Thursday 24 June 2010

The Luck in the Head

Before a combat begins, a player can elect to test his luck. This involves picking a dice - any dice - and rolling. If the number is high (e.g. 4 or more on a d6) he is lucky. If the number is low (e.g. 3 or less on a d6) he is unlucky. He should then roll a d100 and consult the following table, designating an opponent as necessary. If the results make no obvious sense, reroll.

Table of Luck

1. Sunlight. The sun happens to be shining right into his enemy's eyes; for the first round of hand-to-hand combat, the enemy is at -2 to hit. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
2. Diorrhea. Something the enemy ate that morning disagrees with him. The effort to restrain himself means he's at -1 to hit for the duration of combat. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
3. Slippery surface. There happens to be something slimy or wet underfoot at the start of combat. The enemy has to roll 1d10; on a roll of 1 he slips and falls prone. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
4. Daydreaming. The enemy was thinking about something else when combat started. He is last in initiative order for the first round. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
5. Butter fingers. The enemy loses his grip on his weapon and drops it. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
6. Flutter flutter. A bird, insect, bat or similar suddenly flaps into the enemy's face, distracting him for a round. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
7. Happens to the best of us. The enemy gets an attack of the nerves and is paralysed for d3 rounds. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
8. Migraine. The enemy has a crushing headache and sees flashing lights. He's at -2 to hit for the duration of combat. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
9. Flu. The enemy is weak and lethargic, and does -2 damage for the duration of the combat. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.
10. Omen. The player has inadvertently performed an action which the enemy interprets as a bad omen. The enemy comes last in initiative order for the first round of combat. If the player is unlucky, the situation is reversed.


I just need to think up 90 more entries. But you get the idea.

7 comments:

  1. Reminds me of "playing the market" in the game of LIFE.

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Maybe make that initial roll to 1-2 unlucky, 5-6 lucky, 3-4 none of the above, so you don't have every fight with special modifiers. Just my 2 cents. But, yes. I like it.

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  4. @rorschachhamster: or:
    1 unlucky
    2-5 none
    6 lucky

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  5. Why have 2 rolls? If the player opts to test their luck, why not roll straight onto the table? Ie, half the results are lucky & half unlucky.

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  6. odd is unlucky, even is lucky...

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  7. Or test your luck as fighting fantasy does, by having a 'luck' resource/stat which you attempt to roll UNDER, and which decreaces by one after each attempt. You could have it increase on failures for a more susainable solution, however.

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