As I begin to prep to run a bunch of groups (possibly as many as 7!) for Middle and High School Kids this fall, I have been playing with the idea of adding mixed successes to CROWN & SKULL. Curious what y’all think.
The base mechanic is C&S you rolls less than or equal to your skill score to succeed.
EX: Muscle 9
- Success d20 roll <= 9 (45%)
- Failure: d20 roll > 9 (55%)
Mixed Success Rule
This takes the success range and split it into Full and Mixed success ranges.
For your mixed success threshold, take you skill score and divide it by 2 (rounded up).
EX: Muscle 9 (45% success)
- Full Success: d20 roll <= 5 (25%)
- Mixed Success: d20 roll between 6 & 9 inclusive (20%)
- Failure: d20 roll > 9 (55%)
EX: Survival 14 (70%)
- Full Success: d20 roll <= 7 (35%)
- Mixed Success: d20 roll between 8 & 14 inclusive (35%)
- Failure: d20 roll > 14 (30%)
Why?
The goal with this is to add that PbtA style prompt to the narrative to encourage cinematic storytelling.
Heroic Mixed Success Rule
Mixed success threshold is halfway between your skill score & 20 (rounded down)
EX: Muscle 9 (65% success)
- Full Success: d20 roll <= 9 (45%)
- Mixed Success: d20 roll between 10 & 14 inclusive (25%)
- Failure: d20 roll > 14 (30%)
EX: Survival 14 (85% success)
- Full Success: d20 roll <= 14 (70%)
- Mixed Success: d20 roll between 15 & 17 inclusive (15%)
- Failure: d20 roll > 17 (15%)
Why?
The goal with this is the same as above but also to make the characters more heroic from the start for something like a shorter 8-10 session campaign.
The Flip of the Mixed Success Rule
Whichever version of the mixed success rule you are using, swap the Full and Mixed Success ranges (rounding included). Making more of a Black Jack style mechanic.
EX: Muscle 9 (45% success)
- Mixed Success: d20 roll <= 4 (20%)
- Full Success: d20 roll between 5 & 9 inclusive (25%)
- Failure: d20 roll > 9 (55%)
Why?
Inspired by BROKEN EMPIRES, the goal with this is to make rolling high still feel good without changing any of the math at the core of CROWN & SKULL.