Reworking Edges

[Tom]

Something has bugged me all the time about edges, so I started to analyze them a bit.

First, I arrived at the conclusion that +1 skill rank and +1 RR are essentially of identical value. There are some extreme cases where their value differs, but in most cases it makes no statistical difference whether you roll one die more or you re-roll one failed die.

So I'm thinking about re-working as many edges as possible to be a +rank RRs on (skill).

Because I find edges way too confusing. Some give +1 RR on a skill, some give +1 RR on several skills, but only in certain circumstances, some give skill boni, reduce unskilled penalties, etc.

Speaking of which - reducing the unskilled penalty is identical to giving +1 die (except in the cases where the unskilled penalty reduces you so much you can't roll at all) which is identical to +1 RR. Math: Assume an aspect of 4 (average for scions). With unskilled penalty: Roll 2 die, expected successes: 1. Removing the unskilled penalty raises the dice you roll to 3 and 4 and the expected successes to 1.5 and 2. Adding re-rolls instead means you roll 2 die always, but the expected successes rise to 1.5 and 1.75 - but considering that the edge can now be converted into a ranked edge, you also gain the advantage that you can raise it beyond 2, so you can go further and further. However, the total number of successes you can roll even with the best of luck is capped lower, which I think represents the unskilled part very good. So with a high edge of this kind, you are almost guaranteed to succeed, but at low quality. That's exactly what the edge description leads you to expect.

Then there's the edges that grant bonus to initiative, damage, etc. I've done a bit of analysis (put them into a table) and it's simply a bit of a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

Then there's the edges that grant you physical things, like items (Arsenal, Hoard, ...) or people (Allies, Network, ...) - they're mostly good, but the difference could be worked out more.

And then there's a few edges that are just totally off, some of them granting different advantages at different ranks - WTF?



So in summary of this confused thoughts, I think the edge system is a  mess and would profit greatly from cleaning up. That would make character generation easier, but especially the GM job, who right now has no real chance to track all the edges and powers of more than 2 NPCs at a time.


But I'd like some feedback before I put considerable time into this.

[Tom]

First additional thought:

Having +rank RRs be a ranked edge means of course that RRs get more expensive to buy as the edge increases. I'm thinking about having a range of skills to offset that, i.e. an edge would give +rank RRs to _two_ skills - making it less expensive at the first rank, then more at the higher ones (since +1 skill rank is a rank 1 independent edge). However, higher RR levels provide advantages you can't get with the +1 skill rank, because they stack with the skill rank, so that would be balanced.

Am I making sense? :-)

[Tom]

Some initial thoughts:

To remove confusion and simplify things, I would like to merge the Brutal (+1 damage with medium and heavy weapons) and the Deft (+1 damage with light and medium weapons) into one edge named "Weapon Affinity (type)" that gives you +1 RR and +1 damage when using a specific type or kind of weapon, and you have to choose light, medium or heavy.

Likewise, I'd rename Action Junkie to "Quick Actor" and Thought Savant to "Quick Thinker" just to make it more clear what they are and that they're basically the same thing in two flavours.

Same for Survivor and Circumspect, I'd call them "Focussed Actor" and "Focussed Thinker". Again this more clearly indicates what they're about and that they are linked.


I'm also thinking about adding two edges that allows characters to have +1 move in their Fire/Water sequences than their Fire/Water scores indicate (max still 6, of course), to allow for character concepts that aren't very strong, fast, whatever, but have learnt complicated sequences through sheer training.

[Tom]

First, I arrived at the conclusion that +1 skill rank and +1 RR are essentially of identical value. There are some extreme cases where their value differs, but in most cases it makes no statistical difference whether you roll one die more or you re-roll one failed die.

Yes, I know I'm talking with myself.

I just realized that what I say holds mostly true for scions and dragons, but for humans and other creatures with only 1 stance change, a RR is indeed more valuable than a +1 skill, because the skill only gets used if you have a stance change left, while the RR is always active.

Hm. So maybe I should stick with the 1 RR = +1 skill equation instead of making RRs cheaper.

I think I need to draw up some tables and do the math.