Thoughts on Design as a GM and Designer

[kylesgames]

Yes. This is why it's important that pool systems are consistent in the dice they use (which is, thankfully, normally not a huge issue).

I think the d6 is obviously the natural choice for a pool because it's common, but d10s are popular too, and you can get sets of d10s at hobby shops, so that's something that goes into it.

[kumakami]

you can use multi-dice in a pooled game, Find IronClaw, JadeClaw, or any other game by Sanguine Productions


To make an old genital joke that works more for dice, "its not the size that counts...its how you use it!"

lets take kylesgames example..

in the field of d6's uses there are 3 man one I've seen

Pooled total: all or some of the dice roll are added together (see Legends of the five rings rpg)

ticked total: only certain numbers on the dice count, you add these "successes" to get a result (see World of Darkness or my silly game Feast of Goblins)

Head to head+: see mostly in board games the difficulty is a set of rolled dice, both sides roll and compair highest to lowest dice Vs dice who ever has more "winning" dices succeeds.

all systems tend to change the feel of a game. I have always believed the Rules lend heavily to the games mood. Even in rules lite games the rule tell you how the flow of play will be like

[kylesgames]

I think that it's definitely possible to use multi-sized dice. I mean, I was big into Open Legend for a while, and there are other things that really operate well with a pool of assorted dice. Earthdawn is on my bucket list. However, these pools tend to be really small, which limits design space in a sense.

[Onix]

I'm using multi-sized dice pools in Jump Temp. So far nobody seems to have a problem with it other than confusing d8s and d10s and since the system is flexible to a fault, it takes players a little while to get used to their options.

[kumakami]

[Onix]

So far no math issues, but there are tactics that choosing different dice gives and until the players get the hang of it, they tend to obsess a bit too much about making the "right" choices. So far my admonition has been to just try something and see how they like it and that little nudge seems to be enough to keep things moving.

On the up side, game flow is just plain different and the dice rolls and their resolution are rather brief in comparison to the narrative unpacking of the roll which is no bad thing in my opinion.