thoughts of ways to add skill to a table top game?

Theirs turn timers, games like darts use the physical skill of throwing....

Eventually dice seem like a very base way to add variance to a game, but what about a game where the end is clear and skill determines, or at least gives you better odds, at your goal..

Like who rolls 3 sixes first is not a good way to measure skill.

>>48182279
Well, you can consider some games to be a skill competition of combo building, max-min-ing and rule lawering...even so, it doesn't make those games any better....

And there is also dungeon fighter where you have to put your throwing dice in weird ways with precision up to test.

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>>48182279
I'd really like to see a system that incorporates Go as a resolution mechanic. An rpg that rewards strategy more so than luck.

I'm making an RPG where the characters are part of a village in a post-black-plague fantasy zombie apocalypse with tons of weird undead out there.

I want to make mechanics that focus on the village with characters spending downtime and having Downtime abilities to improve the village.

Population basically functions as hit points for the village and each month there is a roll on the Fortune table to see what happens (Drought, raids, etc)

One thing I am trying to decide is whether to use boring old spell points, or to do an at-will / daily system for spellcasting. Spell points are nice but you have to remember different costs for different spells and you also have to erase and rewrite the number of points almost constantly.

The at-will / daily system would be basically you know X spells, the daily spells are shit like light and magic missile type of spells, as well as some slightly more powerful attack spells (obviously no healing since they can be done at will), and then daily spells can each be cast only once. You cannot double up on a daily spell. So if you cast a Fireball or a Time Stop, that'd be it for the day for that particular spell. Also a lot of the more powerful spells have downsides. Like the only kill spell in the game has a pretty significant chance of also killing the caster, and there is no resurrection.

Basically I am going for low fantasy with lots of resource management and stuff. Any advice? Yes I have read the Quiet Year I've got a 50 page work in progress game but I always appreciate ideas and feedback.

>>48182780
If there are a lot of resource management aside from magic I would recommend going with at-will/daily, reducing the amount of stuff players/the GM has to keep track of is a good choice most of the time

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>>48182758
Sure let's play another game as a resolution to some conflict....this may actually work for a few special circumstances in-game, but making a "mini-game" of skill each time a conflict requires a resolution may get boring/annoying/easy pretty quick...

>>48182780
this sounds like a board game

I'm currently working on a game system that I think is fairly simple.

There are three statistics, Power(strength and resilience), Speed(agility and reflexes), and Magic(magical version of power). Everything else is handled by skills. Punching someone in the face? Unarmed skill. Casting a spell? Skill depends on what kind of spell you're casting, like a school of spells. Dodging out of the way of getting shot? Dodge skill.

Conflict resolution is handled using small-ish dice pools. One d6 for every point of a skill. On a 1, you subtract one; on a 2 or 3, you add nothing; on a 4 or 5, you add one; on a 6, you add two. Add the stat the skill is derived from to the result, compare it to the target number; if an opponent is involved, say, if you're trying to hit someone, it's compared to their roll, attempting to dodge or defend, otherwise the target is a set number.

Stats range from 1-5, with 3 being the average, and skills can be anywhere from 1-10. What skills are available depend on the game, with the basic skills being the different weapon and magic types(Medium, Heavy, and Shields for Power; Light, Throwing, and Ranged for Speed; and the different schools, which have yet to be decided, for Magic), plus the resistance skills, Parry(Power-based defense), Dodge(Speed-based defense), and Resistance(Magic-based Defense). There will also be Perks, which augment skills or how certain things work.

The problems I'm having are how to determine what your stats are, how to determine your Hit Points and Magic Points, and how to receive Perks, namely whether there should be a race/class-based Perk Tree, or if it should use an XP system.

>>48183366

It kind of is. I'm trying to make a mix of RPG and board game almost like that Kingmaker pathfinder campaign.

>>48182780
It sounds like it would benefit from being more narrative and low-magic than D&D. Reliable spellcasting rules of any kind would mess with the tone a little.

Maybe the population and morale issues could be made less abstract and more personal by creating webs of NPCs partially made by the players. When bad things happen, there could be rules for determining how many characters are affected and how severely. The main problems would probably be less outside invaders and more civil unrest, distrust, starvation, scapegoating, rising superstition and extreme religious sects, all of which get exponentially worse the more the plague sets in. People get more unbalanced the more they lose people who are close to them, and certain linchpins like priests and competent doctors make everything go to shit if they're lost.

>>48182780
I'd go with a prepare spells system that uses resources fron the village. Like, basic spells are made from things easily scavenged things by the village children so the only cost is time to prep, but more expensive ones would take crops and crafted items produced by the village, while the high-end would even take livestock sacrifices.