:

  • Gain a useful bit of information about your quarry, the GM will tell you what
  • Determine what caused the trail to end

SOULGAZE (Roll + Wis) – When you want to figure out what someone is thinking or feeling, roll+WIS.

On a 10+ hold 3; on a 7-9 hold 1.

While you’re interacting with them, spend your hold to ask questions about the character, 1 hold per question:

  • Are they telling the truth?
  • What are they really feeling?
  • What do they intend to do?
  • What do they wish I would do?
  • How could I get them to _____?
BRING THEM IN ALIVE – Take +1 forward when performing actions to incapacitate or secure your quarry so they can arrive at Karnarath Penitentiary alive.

The Infinity Gems are a set of near-infinitely powerful artifacts in the Marvel universe.  The green Soul Gem grants its user unparalleled power over the souls of others, but at a price. While the Soul Gem can attack souls with karmic blasts, pierce to their core with the cold light of truth, and trap souls within the pocket universe known as Soul-World, the Soul Gem is a sentient being with a hunger for souls.

The Mad Titan Thanos stole the Soul Gem from the In-Betweener, an Elder of the Universe, and since then it has been used by both Adam Warlock and Doctor Strange, among others.

The power set provided below will allow you to use the Soul Gem in your Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game.

The Six Infinity Gems

Further Reading: Infinity Gems on WikipediaInfinity Gems on Marvel DatabaseSoul Gem on Marvel Database
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