Merideth Naomi is now 15 months old No new pictures posted. Yet.

- Fritz. (Aug. 6th, 1998) Task Resolution

(c) Copyright F.E. Freiheit IV

c. 1995/02/15 u. 1995/02/16

The Mechanism

To the randomization mechanism for resolving tasks (or actions) is based on the card game 21 (or Black Jack ) with the following modifications.

1. Involuntary actions use standard "dealers rules" for determining when to add a card and when to hold. ("Dealers rules" are take a card on a 16 or less, stand on a 17 or higher.)

2. Voluntary actions allow the player to decide when to stop drawing cards (although a minimum of 1 card must be drawn initially). The initial card is dealt face down, but the player may look at it. (The player must show it to the GM if requested.)

3. When a card total exceeds 21 (i.e. going "bust"), the value wraps around to 1 and no additional cards may be added (or skill level bonus, see item 5 below). Example: if the current total is 15 and a 7 is drawn, making a total of 22, the resultant value is 1.

4. If the card total exactly matches 21 (i.e. a Blackjack), then bonus card is played and adds to the total (this bonus value does not cause wrap around). Optional: If the bonus card matches the suite of the last card played, another bonus card is added.

5. For voluntary actions that have not wrapped around yet, a player may add a value to the card total based on the characters skill level (see the table below) and no additional cards may be drawn. If this results in a value in excess of 21, wrap around as per 3.

6. The card total modifies the Task Resolution Level (TRL) equal to the card total divided by 5 (rounded down). The TRL is compared to the difficulty of the skill, see the tables below.

7. Optional: If a character has a bonus due to one or more characteristics (which is dependent on the task being resolved) then that stat may be added if one of the card's suites played matches the characteristic in question as per the characteristic table.

8. Fumbles (optional): When the current card drawn is equal to or less than the current count of cards in the task resolution, then a potential fumble situation has occured. (?? Can more cards continue to be drawn?) Example: If the current card sequence is: 5, 5, and then a 3 is drawn, this would be a chance at a fumble, as 3 is less than or equal to the current card count of 3.

The equation for determining the Task Resolution Level is:

TRL = (Card Total + Optional Bonus)/5 + Skill Level Base - Task Difficulty Base

The Tables

Task Difficulty Table

TL    Description               Base    
0     Mindlessly Easy           0       
1     Very Easy                 1       
2     Easy                      2       
3     Average                   3       
4     Hard                      4       
5     Very Hard                 5       
6     Extremely Hard            6       
7     Absurdly Difficult        7       

Skill Level Table

Skill    Description         Base     Adder        Adder      Adder     Adder   
Level                                                                           
0        Unskilled           0        -            -          -         -       
1        Incompetent         1        1            1          10        6       
2        Novice              2        1,10         1-2        9-10      5-6     
3        Familiar            3        1-2,10       1-3        8-10      5-7     
4        Competent           4        1-2,9-10     1-4        7-10      4-7     
5        Proficient          5        1-3,9-10     1-5        6-10      4-8     
6        Expert              6        1-3,8-10     1-6        5-10      3-8     
7        Master              7        1-4,8-10     1-7        4-10      3-9     
8        Grand Master        8        1-4,7-10     1-8        3-10      2-9     
9        Heroic              9        1-5,7-10     1-9        2-10      2-10    
10       Divine              10       1-10         1-10       1-10      1-10    

Result Level Table

TRL     Description      Binary        Down        Up         
(-1)                     fail          (-5)        (+5)       
-2      Fumble II        fail          -35         35         
-1      Fumble I         fail          -30         30         
0       Failure          fail          -25         25         
1       Minimal Success  succeed       -20         20         
2       Very Poor        succeed       -15         15         
3       Poor             succeed       -10         10         
4       Average          succeed       -5          5          
5       Good             succeed       0           0          
6       Very Good        succeed       5           -5         
7       Excellent        succeed       10          -10        
8       Superb           succeed       15          -15        
(+1)                     succeed       (+5)        (-5)       

Suit Characteristic Table

Suite      General        Physical Task      Mental Task        Social Task       
Spade      Power          Strength           Intelligence       Charisma          
Club       Toughness      Constitution       Will                                 
Diamond    Control        Dexterity          Concentration                        
Heart      Speed          Speed                                                   

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