Drama Dice

[Dust Raven]

In the 7th Sea RPG, there is a mechanic called Drama Dice. It works like this: every characters starts with a certain number of Drama Dice, and may earn more as the game progresses by performing dramaticly appropriate and entertaining actions in game. These dice are then used by the character to help perform other actions. Basically, in 7th Sea, you roll up a certain number of dice and total them, the higher you roll the better, so adding more dice, such as Drama Dice, improves the chances for success. Drama Dice can be rolled after the normal dice have been rolled, so are rarely wasted (you only need to bother with them if you've already failed). You can also use Drama Dice to activate/use other abilities your character might possess, such as a certain magic power or a particular strength the character has.

 

Why am I going on about Drama Dice? You guessed it, I'd like to convert the mechanic over to the Hero System, at least in spirit. I'm currently running a transdimensional mystic Champions campaign, and one of the places the characters can end up is Arcadia (essentially Faerie from the Mystic World). In Arcadia, everything is a mystical, epic adventure, and Arcadia rewards visitors who act dramatically appropriate to their "archtype" within the realm. For the most part, this means stereotypically appropriate, but not necessarily. So what I'm looking for is a mechanic to allow for this kind of reward, and the Drama Dice of 7th Sea seem perfect for the task.

 

So how do I convert them into Hero? Should I just hand them out as a "congrats, you've earned a +2 on a future roll" type thing? I'm kinda hoping the players can use them to add to any type of roll or action, be it a Skill/Attack roll, damage/effect or anything else. Maybe a +1/1d6 type thing?

[The Main Man]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Sounds like something akin to Luck or buying all of your powers with recoverable charges that recover if you perform dramatic enough actions or else something in between.

[Eosin]

Re: Drama Dice

 

7th Sea has a number of insanely good high-drama rules but the game reminds me of me pappy's expression - "that dog don't hunt." Now, before someone thinks that I am knocking 7th Sea, I should mention that I own all but 2 of the setting products and consider it one of the high marks of world design in the running with Birthright for my favorite fantasy setting other than The Last Dominion (if it was set in 900 instead of 1668 then it would win hands down). Disclaimer out of the way, the mechanics never worked for me but there were some darn fine ideas in there.

 

So, drama dice. I'd look at one of the varient Luck Systems. We (Edsel and I) have an older one that I still use but his games use the version presented by Scott Bennie. You would just have to stipulate that every PC gets 1 dice for free and may purchase others. Scotts' rules have some nifty ideas about tailoring things to specific types of characters in a super-skill sorta way. I'd definately consider looking at it.

 

Using that system, you could also institute the black and white table drama pool (I can't remember what it is called). I always wanted to use something like that at our game. We have way too much table talk and distractions. However, I think everyone in our game would revolt and get mad if their stories were interrupted by the clank of a black die entering the bowl.

 

I stole the mass combat ideas whole cloth from 7th Sea as well. Best dramatic system for running combat ever! We...... I could go on and on and on. Someday I need to convert 7th Sea over to Hero System. I'll add that to my ever growing pile of things to do.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Drama Dice

 

There are two approaches to this - either come up with a new rule/mechanic (which you may have to do anyway as you can't retrospectively add to dice rolls in Hero) OR use the existing game structure.

 

From what you describe I'm thinking charges that never recover, but charges of what?

 

Well you could have overall skill levels, built as charges, you could have a small cosmic VPP or you could have luck. Given that there is any number of ways you can use luck, you might even get away with the re-rolls.

 

You might even have different rewards for different successes: there is no need to necessarily hand out the same goodies every time.

 

The other advantage of doing it this way is that you can have a clear cost structure, so players would have the option of actually buying such goodies from XP or at least giving the GM the ability to track the effective cost of the rewards. Also it will feel a little less arbitrary in Hero if there are apparently points attached.

 

NB overall skill levels are pretty good for what you want as they can add to any roll, including damage (if you use 2).

 

On a slightly related level I am playing quite a bit of City of Heroes and they have these things called 'inspriations' which you get from fallen villains and come in three levels (low, medium, high) and about 6 flavours: improved to hit, damage, defence, damage resistance, healing, and 'breakout' (like the mental power escape thing in Hero) and a seventh that allows you to resurrect a fallen character.

 

I was thinking of doing something similar in Hero: it is easy enough but it will make the whole experience more 'game' and less 'gritty'. For the right sort of game though they could be pretty useful - they could work as a limited form of 'drama dice' - less all purpose. In fact you could add more - noncombat skill level boosts, for example, one off perks or something od that sort.

 

NB I'd be inclined to limit these goodies to about 10 active points - you don't want ehm taking over the game, just adding tot eh experience.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Could you provide some links to these various Luck Systems please?

 

A head's up on costs: This should cost the characters nothing. It's part of the environment of Arcadia. The campaign doesn't even take place in Arcadia, it takes place on a modern day Earth, with occasionall trips into the Astral and various inner planes (which included Arcadia). So there is no way to charge points for anything. It just has to happen for the characters. Consider it a natural law of Arcadia, like a trenchcoat and sunglasses being an inpenatrable disguise is a natural law of [superheroic] Earth.

[mojo_bones]

Re: Drama Dice

 

If you are looking for a general you get a plus to anything, be it attack roll, skill roll, attack damage, etc. you may have to give out some sort of "chit" they can turn in to use. Then set what the chit would do for each type of roll, such as +2 to any skill roll, +2d6 (or 10 pts) worth of attack damage, etc. You may also want to set a limit on how many they can use at once. I know this isn't the exact feel of 7th Sea, but it is still a pretty nice perk.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Drama Dice

 

If you are looking for a general you get a plus to anything' date=' be it attack roll, skill roll, attack damage, etc. you may have to give out some sort of "chit" they can turn in to use. Then set what the chit would do for each type of roll, such as +2 to any skill roll, +2d6 (or 10 pts) worth of attack damage, etc. You may also want to set a limit on how many they can use at once. I know this isn't the exact feel of 7th Sea, but it is still a pretty nice perk.[/quote']

 

What a bizarre and unusual idea. I'm not sure I'd be able to produce them on demand like that.

 

Still, one to think about for the coprophiliacs out there.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Could you provide some links to these various Luck Systems please?

 

A head's up on costs: This should cost the characters nothing. It's part of the environment of Arcadia. The campaign doesn't even take place in Arcadia, it takes place on a modern day Earth, with occasionall trips into the Astral and various inner planes (which included Arcadia). So there is no way to charge points for anything. It just has to happen for the characters. Consider it a natural law of Arcadia, like a trenchcoat and sunglasses being an inpenatrable disguise is a natural law of [superheroic] Earth.

 

With no costs involved, I'd probably just go with awarding a certain number of 'discretionary points' (say, 3) that can be used to modify your Task Resolution 3d6 rolls. So, for example, if you've got 6 of these points laying around, and you roll a 15, you can bump it down to a 9 by spending them all. IIRC, this is essentially a short-term version of Pulp HERO's Heroic Action Points.

[Edsel]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Could you provide some links to these various Luck Systems please?

Here is a link to Scott Bennie's Luck Pool System.

[Eosin]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Here is a link to Scott Bennie's Luck Pool System.

 

Thanks Eddie ~ I wasn't sure where it was.

 

As mentioned, I would decide a set amount of free "glamour" for all players and then allow them to buy or earn additional glamour through dramatic deeds.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Pulp HERO presents something like this, called "Heroic Action Points," extending the 5E Luck options. They allow for character rerolls at critical times, as well as "dramatic editing" by which a character can expend HAP to alter the situation he finds himself in, like causing an abandoned footlocker one discovers to contain a loaded gun.

 

Jesse Zwerling (aka ArmlessTigerMan here on the boards) created a similar mechanic which he calls Action Points! (his exclamation point, not mine) for his own pulp campaign, Thrilling True Tales! It's my personal favorite of the various HEROized luck/fate options, in that it's simple, colorful, and allows for automatic successes, which HERO tends to be hostile to. You can read about it on this webpage.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Here is a link to Scott Bennie's Luck Pool System.

Savage Worlds has kindof a similar system. They call them, um... "Bennies."

 

I've used something similar to the Heroic Action Points from PH; essentially, one HAP can be used to re-roll any roll regardless of number of dice involved. But you could just as easily make them adders; +1/1d6 sounds about right. I've used dice, poker chips, and colored stones (from your CCG of choice) to represent them, or just had players keep track of them on their character sheets.

[Chessack]

Re: Drama Dice

 

I would say you could use the idea almost as it was originally implemented. Unlike 7th sea, adding more dice isn't always going to be a good thing in Champions (for example, adding dice is a drawback when doing KB). And subtracting them doesn't always make a huge amount of sense either (it could lead to guaranteed actions in some cases, and drama dice don't strike me as being able to guarantee something).

 

However, what you could do is something like this: For whatever reasons you want (reward for good RP, or however you do it), you award "Drama Dice." A player can use a Drama Die at any time upon making a die roll (but I'd say never more than one, as it could otherwise be abusive). To use the drama die, he simply chooses any one of the dice he just rolled, and re-rolls it.

 

For example, suppose you have an 11 or less to hit something and on 3D6, you roll a 6, 5, 4. That's 15, so you miss. However, you could opt to re-roll the 6. You'd have a 33% chance of hitting (a 1 or 2 would work, anything else would not). This would give the player the option to try and change events, without guaranteeing success (if you take a die away in the example, it's an automatic hit, which strikes me as too much control for what drama dice are supposed to do).

 

I actually like the base idea a lot, and I might well implement it if I were running a table-top campaign. As it is I'm not doing that right now... but it's in the mental file for the future.

 

C

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Drama Dice

 

House Rules: Luck Chits

 

At the beginning of each session the Players draw randomly one Luck Chit from the Bag. Player Characters with the Luck Power randomly draw an additional Luck Chit for every d6 of Luck.

 

At the End of each session all Players return any unspent Luck Chits to the Bag. Sometimes you want Quantity, sometimes Quality. The Luck Chits go away at the end of the game, no carry over. Use 'em or lose 'em... which encourages interactive use and not hoarding.

 

White Luck Chits: x 30 [1W = 1W] Allows a Reroll of any one roll you control. Or allows an Abort Manuever (to Dodge, Block, Dive for Cover, etc …) without using an Action. It also allows a single Recovery, without using an Action. It also allows Players to modify the Hit Location Chart (Defensively) and move the hit location by One (up or down).

 

Green Luck Chits: x 30 [1G = 2W] Same as White, plus you can spend a green to take away a single die in a "to hit" or "skill" roll, to gain a success. Rolled a 15... Spend a Green, take away that 6, now you have a 9! Success! (The GM randomly draws a chit for the villains, if you spend a Green) It also allows Players to modify the Hit Location Chart (Defensively) and move the hit location by Two (up or down).

 

Blue Luck Chits: x 30 [1B = 3W or 1G & 1W] same as Green, without any benefit to GM. Blue is also a way to "flex" powers in a supers game. It allows a power to be used in a way that fits the SFX, but they haven't paid points for. [Ex: Flame character... wants to reduce the fire in a room to save a child... but doesn't have this power. Spends a Blue for this one action, his EB (or whatever) becomes Suppress normal fires, and he can do it.]

Blue also allows for "dramatic editing" so that the character can simply say, "I grab the broom handle and snap it off, so I have a stake to fight the vampire!" rather than asking, "Is there anything wooded around?" In the case I highlighted in the last Secret Worlds adventure... on PC was way out of the combat, and spent the Blue to come up with a creative way to get his character there "right now!". It also allows Players to modify the

Hit Location Chart (Defensively and Offensively) and move the hit location by Three (up or down).

 

Yellow Luck Chit: x 1 [1Y = 2B or 3G or 6W] There is only one in the bag, but if drawn, the player can become GM for a scene. They get to create and event or subplot or something along those lines, that fits with their character concept and long term goals. I've had one person spend it so his character finally got his Thesis on Paranormal Gestation Theory published, and to wide acclaim, so he became famous in those circles as THE expert on metahuman bio-genesis.

 

Another spent it, so that during a mission, he accidentally stumbled across some critical information about villain financing... this changed the entire SHAPE of the campaign, as the villains funding was exposed, and they had to come out of the shadows, rather than manipulate from behind the scenes.

 

The Yellow Luck Chit is usually just one "scene" or "event" They don't tend to really run the game in terms of controlling NPCs... They just say, "Ok... here's this cool thing that I want to have happen, with this or that character..." They often don't force a certain outcome, they just want to have something that really shows off their character, or allows their character to have a really big impact on the plot. (I guess it could be abused, but I've got great players. They tend to enhance the story and the world... not control it.)

 

Luck Power: [ each d6 Luck = 1 Luck Chit ] Drawn randomly and still allows the Player Characters to use the Luck Power as written in HERO System 5th Edition .

 

It's a great system ... players seem to really love it ... and it gives flexibility within limits. I've been doing it for probably 6 years or more at this point. I'd never go back. .

 

I'd created a generic "luck roll" to help determine random events. Roll 3d6... sixes good, ones bad. So if a player asks something like, "I need a rock to throw at the wild dogs making off with the baby!" I'd say, "Roll a luck roll," to determine if there just happened to be a rock around. Good luck, there is a perfect throwing rock, right at your feet. Bad luck... no rock to be found. Neither/nor... there is a rock, but its’ 20 feet away, and will take a turn to get it.

 

Luck (the Talent back then, now a Power) allowed characters to roll an extra die for each luck die they had... and that die could only be good for them (ones didn't count.)

 

RDU Neil’s Dark Champions: Secret Worlds Thread http://www.herogames.com/forums/show...1&page=3&pp=30

 

This worked pretty well, but for years there was a need to open up Champs/HERO System, to allow some flexibility with powers and give players a little more control over their characters destiny and story.

 

Then I played Deadlands. (Original Deadlands, when it first came out.) They had chips (poker chips) that you could spend to soak wounds, or make rolls better, or whatever. It was a great mechanic. After only one session, I realized that this was a way to make Luck in Hero very viable.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

QM

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Drama Dice

 

For example' date=' suppose you have an 11 or less to hit something and on 3D6, you roll a 6, 5, 4. That's 15, so you miss. However, you could opt to re-roll the 6. You'd have a 33% chance of hitting (a 1 or 2 would work, anything else would not). This would give the player the option to try and change events, without guaranteeing success (if you take a die away in the example, it's an automatic hit, which strikes me as too much control for what drama dice are supposed to do).[/quote']

That's actually the way I used to run it: one HAP allows you to reroll any one die. Works okay, but I've recently switched to require players to re-roll all the dice instead of just the one(s) they don't like. In practice allowing players to only re-roll the "bad" dice skews the odds a bit too much for my taste. To take your previous example, say the player got a more typical 3d6 roll of 2, 3, 6: rerolling only the 6 gives him a 50-50 chance of getting an 8-!

 

I guess it depends on what you want your system to do. If the intent is to increase the frequency of PCs making great rolls, one HAP = reroll one die works great. OTOH if the intent it to give them a chance to save from the results of a bad die roll, one HAP = reroll all the dice might fit better.

[casualplayer]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Aside from the suggestions that Sean Waters made (exactly what I was going to suggest but more explicit) maybe you should just not assess penalties as harshly in Arcadia. Maybe range penalties are halved so marksmen can shoot for the stars and hit them. Maybe backflipping off the balcony to land in the haywagon is a -0 modified skill roll in Arcadia instead of -2 or so. Maybe everything is considered Easy for PCs in Arcadia. Tend to favor Non-recoverable Overall Skill Levels myself.

 

7th Seas in 900 AD, Eosin? The ships would suck!

[Dust Raven]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Aside from the suggestions that Sean Waters made (exactly what I was going to suggest but more explicit) maybe you should just not assess penalties as harshly in Arcadia. Maybe range penalties are halved so marksmen can shoot for the stars and hit them. Maybe backflipping off the balcony to land in the haywagon is a -0 modified skill roll in Arcadia instead of -2 or so. Maybe everything is considered Easy for PCs in Arcadia. Tend to favor Non-recoverable Overall Skill Levels myself.

 

7th Seas in 900 AD, Eosin? The ships would suck!

The things you mention are already part and parcel for the realm. And the players have already been warned about seeking fortune tellers and ignoring prophecies.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Drama Dice

 

What I think I'm going to go with is a simple award token of some kind (I don't know what I'll call them yet). Upon arrival, each character will receive tokens equal to their PRE/5. They may receive additional tokens, without limit, through creative, dramatic and setting appropriate role-playing. Even something as simple as vowing not to rest until they have driven the evil from the land will earn a token (if spoken appropriately and openly).

 

Tokens can be used at any time for a +1 to a Skill Roll, or a +1d6* of effect on any effect roll. These tokens may be declared after the rolls were made, and any number of them may be applied to a single roll as the player desires. So if the player wants to blow all his tokens on a single roll, he may. This allows a player to turn a massivley botched roll into a success, but not often.

 

*this assumes the Power costs 5/d6. Two tokens are required for Powers costing 10/d6, and 3 for those costing 15/d6. Advatages that don't directly affect damage (such as NND) don't matter; the tokens add straight dice.

[casualplayer]

Re: Drama Dice

 

Y'know, that inspires me. Maybe you should make a PRE roll a complimentary skill roll to, well, everything while in Arcadia. Make your PRE roll by 2, get +2 to your next attempt at something. Give bonuses to the PRE roll, say +1 for each 1d6 bonus you would have gotten for a PRE attack mad eunder similar circumstances. It is an extra die roll though, which could be a drag.

[Silbeg]

Re: Drama Dice

 

With no costs involved' date=' I'd probably just go with awarding a certain number of 'discretionary points' (say, 3) that can be used to modify your Task Resolution 3d6 rolls. So, for example, if you've got 6 of these points laying around, and you roll a 15, you can bump it down to a 9 by spending them all. IIRC, this is essentially a short-term version of Pulp HERO's Heroic Action Points.[/quote']

 

Heroic Action Points?

 

Oh, no!!! A reason get a new Hero book!?!?!?

 

Do I really need a reason?