I like your ideas on cooperative rolls. I’m thinking of splitting it pretty much along those lines.

A “team roll” has a TN set in the normal range, but because of its nature it needs more than the normal number of successes to beat it. Multiple assistants can engage. A partial success counts as a single success, a full success counts as two, a critical success as three or more, etc. A simple team check, like moving something, requires all the rolls to be made at once. If coordination of timing is less important, like the research, then it is likely a complex check anyway, and you can just add up assistants as you go.

An “assistance roll” is where there is a clear leader, but other people are just lending a hand. Each such assistant rolls a check. If the assistant’s roll is less than the assistant’s Stat or Skill, then the leader can choose to swap out the assistant’s die for his own. (You can only swap Stat for Stat and Skill for Skill.)

I’ll have to let that stew upstairs for a bit. Then probably actually play it out a few times. I’m fighting to keep the crunch down, but that goes against my natural tendencies. I’m a bit worried that I’m making this either too complicated, or too dependent on GM whim.

For cooperation, I could see having the “primary” person be the main roll, and each helper may also roll and, if the die is under the stat or skill, he gives that die to the main actor. Depending upon how much assistance helps, that can either add to the total roll (for cumulative effort, like moving something), be swapped in for whatever the actor rolls (where expertise and backup can help, but it’s stil a matter of finnesse, so aid is very incremental) or it can just be treated as an additional roll (where the labor can be divided, like having a research assistant)

All in all it’s an interesting approach, though I’d hate to try it without colored dice. I need to think a bit though, to determine if it’s too many mental steps to get to the end.

-Rob D.

That’s one of the reasons strength isn’t that important. You don’t need to be strong to fire a gun. And, when you can throw your pack in the back of a car, you don’t need to be strong to carry a lot of stuff. It becomes pretty darn easy to build a highly competent fighter with only average strength. If you’re talking about someone who isn’t a fighter, strength is an obvious dump stat.

Oh, and you never need to apologize for commenting. If I didn’t want comments, I wouldn’t post.

I’m also trying to keep the number of stats small. If I split each of the stats, I end up with a lot of overlap between stats, I need to add justifications to the system to avoid any stat becoming a dump stat, and I need to give players more points to buy stats with. The latter becomes a real issue when they players figure out that certain stats aren’t worthwhile, and they can just dump those points in the stats that do matter. The system starts to tip over at that point.

I seriously don’t like Brains adding directly to attack. It just feels all kinds of wrong. But, I’m not sure about having it affect the Skills you learn. That becomes a matter of spending points that then give you more points.

OTOH, I could easily give a number of advanced tricks a certain level of Brains as a prereq. That’s not a terrible idea. I’m also considering linking Brains to gear, but I want to avoid over-complicating the gear system.

Dumb fighters, they may be able to squesh you like a bug, but their simple minds are easaly somfused by fancy foot work and distracted by sparklies. Also, it doesn’t take brains to swing a battle ax, just enough grace not to cut your own foot off, or your partners head, but could you ever make it any more than a big cleaver? The more brains, the more ways you can use it. One brain cell you swing it in the general direction of the enemy. Few more cells and you start to aim, maybe even plan attacks. Keep going and you lean you can block with the ax also. Get a full brain in there and you see that “Oh, I can thrust with this thing to” and pull away shields. Someone with brain AND brawn could make an ax as deadly as a rapier. In game terms, high brains may add attack bonuses, very small, but stupidity would add attack and maybe even defense, too stupid to block, penalties. Brains would also determen how many weapons you could be profichent at, and how much mastery you can gain in any of them.

Ok, I’ve probably rambled on long enough. Sorry about that.

I will say, though, that there are many pure scientists who study simply for the sake of the expansion of knowledge and a deeper understanding of the universe. Practical applications are an afterthought (or, in some cases, an adulteration of the process). As a pretty simple example, I will point to astronomy. Prior to about fifty years ago, astronomy had very nearly zero practical purpose (assuming you hedge out astrology). And, yet, it made up a huge portion of scientific inquiry. Even today, the potential of manned exploration and eventual colonization of other worlds is a very niche concern in astronomical circles.

Conflating science and technology is much like conflating religion and politics…

I have a couple tokens (fetishes? talismans?) as well. But, the need for ritual goes a bit beyond that. It is about designating a time and space as sacred. It is about setting aside some of your busy life to do nothing but commune with the divine. Specific rituals also help you to connect with the greater community, whether that be a long line of ancestors or Jungian archetypes or just the other people performing the ritual with you. It goes back to being part of something larger than yourself. It also is consciously adding higher meaning to your life.

As for rituals and worship, I have a few of my own. I picked up a Celtic style pendant at the last Highland Games with is decorated with stylistic horses. The main reason I bought it was because my main character in Lord of the Rings Online is a Man from Rohan and I wanted to have something related to the character (that, and I’m a huge geek :p). I know it doesn’t grant me any kind of power or ability, but it is nice to wear and to hold should I need to focus my inner strength.

I’m also a little notorious for offering up prayers to Cthulhu, especially when in the presence of actually religious people. I don’t utter them out loud, or mention him too often, I just keep it to myself (partly so I don’t get 20 Questions from my girlfriend’s relatives about my ‘ungodly’ ways). My girlfriend knows I do this, and is fine with it. They aren’t exactly serious, but you never know. Plenty of people follow the teachings of John Smith and Elrond Hubbard and they were both fiction writers.

Finally, I’m not against singing hymns, depending on the occasion. For example, I always join in with the service on ANZAC Day. I don’t gain anything spiritual from the words, I do it out of respect for those we remember on that day.