Sycarion Diversions

It’s a New Year, and I couldn’t pass up this good three-column theme called Dillecto. Dilectio Theme is created by: Design Disease brought to you by Smashing Magazine.

The main thing is that it allows a chance to have more sidebar activity. Cool, eh?

I like creating new languages, especially to flavor RPGs or a fantasy setting. To that end, I have been creating a relex of Latin as the language of magic. It sounds like Latin without being the Dog Latin used in popular books.

I wrote part of the README for yould’s next release. I’ll be posting some of the engines I’ve created and some helpful how-tos in the coming days.

I have all the boxscores from the 1985 season. I’m doing it as part of a quest to get more information than currently available online about the USFL’s final season. The various sources come from local newspapers. I will create a section of Sycarion that is just for the completed boxscores.

Game 1 in Tampa Bay with 44,0095 in attendance broke down like this:

Team ———-Q1 — Q2 — Q3 — Q4 —- Total
Renegades —-0 —– 0 —– 0 —– 7 ——— 7
Bandits ——- 14 — 14 —– 7 —– 0 ——- 35

Neither team threw for more than 162 yards. It was a running game, if you can believe that.

More later at usfl.sycarion.com

I know, I know. Everything lately has been RPG stuff. Dice is in my blood, I guess. So now, back to a project I’ve been working on for the better part of 2007, the Pro Football Action project.

The software that I was using to create entire seasons had one small flaw that prevented me from using it:

I couldn’t make my own teams.

In the case of the USFL, I couldn’t get enough stats on players and teams without camping out at the library and reading a lot of microfilm.

So, I switched to a different program, Alex Mittenmeyer’s FBWin. It is a windows version of the old Avalon Hill game, Statis-Pro Football. It uses Access Databases to store stats, track a season and so much more.

However, editing a team wasn’t entirely straightforward. Many people wrote to Alex, including me. I’m happy to say that I have the editor and will post it here for others to download.

Football for Windows Editor

You can contact Alex at the Statis-Pro Football yahoo group.

The last post about Sicherman Dice was basically just a definition. Now for the application.

In Action! and other games, success is measured by rolling higher than Skill Score + Ability Score + Dice Roll. The official rules use 3 regular dice (3d6). An alternate rule uses a 20 sided dice (1d20). After doing some calculations, it is also possible to use Sicherman Dice. As a shorthand, I will refer to rolling two Sicherman dice as 2dS. 2dS means rolling the Sicherman dice and using one as a ten digit and the other as a ones digit. Thus if you rolled an 8 on one die and 2 on the other, the result would be 28 or 82.

How to Read 2dS rolls

At first, I thought of having the die with the larger numbers be a tens digit and the smaller one as the ones digit. Then I realized that most people would make the largest roll the tens digits no matter what. After checking the odds, it doesn’t affect odds to succeed very much. So, the way to read a 2dS roll is to make the largest two-digit number possible.

For example, if I roll a 3 and 4 respectively, the result is 43. If I roll a 6 and 1, the result is 61.

Odds: Four Test Cases

Before talking about odds, I have to say that it is difficult to post a table that looks the same as the matrix in the Action! rules. As a result, I’m going to take four characters and discuss them specifically as a cross-section of all possibilities. I’ll give a skill score and an attribute score to each one. Then I’ll discuss the odds of each character achieving success.

The first character is the Realistic level character. The realistic character has a skill score of 3 and an attribute score of 3. This means, of course, that the Realistic character will need dice roll + 6 to determine success.

The second character is the Cinematic level character. The Cinematic character has a skill score of 6 and an attribute score of 6. This means that he or she will need dice roll + 12 to determine success.

The third character is the Extreme level character. The Extreme character has a skill score of 8 and an attribute score of 8. This means that success is determined by dice roll + 16.

The fourth character is the Paragon character. This character is the pinnacle of human achievement with a skill score of 10 and an attribute score of 10. Success is dice roll + 20 for success.

Odds: Target Numbers

After playing with the numbers, I think I’ve come up with the best possible set of target numbers. For reference, here are the difficulties and target numbers from Action!

Difficulty Levels & Target Numbers

Description —– TN
Average/Easy….12
Tricky……………15
Challenging……18
Difficult………….21
Demanding…….24
Extreme………..27
Legendary……..30

Now under the new 2dS system, the numbers look like this:

Description —– TN
Average/Easy….24
Tricky……………36
Challenging……48
Difficult………….60
Demanding…….72
Extreme………..84
Legendary……..96

To give some reference to these numbers, I look at them as percentile ability. A person in the 96 percentile of their task should be able to pull off some legendary things if they are lucky.

Odds: The Numbers

In the Action! System, the matrix shows a table with needed rolls of 3d6 to succeed. Since I am looking at odds, and not actual rolls needed, I need to first provide odds based on the Action! System for success. (This is for 3d6)

The Realistic person has to roll a six or better to perform an Average/Easy task. The odds of rolling a six or better are 95.37%. To perform a Tricky task, a roll of nine or better is needed. Odds of that are 74.07%. For the rest, I’ll just list the roll needed and the odds for rolling that number or better. Challenging – 12 or better – 37.50%. Difficult – 15 or better – 9.26%. Demanding – 18 or better – 0.46%. Extreme and Legendary are technically possible by rule, but the character must roll an 18. The chances of rolling an 18 are 1 in 216 or 0.46%.

The Cinematic person can automatically perform an Average/Easy task. Odds are 100%. To perform a Tricky task, a roll of three or better is needed. Odds of that are 100%. For the rest: Challenging – 6 or better – 95.37%. Difficult – 9 or better – 74.07%. Demanding – 12 or better – 37.50%. Extreme – 15 or better – 9.26% and Legendary – 18 or better – 0.46%

The Extreme person can automatically perform Average/Easy, Tricky, and Challenging tasks. Odds are 100% for all three. For the rest: Difficult – 5 or better – 98.14%. Demanding – 8 or better – 83.79%. Extreme – 11 or better – 50.00% and Legendary – 14 or better – 16.20%

Finally, our Paragaon can automatically perform Average/Easy, Tricky, Challenging, and Difficult tasks. Odds are 100% for all four. For the rest: Demanding – 4 or better – 99.53%. Extreme – 7 or better – 90.74% and Legendary – 10 or better – 62.50%

It seems that once you hit the Paragon, very little is beyond your capability. This bodes ill for superhuman characters, but that’s a subject of a different post. Without delay, here are the odds for the same four characters under the 2dS system. I’ll warn you, the odds are lower.

The Realistic person has to roll a 18 or better to perform an Average/Easy task. The odds of rolling a six or better are 97.22%. To perform a Tricky task, a roll of 30 or better is needed. Odds of that are 91.66%. For the rest, I’ll just list the roll needed and the odds for rolling that number or better. Challenging – 42 or better – 66.66%. Difficult – 54 or better – 36.11%. Demanding – 66 or better – 16.66%. Extreme – 78 or better – 16.66% Legendary tasks are technically possible by rule, but the character must roll an 84, the highest roll possible on Sicherman dice. The chances of rolling an 84 are 2.77%.

The Cinematic person can automatically perform an Average/Easy task. Odds are 100%. To perform a Tricky task, a roll of 24 or better is needed. Odds of that are 91.66%. For the rest: Challenging – 36 or better – 72.22%. Difficult – 48 or better – 50.00%. Demanding – 60 or better – 33.33%. Extreme – 72 or better – 16.66% and Legendary tasks – 84 – 2.77%

The Extreme person can automatically perform an Average/Easy task. Odds are 100%. To perform a Tricky task, a roll of 20 or better is needed. Odds of that are 97.22%. For the rest: Challenging – 32 or better – 83.33%. Difficult – 44 or better – 52.77%. Demanding – 56 or better – 33.33%. Extreme – 68 or better – 16.66% and Legendary tasks – 80 or better – 16.66%

Finally, our Paragaon can automatically perform an Average/Easy task. Odds are 100%. To perform a Tricky task, a roll of 16 or better is needed. Odds of that are 97.22%. For the rest: Challenging – 28 or better – 91.66%. Difficult – 40 or better – 72.22%. For the rest: Demanding – 52 or better – 47.22%. Extreme – 64 or better – 19.44% and Legendary – 76 or better – 16.66%

What a Difference

It seems like more able characters are penalized, but only because the scale changed. It’s true that almost everyone has a 1 in 6 chance of performing an Extreme task. The Realistic and Cinematic person have much better chances, while the other two have much worse chances. What this does is allow superhuman characters chances to do things beyond the standard difficulty levels and have some challenge. Otherwise, you have to target numbers in triple digits for a challenge while everyone has at least a 2.77% chance to perform superhuman feats.

One other note – bonuses and penalties are now factors of five. What used to be a +1 bonus is now a +5 bonus. A -3 penalty is -15 points, now.

Conclusion

This was more of an exercise than anything. Still, I think that a mechanic based on Sicherman Dice is viable. As far as Action!, I believe it would require more rules changes. It would also require a sliding scale of what is “Legendary” depending on the level of the game. What might be Legendary in a Realistic game, might only be Demanding in an Extreme game. It’s something to think about.

The main issue of using Sicherman Dice as percentile dice is that it is impossible to roll a number between 64 and 81. That’s a huge gap that wreaks havoc with probabilities for success. Even if I made an easy task a TN of 12 and Legendary a TN of 84, the differences are not that large. For the record, there are 21 possible rolls for 2dS as I describe them here. The rolls are: 11, 21, 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 53, 54, 61, 62, 63, 64, 81, 82, 83, 84.

Still in search of different mechanics for fun. Let me know what you think of the effect of Sicherman Dice.

If you’ve never heard of them, Sicherman Dice are a pair of dice which have the same odds for throwing every number as a normal pair of 6-sided dice. The numbers on the faces are different, but the odds of rolling a 3 or 18 are exactly the same as standard dice. It’s weird at first, but if you do the math, it makes sense.

What I have been pondering lately deals with a different usage of dice. A long time ago, two six-sided dice were used for tables in role playing games. However, instead of using the total, they were read as two numbers put together. In other words, one dice was a tens digit, the other a ones digit. This would provide 36 different rolls (11 through 66) and you had a one in 36 chance in rolling any one of them.

For the Sicherman Dice above – if they are used in this way, the range is different. You only get 24 different numbers. (11 through 84) because you can roll and number ending in 2 or 3 twice.

More detail tomorrow, just writing it down so I won’t forget right now.

Information on Sicherman dice from:
Weisstein, Eric W. “Sicherman Dice.” From MathWorld–A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/SichermanDice.html

When Gold Rush Games lost their web host unexpectedly, the website went down as did the ability to access the rules for the Action! System. Although the site is back up now, there is no way to download the Action! System rules.

So we decided to host them until Gold Rush Games returns. Normally, we only host files in Open Document Formats, but we did not want to alter the original RTF files.

We love the Action! System and believe that it can be developed into an enjoyable rule set for experienced players and new players alike. We believe it has many advantages over other OGL-Licensed system, especially because the rules for character creation are detailed twice in the core rules.

A very good set of expansion rules have been created by MechAssembler. The rules detail Mecha, mecha pilots, and large vehicles. Go visit and take a look. If we can gain permission, we will one day host those files here.

MagicQuest, a Fantasy rule set distributed by Com-Star Media, is also a well-designed system.

Please contact us if you know of any other Action! System products out there.

Let’s say you have a magic system similar to Lenga in your Action! System game. Three new attributes, spells are skill rolls based on one of the three attributes.

Roll nine dice and arrange them in a 3 X 3 square. You have eight chances to roll a syccess, how you determine those changes depends on the attribute related to the spell. Consider the dice positions below:

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

If the power attribute was the base of the spell, your eight chances would be determined by eight lines. Namely: 123, 456, 789, 147, 258, 369, 159, 357.

If the aptitude attribute is the base of the spell, your eight chances would be determined by corners. Namely: 412, 236, 698, 874, 426, 842, 684, 268.

If the defense attribute is key, total all four dice and divide by three. Yes, this gives defensive spells a slight advantage, but it’s not as much as you would think.

For example, casting a spell that turns a pound of lead into a pound of gold has a TN of 30. It relies on the ‘aptitude’ attribute which for you is 6. Your skill with this spell is an 8. Rolling attribute (6) + skill (8) + 3d6 versus 30. This means you need to roll a 16 or better. Instead of the 3d6, consider the following:

You roll nine dice in this pattern

3 4 2
5 1 6
2 6 5

Because it is an aptitude based spell, your eight ‘corners’ yield:

12
12
13
17
15
16
17
15

You have three successes. This means you get two extra dice for effect.

Give it a shot.

In Lenga, there are no real ‘undead’ so to speak. A thing is alive or it is not. The definition of alive is a union of body and soul. Once the soul has separated from the body, it travels to the afterworld, or it remains in the world of the living as an incorporeal being. The soul cannot travel into another body if it decides to stay in the living world.

The body, on the other hand, can be animated. It can even be given the power to speak and understand simple commands. However, it is not alive. It cannot think for itself and will only do exactly as it is instructed. Animations have no impulse to self-preservation. This means if ordered to march off a cliff, they will march off the cliff without hesitation. The body is just like any other object in this respect – any object (statue, block of wood, pile of dirt) can be animated. A reanimated body is called a skeleton or zombie in other game systems. An animated collection of material is called a golem in other game systems.

Either kind of animation is rumored to be able to understand 1000 words only. There’s a story of an ancient golem whose creator wanted to teach the monster every word he could. Unfortunately, he never made it past the A’s. Instructions to this golem can only be given in words that start with the letter A. Most magician syndicates have a standard list of 1000 words for ‘animations’. A few use Ganarii due to the nature of their spoken language. (Ganarii animations can almost pass as intelligent.)

The soul, however, travels to the afterworld at death. It first travels to Hades. Hades is a holding place for the soul until it decides to travel to the Elysium fields for rest, or to Limbo in search of a way back to the world of the living. Some souls never leave Hades – at first this may be due to indecision, but ultimately as Hades tends to destroy desire, a soul stays because it has no desire to move on.
The Elysium fields are a place of rest for those that choose it. Ultimately, it is a place that allows for continued ambition and desire with the comfort of immortality. The fields are large enough that those that do not wish to be caught up in the ambitions of others can readily escape. As a place that allows for desires, no one can be compelled in the Elysium fields.
Limbo is a place of motion. The soul in Limbo loses its identity. Once ‘blank’ it returns to the world of the living as another person.
There are gateways to these places in the world of the living. A few even try to direct the incorporeal souls that remain to Hades. Souls that enter directly into the Elysium fields from the world of the living are unique and very rare cases. Most are the ‘nobility’ of the Elysium fields. Many an emporer has sought to keep their power by attempting to bypass Hades.

However, there are tales of three mages that have chosen a fifth option. These mages were all stricken with the Phage that debilitates some spellcasters. In an attempt to find a cure (instead of seek treatment which robs them of their ability to use magic), these three sought to reconnect the soul with the body immediately after death. When the body dies and the soul separates, the Phage goes away. Seeking to take advantage of this, these three sought to return to their own Phage-free bodies.

To their delight, it worked. To their dismay, however, they found that the body must be sustained by magical power. Since the body died, it cannot produce new blood cells or heal by normal means. These three use magic to repair all damage to their bodies at a very rapid rate. (This extends to the cellular level.) As a result, they never age, never grow hair longer, never shave. Other body systems also shut down, so they do not eat or feel the need for sleep. The only living organ is the brain.

Unfortunately for them, they feel perpetually hungry. Occasionally, they consume the blood of sentient species. Doing so allows them to appear as normal humans in skin color. It also offsets some of the gauntness they are prone to have. One has been driven mad by his condition, the other two may not hold out much longer. They have supposedly recorded their steps in order to duplicate the process.

Only the gods or titans can actually create new life force. It is presumed that the presence of these three has gotten their attention and completely reviled them all. Many believe that the tales of these three mages are simply moral stories to teach children the evils of unbridled ambition.

I plan on this site having its own domain and seriously devoting time here. I hope to be able to make a little money as well. Before you hit the next link in your bookmarks, bear me out. I’m not looking to quit my day job or anything.

If it is on the website, it’s free. Can’t sell my ideas as yours, but otherwise do what you want with it. Expand it, shrink it, trash it, or more importantly, use it. Where does the money come in? Well, if you want something sooner rather than later, a few dollars moves the production up. Want something nowhere even mentioned on the site? Be my patron and I’ll make it for you. No risk. If you don’t like it, don’t pay and I’ll publish it on the website.

The areas that I intend to focus on are the following:

Football Simulation Game:
The free teams will be alternate reality teams. The NFL doesn’t allow free use of helmets or team names for free in a game. The players association doesn’t allow the use of a player’s name for free in a game. So, create an alternate universe where the USFL didn’t fold (copyright expired on USFL teams, logos, etc)

All the stats from the fall professional league (similar to the NFL) and the spring league (USFL) will be published. I figure you’ll want to know if the team you choose to play is actually any good.

Role Playing Games
Action-System! – Lots of stuff here. There will be a campaign setting called Lenga, two or more separate magic systems, a supers system, and links to other variations (like mecha). In fact, I plan on developing a completely different magic system every month in 2008. I’m going for never before done stuff, not a rehash of 5er or D20’s various systems.

D6 Mod7 – Everything done for the A!S will be translated to my weird variant. For some, rolling is just too odd.

Breakpoint – This will be the development of an idea that was posted on the RPG Lounge. I can’t find the author as both sites that originally held the information are gone. This system is a roll-under system. More than anything, I just want to see if it can be done.

Card Games:
Three themes here. One is the use of the Mavinian Deck. The other main focus will be creating card games based on the Dvorak rules. Lastly, I may get to games involving a standard 52 card deck.

Board Games:
This will be the smallest focus here. I may finish Aztec Parchisi, Takteek, or Babbage’s Engines, but time will tell.

See you soon!