Badass Kung Fu Demigods Design Journal pt 2

So, here we get to the bit of inspiration that ended up sparking the series of ideas leading to this re-write. It's a pretty small change overall, but it opened up a fair number of new doors so I'm quite pleased with it. I hope it doesn't turn out to be secretly broken as hell, because I'd hate to have to ditch it. 

The change has to do with how traits are rolled. Like the previous drafts the Traits are rated by a die-type which ranges from d4 to d12. The latest version involved rolling two dice by default and taking the highest result. The change was pretty minor, instead of keeping just the highest, both dice are added together. 

So, understandably this might just seem like just throwing around bigger numbers, but it does give me an important additional lever. One of the frustrations of the previous drafts was the inability to fiddle around with the mechanics of the system too much when it comes to powers and abilities. It's one of the downfalls of a rules-light system, and finding a satisfying middle ground was tough. 

You see, by keeping two dice I open up a new door: increasing or decreasing the number of dice "kept" on a roll. So an extremely advantageous roll is referred to as Boosted allowing you to roll and keep three dice, while an extremely disadvantageous roll is referred to as Busted and you only get to roll a single dice. To keep things from getting crazy both effects are non-cumulative, your roll can only be Boosted/Busted once and if it is both Boosted and Busted the effects cancel out and you roll normally.

The previous bonus dice rule remains, adding extra dice but still keeping the original number. So a Boosted roll with three bonus dice means you roll six dice and keep three. negative dice are removed...they were never a significant element to be honest and the more dramatic effect of a Busted roll is more useful. 

By simply having both the Boost/Bust mechanic and regular bonus die I can now work with a much larger variety of effects. For instance, it becomes a great way to represent the difference between Power Levels...a character with a higher Power Level gets their roll Boosted when acting against someone with a lower Power Level. Busted rolls are a good way to represent a crippling-type Power and Boosting rolls is a good way to represent an exceptional bonus (like a holy-themed power Boosting your rolls against creatures of evil). 

This also provides a good way to represent the power of a Champion-class NPC, giving them an extra die, independent of the Boost/Bust system. So a normal roll is 3 dice, a Boosted roll is 4 and a Busted roll is still 2. That alone should make a champion encounter powerful enough to easily challenge an entire team of PCs.