The dice fall on the table and it all stops for just long enough for you to see what came up. For that split second between reward and risk, before someone shouts out a number, you think “Yeah I bet that’s got higher odds” (a d6 is better then a d4) but it doesn’t really … Read more

The mechanics are simple: you has four dice, each marked with plus signs and minus signs and blanks. Add ’em up. Meet or beat zero? Succeeded! There’s nothing more to Fate or Fudge. And most people treat it as if it were a coin flip. In fact, its a bell curve masquerading as a coin … Read more

Left Center Right is quicker then you think. All the players has their chips one minute; then suddenly one person is in control of pot and everyone else are staring at him. It’s chaotic, yet it’s a narrow mathematical funnel. A few basic probabilities compound rapidly. That’s how the game works. Those probabilities makes seemingly … Read more

There’s a certain type of fear that grips you as you rifle through your dice bag on the edge of an anxious moment. Your character has poured everything into this one shot. It feels important and now you’re putting it all up to fate. To let random chance shape your story. But most people throw … Read more

You stand by the table, d100 in hand, waiting for the right moment to roll… one that will alter the course of the scene. Pressure’s on. Situation’s tense. Skill’s only running at 60%. Should you roll? Should you hold out for a better time? Most players just shake the dice because calculating odds in their … Read more

Each percentile roll has its own sort of tension. One number determine whether you succeed or fail, and success hangs upon the position of two dice against that number. Add some mechanics, however, and all goes pear-shaped. Arithmetic replace intuition then. Players intuitively assume their skill percentage as a permanent fact, yet the second you … Read more

For example, tabletop players frequent end up frustrated after rolling dice to find out their chances of success were low, only to discover midway through the game that they weren’t good. Maybe the number was high so you thought you rolled well. But then again maybe not. Because what happens is that your gut doesn’t … Read more