[Implemented] Add randomization to events

Archive Turris Puesco
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1

Several of the events in the game give the player a choice to attempt them, and then calculate sucess / failure based on the player’s stats. Currently there’s an item under a rock (always an arming sword so far as I’ve seen) and a trapped treasure chest. There’s also the narrow passage, which is based on weight. I’ve found that (I think) I need around a 15 str to suceed in the lifting challenge - I imagine the chest is similar, but I haven’t tried to pinpoint it yet with an INT or AGI character (AGI seems a bit weak at the moment, not helping combat consistently and not worth putting points into since it’s so easily and massively buffed with coffee).

Since these events seem to have hard cutoffs, there’s always a right choice if you want to attempt the challenge. These challenges are all on the first floor, and you’ll probably run into one way before you’re high enough level you might have the stats to succeed - so most people are going to get the ‘bad’ result the first time get curious about a treasure chest. I think adding a random element, say a random modifier of up to +/- X to the difficulty of the check, would make it much more interesting, adding a slight risk for characters who have high stats and giving lower level characters a reason to try at all.

I also think in general the stat requirements could be a bit lower, especially considering the challenges are on the first floor. If I’m right and you need a 15, you have to be at least level three to succeed - and that’s if you put all of your points into one stat. This means most players will only be able to succeed on these events around levels 4 or 5, and since each floor is meant to be about 5 levels by that point they can probably beat the boss and move on to the next floor, possibly without ever managing to succeed on one of those events.

2

Thanks for the feedback. There’s actually no random elements at all to the checks as they are now, and you’ve got the right numbers - 15 str/int/agi will pass the checks. I agree with you that making it randomized, with higher stats cushioning the RNG, would be the way to go. In terms of game mechanics and balance I’ve mostly been winging it, so I would love to hear advice on how these checks could be done mathematically to create the desired pass/fail rate that you suggest.

3

Most games do it by rolling a random number 1-15 (for example). and if your stat is higher than the random number, you win!

You can use AnyDice to play around with probabilities. Something like 3d6 + 1 might be fair for such a challenge; with only a 9.26% chance of requiring a stat higher than 15, and a 50% chance of requiring a stat inbetween 10 and 13.

4

I think I’ll just use the first method you suggested, it seems easy enough. And since players start with 5 base of everything they’ll always have at least some chance of succeeding checks.

5

Kind of like the idea of as your stats go up the likelihood its a success increases until hitting “THE” stat # where it becomes a 100% chance of success (or in the case of the events like the buffet, giving you the option to participate or not.)