John Dillinger, the famous depression-era bank robber
Today's updates
Gangsters & G-Men: a new page on character backgrounds has been added, so never fear, source material is being written!
Equipment/Ammunition: tables now include the weight of ammunition (mostly thanks to http://www.pmulcahy.com/ammunition/ammunition.htm), and there is an extra section on how much magazines and ammo belts weigh.
Equipment/Machine Guns: I have clarified whether the listed weight is for a loaded or unloaded weapon, corrected the weights in light of this, and added the weight of ammunition belts to the appropriate weapon descriptions.
Tasks and Stat Checks
I'd now like to write something about the mechanics of the game, regarding Tasks and Stat Checks, the two main mechanisms for getting things done in the game.
A Task (or skill check) is used to decide whether a character successfully uses a skill. The player (or GM for NPCs) rolls 2D10 and adds the character's skill level (a number from 0-10) and relevant Stat for the skill (a number from 3-10), trying to equal or exceed a difficulty number, which is always a multiple of five. Negative and positive modifiers are applied to the dice roll depending on the situation.
A Task: 2D10 + Skill + Stat + Modifiers vs. Difficulty Number
An unmodified roll of 2 on the 2D10 is an automatic failure, and a fumble in most circumstances except a non-critical, no-stress situation. An unmodified roll of 20 is an exceptional success, and a third D10 is rolled and added to the result. If the roll of the extra D10 is a 10, roll a fourth (and so on and so on). This way success or failure are never automatic, unless the GM rules that no Task roll is needed to succeed or that the task is simply impossible.
The average human value for any Stat is six, and a skill level of three or four is considered competent. A task of Average difficulty has a target number of 20, so a character with a skill level of three and a stat level of 6 will succeed on a 2D10 roll of 11: slightly more than a 50 per cent chance.
The human maximum for any Stat (apart from Sanity, which is the sum of Geniality and Nerve) is 10, and a character can have only one Stat at that level. A Skill level of 10 represents the pinnacle of human achievement, and hardly anybody will have even one Skill at that level. For example, sprinting phenomenon Usain Bolt would have an Agility Stat of 10 and an Athletics Skill of 9 or 10, in game terms.
Originally I was going to use a roll of 1D10 + Skill + Stat + Modifiers (with all the difficulty numbers set five points lower), but on reflection I decided that there were advantages to a 2D10 roll. One is that the range of results is greater, making the outcome of any Task roll less predictable.
Another advantage is that the probability of rolling a particular number is higher for numbers around the middle of the range (11 being the median and average) than it is for results at the extreme (2 or 20). This not only makes fumbles and exceptional successes less likely, but it encourages players to use their heads and role-play by stacking situational modifiers in their favour.
A Stat Check is a roll of 1D10 against the relevant Stat, trying to roll equal or less than the stat. Positive and negative modifiers are applied to the Stat, not the die roll. The exception is the Sanity Stat, which is the sum of Geniality and Nerve and so has a normal starting value from 6-20: A D20 is rolled for a Sanity check.
Stat Checks can be used as a kind of 'saving throw', or when no skill is relevant to the situation. For example, a character would have to make a Toughness check to see whether they recover from a disease or survive poisoning, or a Nerve check to stand up and shoot back when being shot at.
I hope that makes the rules a bit clearer and entices you to play the game. Please leave any comments you have below this post.
James
A Task (or skill check) is used to decide whether a character successfully uses a skill. The player (or GM for NPCs) rolls 2D10 and adds the character's skill level (a number from 0-10) and relevant Stat for the skill (a number from 3-10), trying to equal or exceed a difficulty number, which is always a multiple of five. Negative and positive modifiers are applied to the dice roll depending on the situation.
A Task: 2D10 + Skill + Stat + Modifiers vs. Difficulty Number
An unmodified roll of 2 on the 2D10 is an automatic failure, and a fumble in most circumstances except a non-critical, no-stress situation. An unmodified roll of 20 is an exceptional success, and a third D10 is rolled and added to the result. If the roll of the extra D10 is a 10, roll a fourth (and so on and so on). This way success or failure are never automatic, unless the GM rules that no Task roll is needed to succeed or that the task is simply impossible.
The average human value for any Stat is six, and a skill level of three or four is considered competent. A task of Average difficulty has a target number of 20, so a character with a skill level of three and a stat level of 6 will succeed on a 2D10 roll of 11: slightly more than a 50 per cent chance.
The human maximum for any Stat (apart from Sanity, which is the sum of Geniality and Nerve) is 10, and a character can have only one Stat at that level. A Skill level of 10 represents the pinnacle of human achievement, and hardly anybody will have even one Skill at that level. For example, sprinting phenomenon Usain Bolt would have an Agility Stat of 10 and an Athletics Skill of 9 or 10, in game terms.
Originally I was going to use a roll of 1D10 + Skill + Stat + Modifiers (with all the difficulty numbers set five points lower), but on reflection I decided that there were advantages to a 2D10 roll. One is that the range of results is greater, making the outcome of any Task roll less predictable.
Another advantage is that the probability of rolling a particular number is higher for numbers around the middle of the range (11 being the median and average) than it is for results at the extreme (2 or 20). This not only makes fumbles and exceptional successes less likely, but it encourages players to use their heads and role-play by stacking situational modifiers in their favour.
A Stat Check is a roll of 1D10 against the relevant Stat, trying to roll equal or less than the stat. Positive and negative modifiers are applied to the Stat, not the die roll. The exception is the Sanity Stat, which is the sum of Geniality and Nerve and so has a normal starting value from 6-20: A D20 is rolled for a Sanity check.
Stat Checks can be used as a kind of 'saving throw', or when no skill is relevant to the situation. For example, a character would have to make a Toughness check to see whether they recover from a disease or survive poisoning, or a Nerve check to stand up and shoot back when being shot at.
I hope that makes the rules a bit clearer and entices you to play the game. Please leave any comments you have below this post.
James
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