Monday, August 13, 2012

MEST Basic BETA 2.0 ?

News of the Rules

I've been discussing on the side and via the forums with Aggro84 regarding the dice system. I'm always tweaking the rules in some form or another and I think that may just drop the three dice colors and keep just one in order to simplify the mechanics.  All dice will be of a single type rewarding 0,0,0,1,1,2 for their six faces.  As before the total successes scored on two dice plus any bonus dice will be added to a character's primary attribute for the tests involved.  This method is solid and provides a consistent behavior for accuracy and effect of weapons and armor.

I've also been fine-tuning my simulator - a monte carlo tool written in JavaScript - to get much more accurate point costs for attributes.  This affects weapon, character archetype, equipment, and armor costs.  Of course, with those changes and the changes in the dice mechanic I think warrants making the next version of the rules become 2.0 instead of 1.4.  I'll see if I can adjust the color or style of the page backdrops and maybe the front cover in order to set apart the art design as well.

These changes are pending some more feedback from Aggro84. Myself I'm a bit taxed as well for time; my new WebDev job and my new (cute and demanding) addition to the family is eating away at my hobby time.  I think the pace is good for contemplation; it gives me more time to consider the dramatic effects of the rules revisions to ensure that things will still be working correctly.