In another thread (https://plus.google.com/108053817066303198241/posts/RrzN8ebwhky) I mentioned how it would be…

In another thread (https://plus.google.com/108053817066303198241/posts/RrzN8ebwhky) I mentioned how it would be thematically appropriate to use some sort of “binary number generator” as task resolution for a TRON-inspired hack. Marshall Miller suggested flipping three coins, though I was thinking of rolling three “binary dice” (I have d6es with Xs and Os on them for playing Ubiquity). You could also use playing cards (six cards, three red and three black) or a bag of tokens (again, six tokens, three of one color and three of another). It got me thinking about probabilities (which is a tangent to the original thread), I I made a new one.

In standard AW, rolling 2d6 gives you a 41.6% chance of a miss (6-), a 41.6% chance of a weak hit (7-9), and a 16.6% chance of a strong hit (10+). Rolling 3d2 (flipping three coins, drawing 3 cards, or drawing three tokens), you have a 12.5% chance of getting three 0s, a 37.5% chance of getting two 0s and one 1, a 37.5% chance of getting two 1s and one 0, and a 12.5% chance of getting three 1s.

That gives four ranges of results, similar to Fate. Maybe something like failure, success at a cost, success at no cost, and success with a bonus. While AW does occasionally have the 12+ “super success” result for some moves, I want to stick to the AW three range “standard” of failure, success at a cost, and success.

So we’ll have to combine two of those ranges. If you count anything less than two 1s (three 0s or two 0s and a single 1) as a miss, two 1s as success at a cost, and three 1s as success, you end up with percentages closer to standard AW.

One 1 or less = miss = 50% (AW = 41.6%)

Two 1s = success at a cost = 37.5% (AW = 41.6%)

Three 1s = success = 12.5% (AW = 16.6%)

So using 3d2 makes misses more likely while making success (in any form) less likely. Looks like The Grid is a pretty dangerous place.

But using 3d2 also makes bonuses incredibly powerful. Giving a Program a 1 in a stat (meaning they always add one 1 to whatever they roll when using that stat) drops getting a miss to only 12.5% (as rolling three 0s is the only way they’ll end up with a result of one 1 or less), keeps a success at a cost at 37.5%, raises getting a success to 37.5%, and allows them to get an extreme success (four 1s) 12.5% of the time. Competent Programs are therefore incredibly competent.

While this isn’t totally out of place for the setting (Programs can do some incredible stuff in the TRON films), it does significantly reduce the range of stats. That means less difference (at least stat array wise) between characters, and it also means less room for advancement (again, mechanically speaking). Raising a stat from 0 to 1 makes you very competent in that stas’s associated moves, and raising a stat to 11 (two 1s) make you a god, as you will never get anything less than success at a cost, and can get a result of five 1s.

This got more technical and “math-y” than I intended. I’m just spitballing here, the digital equivalent of scribbling ideas onto some scrap paper. Thoughts?

https://plus.google.com/108053817066303198241/posts/RrzN8ebwhky