Herding Dice

Talents (and specializations) in AGE need some work. They do not have a discernable formula between requirements and ranks (novice, expert, master, etc) and each benefit value. Starting off from  start-of-new-action-model-for-age  definition of actions and TN design, we can build a pattern for talents and specializations. Talents, Target Numbers, and Requirements A talent will generally be a new action or a bonus to an existing action. For a talent with a bonus we propose that the bonus is based on  stat-equivalencies  and that these raise the TN of the base action. The amount of equivalent TN the bonus adds is the requirement. If a talent does not add a bonus and instead just another action then no bonus is required nor a requirement. The requirement can use an ability score or a focus or both. Use the total as the TN bonus being applied to the talent. One ability and one focus would equal a bonus TN of 3 Talent Advancement Talents have at least three tiers or ranks...

 The following are equivalent and can be used to convert between each other. 1 MP (mana point) 2 SP (stunt point) 2 TN (target number) (Note: this is used incrementally and is not the base) 4 HP (health point) 1 minor action 0.5 major action 10 yards (measure of distance) All of those equivalencies can be worked out using basic action and stunts. 1 MP = 2 SP, from Skillful Casting stunt 2 SP = 2 TN, from Powerful Casting stunt 2 SP = 4 HP, from Healing Power stunt 0.5 major action = 2 TN, from Defend major action 1 minor action = 0.5 major action, comparing move versus run 1 minor action = 10 yards, using move with zero stats or ancestry is 10 1 major action = TN 10 at 2 MP using Healing Touch (2MP) which is 2d6 1 major action = 4SP, from Healing Touch being average 7HP which divided by two and rounded up for SP cost is 3.5 => 4SP 1 minor action = 2SP, from 1 minor action = 0.5 major action The minor action here is a little stronger than many of the minors actions in the rules. ...

 I have taken a data approach to reverse engineering the AGE action model in two articles so far: https://herdingdice.blogspot.com/2023/07/decoding-mp-from-spell-descriptions.html https://herdingdice.blogspot.com/2023/07/decoding-age-action-economy.html I learned some valuable lessons but afterwards I wasn't happy with the formulas fundamentally.  Why is the TN base a 9? Why use an MP to TN ratio of 3.5 to 2, or 1.75 to 1? TLDR; Summary 2HP = 1SP added to the equivalency formulas. This will keep the Mighty Blow stunt at a cost of 2SP, but will reduce Lethal Blow stunt to 4SP and allow a new stunt, let's call it Crushing Blow, at a cost of 6SP Using TN 10/2MP/2d6 basic spell we can count backwards to find a new base TN for a spell. This turns out to be TN 6 since you take away 4 TN = 4SP = 2MP worth of value The Reasoning  My solution ended up questioning the usefulness of MP as a resource. I have been looking into Fortune in Fantasy AGE and it as a resource matches 1 to 1...

I have been researching the math behind fortune and have found that the new luck and spell push are basically the same mechanic. As a result we can craft a unified mechanic that allows any player to spend a resource to ensure their action succeeds. This address the problem of a "miss" feeling bad in TTRPG play and creating decent trade off of short term success versus long term penalty. TLDR; Summary Combine fortune based "luck" and spell push into the same mechanic for all characters call it "Push Your Luck" player is allowed to replace one die with a new face for the cost of the new die face for example, if you roll a 1 and want at least a 3 to succeed, then you pay a cost of 3 for the new die face value stunts are not allowed since this was initially a failed roll. choose an appropriate resource pool to spend from Modern AGE Master book on page 47 has fortune as an independent resource. This is probably the easiest way to implement fortune even for Fant...