I have always approached complications from more of a narrative standpoint rather than mechanical, but your approach is really interesting and refreshing!
I really enjoy this mechanic, and the game looks great. I do feel however that the initial premise is based on a common misperception of "partial success," which could be better labeled as "mixed success." A 10+ is a success and you get what you wanted with no issues. A 7-9 is still a success, you still get what you want, there's an added complication. So more of a "Yes, but" situation. And if the complication isn't pretty evident, with the risks clearly understood before the roll, then you probably didn't need to roll in the first place.
Again, really enjoy your buying success mechanic and very much excited to see where the game goes. It's always awesome to see someone taking a mechanic and making something innovative with it, and your games are always fantastic.
I'm right there with you, that is exactly my understanding of a 7-9. The OG PbtA move (Do something under fire) states on a 7-9: "the MC can offer you a worse outcome, a hard bargain, or an ugly choice". More often than not, I find that we understand that there are risks, but we get stuck coming up with new 'bargains, choices, worse outcomes', even though we feel there should be one. Even before the roll.
So by buying up to a success, you still have a mixed success. You roll an 8, you get what you want, but you got hurt in the process (spent 2 Vigor). It is the same thing, but the 'ugly choices' are 'tangible' in the form of Resources to spend, right in front of you.
I'm reminded of JK Moran's diceless Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine and it's diceless points to resolve system. But I still love dice -rolling systems, too. This is exciting and inspirational!
In this game each playbook has a hold currency from the very beginning that they can use to, among some other things, add +1 to their roll or subtract -1 to their soon to be received harm.
You recover this currency by resting, struggling with what is important to your character, or leveling up.
In your game you seem to have more types of this kind of currency.
I'm writing the GM section for my game that uses partial successes, and this article was just the thing I needed get me to finish it! Writing about consequences is something I've been finding very tricky but giving prompts is such a great approach.
I have always approached complications from more of a narrative standpoint rather than mechanical, but your approach is really interesting and refreshing!
Thank you! Yes, I’ve been trying to experiment with different ways to approach complications, and I have a feeling this won’t be the last one! 😄
I really enjoy this mechanic, and the game looks great. I do feel however that the initial premise is based on a common misperception of "partial success," which could be better labeled as "mixed success." A 10+ is a success and you get what you wanted with no issues. A 7-9 is still a success, you still get what you want, there's an added complication. So more of a "Yes, but" situation. And if the complication isn't pretty evident, with the risks clearly understood before the roll, then you probably didn't need to roll in the first place.
Again, really enjoy your buying success mechanic and very much excited to see where the game goes. It's always awesome to see someone taking a mechanic and making something innovative with it, and your games are always fantastic.
Thank you for your kind words!
I'm right there with you, that is exactly my understanding of a 7-9. The OG PbtA move (Do something under fire) states on a 7-9: "the MC can offer you a worse outcome, a hard bargain, or an ugly choice". More often than not, I find that we understand that there are risks, but we get stuck coming up with new 'bargains, choices, worse outcomes', even though we feel there should be one. Even before the roll.
So by buying up to a success, you still have a mixed success. You roll an 8, you get what you want, but you got hurt in the process (spent 2 Vigor). It is the same thing, but the 'ugly choices' are 'tangible' in the form of Resources to spend, right in front of you.
Is there any modeling to use dice pool (d6) in pbta?
I’ve seen some around, like this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/PBtA/s/DexJMTWjDv
I'm reminded of JK Moran's diceless Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine and it's diceless points to resolve system. But I still love dice -rolling systems, too. This is exciting and inspirational!
Thank you! Great reference ^^
The link in "Against the Wind is a solo/coop fantasy-adventure sandbox" is wrong. The previous link is correct.
Whoops! Thank you, fixed!
This really reminds me of the latest game I have read: Fast Fantasy ( https://bassbuilt.itch.io/fast-fantasy-tabletop-rpg ).
In this game each playbook has a hold currency from the very beginning that they can use to, among some other things, add +1 to their roll or subtract -1 to their soon to be received harm.
You recover this currency by resting, struggling with what is important to your character, or leveling up.
In your game you seem to have more types of this kind of currency.
That sounds cool! I'll be checking it out, thanks!
I'm writing the GM section for my game that uses partial successes, and this article was just the thing I needed get me to finish it! Writing about consequences is something I've been finding very tricky but giving prompts is such a great approach.
I’m glad you found it helpful! Best of luck with your project!