Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

It's not in the book, but I bump the die size for each penalty, as in, 1 in 1d6 at 9-12, 1 in 1d8 at 6-8, 1d10 at 4-5, and 1d12 at 3.

Solo, what die do you use when passing d12 and d20 due to a STR penalty?

Dimirag wrote:Solo, what die do you use when passing d12 and d20 due to a STR penalty?

When would this happen? STR 3 (-3) is the lowest you'd normally have, and I've already said that's 1d12. Someone who fell afoul of a Shadow and lost below 3, well, I'd probably just say "You're almost too puny to stand up, you sure can't force a door."

My go-to ruling on stuff like this is that you can't try the same thing again unless the sitiation has changed somehow. Getting a better lockpick set, leveling up, doing research into locks of that particular kind - that sort of thing might count in the case of locks.

Trying to charm your way past some guards - if you fail you have to try saying something else. You can't stand there saying the same thing and askng for a re-roll. If they catch you lying the first time your second argument better be pretty good.

Trying to remember something? If your roll is a fail you can't just keep re-rolling until you see something that might jog your memory.

Some players get frustrated with this, becuase the visulaise their characters "trying really hard this time" and they think it is all about a description of their own effort. But it's still better than too many re-rolls.

In the case of doors, I'd say one roll per character, and then it's time to get out the axes. Two rolls, or three rolls with a potential for subdual damage, are interesting options.

Solomoriah wrote:When would this happen?

Lock doors and bars use a bigger die (d10 and d20), I took as if you would increase these dice too.

Metroknight wrote:I have let players make multiple attempts with their characters for breaking doors down but with each attempt it takes time and causes a random encounter check for the noise. I usually give them their str (or con) bonus in attempts before taking subdue damage which represents them bruising themselves up in the attempt. In addition I have increased the chance the door being broken open by 1 on each attempt also. Standard chance is 2 or less (without str bonus) so the second attempt would be 3, third attempt would be 4, etc. By the 5th attempt the door would finally break open but they would have taken some subdue damage along with extra encounter rolls which could spell trouble to the group in whole.

I like this resolution. Players have the choice to continue trying to bash down a door or pick a lock, but with the risk being discovered or some other "negative" condition occurring. I've tried to come up with a similar resolution for searching rooms. Super-thorough searches require more time and are more risky than a cursory glance around. The players can decide how much risk they wish to take to find the secret door.

Great idea, Metroknight!

Solomoriah wrote:It's not in the book, but I bump the die size for each penalty, as in, 1 in 1d6 at 9-12, 1 in 1d8 at 6-8, 1d10 at 4-5, and 1d12 at 3.

Ooh, I like this as well. Thanks, Solo!

Dimirag wrote:

Solomoriah wrote:When would this happen?

Lock doors and bars use a bigger die (d10 and d20), I took as if you would increase these dice too.

Ah. d10 rolls could bump to d12 for -1 STR, but I'd disallow any chance of success for those with -2 or worse. I wouldn't allow bending bars for any penalty Strength, period.

Thanks for clarify

In my short experience of GMing, I've found that giving the roller three (or even less) tries is plenty. If they try again after that, I have the character lose 1d4 of HP for every failure. That's just how I do it.