Limiting SuperNatural dice

[stubby]

I prefer just letting your opponent keep the die in his control, only having to return it whenever he decides to use it against you.

That we the die is basically lost but can always reenter the game in a fun way. This also means that when you have lost a couple of die your powers become a little bit more risky and unpredictable to use, as you never know when your opponent will use them against you.

This allows fun and tesnion to stay in the game as just removing play elements is no fun at all IMO.

Hey, when did you show up again? I feel like I haven't seen you around in a long time.

I like this idea in theory, but I worry that in a battle with a bunch of SN units it'll be hard to keep track of which dice belong to whom after a couple of turns. It's probably okay, since super units shouldn't be losing dice often enough to overload the system, but I hate adding overhead to keep track of between turns. Especially in stuff like forum battles where it might be a couple of months.

Maybe you could tie it into the size of the unit? A unit can have, say, size*3 SN die, and anything it is holding can boost it.

For instance, a 1" minifig is limited to a 3 sn die, but a 1" sorcerer holding a 2" staff has a maximum of 9 SN die?

I like something along these lines more. Maybe it doesn't have to be size related but maybe be supernatural item related. So that the limit increases with the amount of supernatural items you have. It would explain superhero capes, sorcerer hats, staffs, witch brooms and overly long beard. It would explain the ridiculous look/outfits of most supernatural figures.

Of course this isn't the limiting game mechanic Stubs is looking for as it doesn't really limit any thing except the practical amount of weird shit you can stuck on a mini-figure.

Although I do like the idea of minfigs looking more ridiculously occult the more powerful they are.

I like it for a lot of the same reasons, and one in addition: it gives you more options to target / attack / steal the SN items themselves, rather than just attacking the unit directly.

One drawback is that it takes the Skill Penalty away from the unit itself and puts it on the equipment items, so I have to think about how to counteract possible abuses. If I have a d6 in my hat and I spend the d6, can I cancel the Skill penalty by just taking off my hat? etc.

It also works as a limiting factor to a degree, especially if each of the items has its own cliche requirements to satisfy. A wizard can only wear, carry, and use so many items.

I don't think I'd ever make it a rule, but it'd be interesting to change the system so that all SN dice had to be part of a carried equipment item rather than part of the unit.

[Gungnir]

One drawback is that it takes the Skill Penalty away from the unit itself and puts it on the equipment items, so I have to think about how to counteract possible abuses. If I have a d6 in my hat and I spend the d6, can I cancel the Skill penalty by just taking off my hat? etc.

Wouldn't you lose the D6 from the hat as well?

[stubby]

Sure, but I'm talking about the Skill penalty. If a unit spends his SN die, he has a -1 to Skill until he gets it back - the penalty is attached to the unit. If a sword has an SN die, you're at -1 Skill to use it - the penalty is attached to the sword.

But for a hat, it's not so clear. If I blow an SN roll with my hat, and I lose the die, then I have a permanent -1 to Skill because I'm never getting that die back. So what happens if I take off the hat? Do I still have the penalty?

[Gungnir]

I would say the skill penalty sticks until you would normally get the die back. The hat gets its die back, but it can't be used until somebody puts it on.
EDIT: What the hell, word buttplugs?

[stubby]

EDIT: What the hell, word buttplugs?

[*CRAZYHORSE*]

Hey, when did you show up again? I feel like I haven't seen you around in a long time.

I have been quietly lurking in the background as the call of life prevented me from spending to much time on the internet.
I still follow the forums because I am a big fan of brikwars as I feel it is one of the most brilliant gaming systems overall that actually does things in a different fun and interactive way.
I have been working on a couple of big lego/brikwars project the last years and was actually thinking of posting some things hear soon.

[Silent-sigfig]

One drawback is that it takes the Skill Penalty away from the unit itself and puts it on the equipment items, so I have to think about how to counteract possible abuses. If I have a d6 in my hat and I spend the d6, can I cancel the Skill penalty by just taking off my hat? etc.

I think that if you are deep enough in Brikwars to use SN die you know not to be a jackass like that, but I suppose you could just say that magical items dropped after use in the same turn are automatic fumble die, or you could roll a ker-broomstick table

[Zupponn]

Why not do something simpler? I already don't bother with SN dice because they look too complicated, but I don't see why limiting them to d6 dice and then critfailing the whole action whenever a 1 is rolled can't be a thing.

I mean, if you roll 6 3 4 6 4 2 1, then you critfail the whole action like a heroic feat and your opponent gets to determine your fate. It makes them extremely risky and adds potential for hilarity. How many times do you want to play russian roulette?

[stubby]

I like push-your-luck mechanics, but that seems way less funny.

[Tzan]

Yeah I don't really like the crit fail always effect.

I prefer die loss as a result of enemy attack.

If you want loss as a result of SN rolls, then on any turn if any SN die come up a 1 then you lose 1 die.
You can only lose one per turn.
Its not an automatic crit fail, if the total result of the roll is a success and one of the dice is a 1, then you have a successful action and lose 1 die.

If there are enough turns in the game you'll lose all your SN dice.

[Tzan]

Of course all this potential dice losing will just encourage people to take more SN dice, which might be the exact opposite of what you want.

[stubby]

If there are enough turns in the game you'll lose all your SN dice.

Like mana/energy running out. It works for most supernatural type stuff I can think of. Even superheroes get tired.

It'd also be funny to set up a feedback loop, like:

• 6. Count the number of SN dice in the roll
  7. Any die that rolled this number or lower is a Fumble

It super-penalizes big OP effects, and also makes larger dice more reliable than smaller ones.

[stubby]

It occurs to me that a big SuperNatural OP effect is a

[Tzan]

Like mana/energy running out. It works for most supernatural type stuff I can think of. Even superheroes get tired.

It'd also be funny to set up a feedback loop, like:

• 6. Count the number of SN dice in the roll
  7. Any die that rolled this number or lower is a Fumble

It super-penalizes big OP effects, and also makes larger dice more reliable than smaller ones.

Is a Fumble a crit fail? Like rolling all 1's.

Somewhat let fail prone:
SN dice are magic charged items, like Heroic ego. They don't like to be operated in groups.
So each die needs to overcome the static charge created when in a group.
So with 3 dice, each needs be 4 plus to add its effect to the roll.

- count dice
- if any die reads that count or less, that die does not add its value to the roll. The roll could still be a success.
- if all dice read 1, its a crit fail. Like usual.
- Possible additional rule of any roll of 1 gets removed from game, but only one per turn.

[stubby]

Is a Fumble a crit fail? Like rolling all 1's.

Fumble Dice
Whenever a SuperNatural Die rolls a "1," it does not add anything to its Aspect. Instead, it turns into a traitorous Fumble Die, and is handed over to an opponent of the player's choice to use in sabotaging the Effect. The enemy may use the Fumble Die for any Aspect, adding or subtracting in whatever way seems best designed to turn the Effect in his favor - for instance, sending the Effect in the wrong direction, or causing it to strengthen a target rather than harm it. The only limitation is that the opposing player must come up with a story to explain why the Effect Fumbled in that particular way.