HOUSE RULE - T5.10 Skill-Task Mechanic for Low-Roll Task Resolution [T5 only]

[whulorigan]

I am not sure if this has been suggested before in another thread (and I haven't bothered to thoroughly look), but how does this sound as a possible alternative "fix" for the dominance of characteristic-level assets over skill-level assets in task resolution, and the potential for a successful task outcome becoming too easy in Low-Roll Task Resolution.

HOUSE RULE - T5.10 Skill-Task Mechanic for Low-Roll Task Resolution

1. Resolve tasks normally as per T5.10, but
2. Instead of skill-levels adding to the Target Number (TN) of a task in task resolution, allow each level of skill a character possesses to reduce the difficulty level of a task by a half-dice increment (½D) - So Skill-2 applied to a task would reduce a task's difficulty level by a full difficulty level (i.e. - 1D).
3. Adjust all of the standard difficulty levels upward by 1D (i.e. "Average" = 3D; "Difficult"= 4D), etc.
4. Eliminate the "This is Hard" (TIH) Rule.

I know some people do not like half-dice (½D) , but they never bothered me.

This could also possibly work for T4.1 as well, using each skill-level as a full 1D difficulty-level reduction. I'll make a modified post there as well.

 

[Baroun Tardis]

I'm trying to figure this out...

Normally one skill point raises the TN by one

Under this idea, a skill point would reduce the dice total by an average of 1.75 (Two skill points drop it by 3.5, so...)
Dropping the dice total is equivalent to raising the TN.
Of course, that's "average", so sometimes the die being replaced is a 1, sometimes a 6.
Seems like it makes life more random

 

[whulorigan]

I'm trying to figure this out...

Normally one skill point raises the TN by one

Under this idea, a skill point would reduce the dice total by an average of 1.75 (Two skill points drop it by 3.5, so...)
Dropping the dice total is equivalent to raising the TN.
Of course, that's "average", so sometimes the die being replaced is a 1, sometimes a 6.
Seems like it makes life more random

Yes, but it gives a skill point more value relative to a characteristic point as well. And it makes more of a 1:1 relationship between skill-level and task-difficulty level (remember that Difficulty is also now a random increase/decrease, and no longer just a fixed DM or Mod as in prior editions).