YATTS: Yet another T4 task system. ----------------------------------- Version 1.5 ---- by Paolo Marino (mc4799@mclink.it) Overview -------- What follows is an attempt to modify the Task System published in the first edition T4 book in order to solve some of its problems. The original system has some strong points, which I'd like to preserve: - It's fast and easy - Uses six sided dices only - Allows for easy conversion of older edition adventures and characters Unfortunately the published system suffers from some serious drawbacks. First and foremost, the current task rules give ludicrously high chances of success for tasks labeled "Staggering" or "Impossible". Other (minor) problems are the cumbersome use of half dices for some of the task levels, and the fact that character stats influence the results much more than skill levels. YATTS aims to provide a fast and easy system which can be used as a replacement of the current T4 system. Ideally you will be able to take any adventure published for T4 and run it with YATTS without modifications. Other Traveller fans have tried to correct these problems with various house rules. Usually they increase the number of D6 required for the more difficult tasks. My solution is different. Only 2d6 are needed, just like in CT, and the task system is a simplified version of the one in T2300. In fact, I adapted and modified the system described in Traveller 2300, trying to tailor it to CT/T4 characteristics and skill levels. Even if the complete text for YATTS may be of medium length, don't feel intimidated. I've included examples, commentaries and tried to cover common situations and requirements. The actual system is easy, and uses just one Task Difficulty table like the original T4 system. In Appendix B I've added an optional system for experience rolls, aimed at correcting another problem in the T4 rules. Acknowledgments and Credits --------------------------- Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Thanks to all the people in Traveller Mailing List for ideas, comments and inspiration, with a special thanks to William F. Hostman for his comments and ideas for YATTS. The YATTS playtesters: Pietro Andreoletti (andreole@inrete.it) Alberto Casciani Marco Mesturino (marco.mesturino@cselt.it) ---------------------------- YATTS Rules start here ------------ Task Resolution --------------- The basic mechanisms for determining success in a task is the following: Compute _Stat Bonus_: divide relevant characteristic by 2, rounding up (For example INT of 7 gives 7/2=4). Add relevant _Skill(s) Level(s)_. Roll 2d6 and add the result to skill and stat bonuses. The total must be equal or greater than the task target number, which is determined as follows: Task Target Difficulty | Number ---------------------------- Easy | Auto/(8) Average | 11 Difficult | 14 Formidable | 17 Staggering | 20 Impossible | 23 If you prefer higher chances of success, you may consider decreasing all the Target Numbers by 1. Refer to the tables in Appendix A to evaluate the effects of the proposed task scale. Modifiers --------- Any DM applied to a T4 roll (for example the -5 for double damage in combat) can be applied to YATTS without change. Unskilled and Lev-0 Tasks ------------------------- The original T4 systems differentiates between tasks which can be attempted by unskilled characters (tasks involving Default Skills, such as Brawling and Perception) and tasks which cannot be attempted without at least level-1 in a given skill (like Engineering, for example). Unfortunately some other situations, like familiarity with a skill or substitute use of skills have not been adequately explained. In YATTS, for any given skill, a Character may have: 1+ level(s) The character has some experience in the field, adds his skill(s) level(s) for determining success, and suffers no penalties when assessing Task Result. As for T4 rules, the character automatically succeeds at Easy tasks. No roll is required. 0-Level In this case the character uses only the relevant stat bonus for determining the base chance. Easy tasks require a roll: Target Number is 8. Unskilled No knowledge of the relevant skill. Characters can only attempt tasks requiring default skills (like in T4), use the relevant stat bonus only and, on top of this, they suffer a -3 penalty to the roll result. This is equivalent to raising the task difficulty by one level (easy becomes average, and so on. Impossible Tasks require 26+ to succeed). See also the JOT section. _Level-0 vs. Unskilled_ Level-0 describes characters which have some degree of familiarity with the task. This concept was introduced in The Traveller Book, and something remotely similar still lingers on in T4. For an example of this, people with Pilot-1 will have an automatic Ship's Boat-0 familiarity according to the T4 manual. Another use for Level-0 skill occurs when the character is using a cascade skill at a penalty, as a replacement for another skill in the cascade: for example someone which has Pistol-1 can use a Rifle at Rifle-0, (see page 37 of the manual). Task Resolution Table --------------------- Here is a table which summarizes the difficulty levels and incorporates the penalty for unskilled characters. ------------------ Task Resolution Table ---------------- Target Number Skilled | Task Level (Lev 0+) | Unskilled ------------- ---------|------------ Easy [1] Auto/(8) | 11 Average 11 | 14 Difficult 14 | 17 Formidable 17 | 20 Staggering 20 | 23 Impossible 23 | 26 [1] The Target number of 8 is required only for Skill-0 characters attempting Easy Tasks. Skilled characters with level-1 or more don't roll for easy tasks. --------------------------------------------------------- Special Results --------------- Natural rolls of 2 or 12 are considered special results. A roll of 2 is a negative special. You add 5 to the target number and reroll. A roll of 12 is a positive special. You subtract 5 from the target number and reroll. Note that this can theoretically go on and on, with target numbers being shifted upward and/or downward until a player stops getting 2 or 12. Critical Success ---------------- If the final result of roll+stat+skill bonuses is equal or higher than the target number, the task succeeds. If the player's result is at least 6 points higher than the target number, the success is a critical success, and the referee must decide special effects for the situation (for example, in case of combat, the hit could cause double damage or ignore target armor, player's choice). Critical Failure ---------------- If the final result of roll+stat and skill bonuses is lower than the target number, the task fails. If the target number is at least 6 points higher than the player's result, the failure is a critical failure, and the referee must decide special adverse effects for the situation (bullet hits the wrong target, runner trips and falls over, vehicle suffers a mishap, and so on). Notes About Critical Failures ----------------------------- Here are some notes regarding interpretation of criticals in YATTS. _Firearms_ Don't overuse the "Weapon Jams/Misfires" interpretation for critical failures during combat. In YATTS critical failures are relatively common and usually depends more on skill/task ratio than on pure chance. For example a low skill character firing at long ranges will have high chances of critical failures, much higher than TL6+ gun jams probabilities. Use your judgment in evaluating failures, especially in combat. A critical failure at very short range could mean that the attack still hits, but does minimum damage for the weapon type (3 for a revolver, for example). _Recovering from Critical Failures_ Optionally, if the task allows for backtracking and error recovering (for example writing a computer program or performing non destructive lab tests) the referee may allow the player to reroll adding a -3 penalty to the next roll (i.e. task difficulty is increased by one step). If time, money or other resources are critical, double the amount required for the task. Multiple Actions in Combat -------------------------- T4 allows for multiple attacks against different targets in melee combat. In YATTS, each attack beyond the first one gets a cumulative -3 penalty (equivalent to a one level increase in difficulty). So if punching an enemy (for a skilled character) is an Average DEX+Brawling task, hitting more foes will become an Average task for the first, a Difficult task for the second one, a Formidable for the third and so on. Failing one of the tasks will not affect the following one(s): you could miss the first, hit the second and miss the third one, for example. Referee may overrule this in case of critical failure. Cooperative Tasks ----------------- For certain tasks, more than a character can participate. In these cases, one of the participants will assume leadership, and all others will contribute their skills or stats, depending on the type of task. Apply a -1 penalty for each participants. The penalty represents the increasing difficulty in coordinating the efforts of a group of people. If the task requires skills, the other participants will only add their relevant skill levels, and not the stat bonus. Example 1: Porting of a program to a different computer system. INT, Computer, Difficult. Yoran Juuush, INT 9, Computer 3 is leader. Gohan Huran (Computer 2) is a programmer. Rold Lena (Computer 3) is another programmer. Their collective throw is 5(INT 9/2)+3(Juush skill)+2(Huran skill)+3(Lena skill) -3 (number of people cooperating) for a final result of 10+2D6. Example 2: Pushing a wheeled vehicle off the road. The referee decide that this requires a combined strength of 25+ to succeed. Theo Saar (STR A), Krees Werr (STR 7) and Kina Orru (STR 9) start pushing. Their collective strength is 10+7+9-3=23. They will have to ask someone else for help, or find another solution. Quick contests -------------- In some cases two or more characters will need to directly confront their respective stats (the canonical example being armwrestling contests using the STR stat). This is best resolved by having all participants roll 1D6 and adding it to the relevant stat. Higher total wins. Reroll any ties if the situation requires a clear winner. Other kind of contests (for example a game of poker) will require skills, instead of raw stats. In these cases, apply the following procedure: All the participants roll two dices and add the result to the skill level and the relevant stat bonus. Remember to use the -3 penalty for unskilled characters, and apply the +5/-5 plus reroll rule for specials (i.e.: for natural rolls of 2 and 12). _Example_: Three characters decide to spend some time playing a card game. Allol has Int B and no Gambling skill Bozepe has Int 7 and Gambling-1 Churnal has Int 9 and Gambling-2 Allol rolls 2d6. 7(roll)+6(Int/2)-3(no skill) gives 10 Bozepe rolls 2d6. 8(roll)+4(Int/2)+1(skill) gives 13 Churnal Rolls 2D6. She rolls a 2, negative special. She then rerolls with a -5 penalty for the special. 7(new roll)-5(penalty)+5(Int/2)+2(skill) gives 9 Bozepe got the highest result, and therefore is the winner. Uncertain results ----------------- In some cases, the character can't be immediately certain of the task result. Some example could be investigating a rumor, or searching for clues, or checking a computer program for bugs. For uncertain rolls, the referee and player should both roll the 2d6. The referee roll should be secret. Both fails: Complete failure, in the example, some or no bugs were found, and the program is still buggy. Both succeed: Complete success. All the bugs are identified and no further problems will manifest. One roll fails and the other succeeds: Partial success. Some of the bugs are found, but the program is not stable (and the player will not know what the referee roll was, so s/he will be uncertain of the true result.) Predetermined Assets -------------------- In certain cases the Task number is defined without using characteristics or skill levels. Some of the equipment in the _Central Supply Catalog_, for example, has a predefined asset, like the TL8 Translator, which uses a task number of 15 for determining successful translation (which is considered an Average task). In order to translate these in YATTS terms, use 2/3 (two thirds) of the stated number: a TL8 translator has a base asset of 10 (15*2/3). Always apply the 2/3 rule *after* any reduction in the base asset: the TL8 Translator description for example, states that the asset becomes 11 when a sentence requires an Int of 4. So 15-4=11, 11*2/3 = 7. The base assets becomes 7 in Yatts. Jack-O-T -------- JOT gives a chance to attempt a task even when you lack the relevant skill in it. Whenever the character wants to use JOT, he must roll a Difficult JOT task using the same stat required by the task they are trying to roll. If the roll succeeds, the character gains the temporary ability to roll for the original task as if s/he had a level-0 in the relevant skill. If the roll fails, the character can't try it anymore. Example: Toser attempts an Average _Sensor_ roll, even if he has no Sensor skill (but he has JOT 2 and Int 9). He first rolls a Difficult (14) JoT+Int task; he rolls 9+2(JOT)+5(Int/2)=16 and succeeds. Now he can try the _Sensor_ roll using 5 for his Int and 0 for his Sensor skill. N.B.: If the task requires more than a roll, you must do a separate JoT roll for each. The 0-level "works" only for the subsequent roll, and does not confer any special bonus even for similar tasks you encounter later. APPENDIX A: Chances of success ------------------------------ A small rundown of success chances will help you decide if the system looks sound. An average character (stats at 7) with professional level skill (Skill level 3), will be column 7. (Stat/2)+Skill | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ---------------|------------------------------------------------------------ Task Difficulty| Easy (8)| 72% 83% 91% 97% A A A A A A A A Average 11 | 28% 42% 58% 72% 83% 92% 97% A A A A A Difficult 14 | 3% 9% 17% 28% 42% 58% 72% 83% 92% 97% A A Formidable 17 | I I I 3% 9% 17% 28% 42% 58% 72% 83% 92% Staggering 20 | I I I I I I 3% 9% 17% 28% 42% 58% Impossible 23 | I I I I I I I I I 3% 9% 17% A:Automatic except for critical failures. I:Impossible except for critical successes. Here is the same table for unskilled characters. Note that having no skill, the base number can't get higher than 8 (15/2). The table applies the -3 penalty directly to the Task difficulty number. (Stat/2) | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------|---------------------------------------- Task Difficulty| Easy 11 | 17% 28% 42% 58% 72% 83% 91% 97% Average 14 | I 3% 9% 17% 28% 42% 58% 72% Difficult 17 | I I I I 3% 9% 17% 28% Formidable 20 | I I I I I I I 3% Staggering 23 | I I I I I I I I Impossible 26 | I I I I I I I I A Stat-7 Skill-3 character has 17% chances of a critical success for Average tasks. In order to acquire critical successes at higher task difficulties he must obtain positive DM+, for example with a natural roll of 12. This means less than a 1% chance. On the other hand, he will not face critical failures for Tasks of Difficult or lower level, unless he gets a roll of 2. Starting at Formidable his chances of critical failure are 9%, 42% at Staggering Tasks and a whole 100% for Impossible tasks. APPENDIX B: Experience ---------------------- The current system for Experience advancement in T4 has been heavily criticized: it tends to give a rate of advancement which many consider too fast, and yields inflated levels of skills (8+ being relatively common). The present system substitutes the original 1D6 roll test for skill advancement with a task roll. The task difficulty increases with the skill level. The stat used in the task is chosen by the player among the ones used in the relevant skill description. The "advancement" roll is not based on any skill. Here is the the advancement roll table Skill Level | Difficulty Target Cost U->0 Easy 8 2 0->1 Easy 8 2 1->2 Easy 8 1 2->3 Average 11 1 3->4 Difficult 14 1 4->5 Formidable 17 1 5->6 Staggering 20 1 6+> Impossible 23 1 Testing a default skill from unskilled to level 0 and from Level-0 to Level-1 costs 2 points. Testing a skill costs 1 Exp.Point for skills which the character already knows at level-0 or better. Skill Points may be used as positive DM. They may be spent after the roll. Experience Points can't be carried over between adventures. Rules for special rolls (2,12) apply. Criticals don't have special effects. _Example_: Kather Sha'al (Upp: 797A97) has gained 3 Exp.Points in her latest adventure. She has Brawling 2, and tries to gain Brawling 3. Brawling uses either STR or DEX. She obviously decides to use DEX for the test and pays one Exp.Point for testing her skill. Her Stat bonus is 9/2=5. She rolls and gets a 5. Paying another Exp.Point she raises it to a 6, 5+6=11, the task is a success and she now has Brawling-3. APPENDIX C: Assorted Rulings and Modifications ---------------------------------------------- Here ares some others things I've decided to modify for various reasons. They are not part of YATTS, strictly speaking, but they address some minor problems I've experienced with the current T4 rulings. Cascade Skills -------------- The current rulings for cascade skills makes you potentially "waste" levels. For example, a character with Pistol-3 and Rifle-1 will have very little reason to use (and so raise) the Rifle skill, given that his Pistol ratings gives him a better chance to hit. When using a cascade skill as a replacement of another related skill, the level for the substituted skill will be no more than 1. Pistol-1 gives you Rifle-0, Shotgun-0, SMG-0. Pistol-2+ gives you Rifle-1, Shotgun-1 and SMG-1, and no more, however high will the Pistol skill go.