[Palladium Fantasy] Exceptional Attributes

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

In an effort to cast a wider net on old school fantasy roleplaying...

For those that don't know, Palladium Fantasy was basically born out of the house rules for Kevin Siembieda's AD&D campaigns.  It shares many of the same concepts and touches on many of the same points as AD&D.  Where AD&D had Exceptional Strength on a roll of 18, Palladium had Exceptional Attributes.  On a roll of 16-18 you roll another D6 and add it to the score.  I like the idea, but I always thought it should give you the possibility of an exceptional attribute score.  I've tried several different methods, but I think I finally narrowed it down to something I can develop down to the solution that suits my taste.  I'm aiming to keep the exceptional attributes as exceptional and rare instead of every single character that meets the initial requirement gets the bonus.

Instead of EVERY character rolling a 16-18 automatically getting the bonus D6, how about a roll of 16-18 allows you to roll against a percentage?  If you are successful, then you get to roll the additional D6 and add it to your score.  The only thing I need to decide on are the percentage scores to roll against.  Could it be something like 16 = 10%, 17 = 20%, and 18 = 30%?  

Anybody ever tried something like that or have any input regardless of experience with the system?

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Oct 23, 2022 11:37:30 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

In an effort to cast a wider net on old school fantasy roleplaying...

For those that don't know, Palladium Fantasy was basically born out of the house rules for Kevin Siembieda's AD&D campaigns.  It shares many of the same concepts and touches on many of the same points as AD&D.  Where AD&D had Exceptional Strength on a roll of 18, Palladium had Exceptional Attributes.  On a roll of 16-18 you roll another D6 and add it to the score.  I like the idea, but I always thought it should give you the possibility of an exceptional attribute score.  I've tried several different methods, but I think I finally narrowed it down to something I can develop down to the solution that suits my taste.  I'm aiming to keep the exceptional attributes as exceptional and rare instead of every single character that meets the initial requirement gets the bonus.

Instead of EVERY character rolling a 16-18 automatically getting the bonus D6, how about a roll of 16-18 allows you to roll against a percentage?  If you are successful, then you get to roll the additional D6 and add it to your score.  The only thing I need to decide on are the percentage scores to roll against.  Could it be something like 16 = 10%, 17 = 20%, and 18 = 30%?  

Anybody ever tried something like that or have any input regardless of experience with the system?

Look at the method in Greyhawk and tweak it from there. It was only on an 18 you rolled and a 50% chance of nothing and then five other options based on the roll with a stepped % table. This instead gives you a chance starting at 16 so I would got 16 gives a 10% chance, 17 gives a 25% chance and an 18 gives a 50% chance.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Oct 23, 2022 14:37:30 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Oct 23, 2022 11:37:30 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

In an effort to cast a wider net on old school fantasy roleplaying...

For those that don't know, Palladium Fantasy was basically born out of the house rules for Kevin Siembieda's AD&D campaigns.  It shares many of the same concepts and touches on many of the same points as AD&D.  Where AD&D had Exceptional Strength on a roll of 18, Palladium had Exceptional Attributes.  On a roll of 16-18 you roll another D6 and add it to the score.  I like the idea, but I always thought it should give you the possibility of an exceptional attribute score.  I've tried several different methods, but I think I finally narrowed it down to something I can develop down to the solution that suits my taste.  I'm aiming to keep the exceptional attributes as exceptional and rare instead of every single character that meets the initial requirement gets the bonus.

Instead of EVERY character rolling a 16-18 automatically getting the bonus D6, how about a roll of 16-18 allows you to roll against a percentage?  If you are successful, then you get to roll the additional D6 and add it to your score.  The only thing I need to decide on are the percentage scores to roll against.  Could it be something like 16 = 10%, 17 = 20%, and 18 = 30%?  

Anybody ever tried something like that or have any input regardless of experience with the system?

Look at the method in Greyhawk and tweak it from there. It was only on an 18 you rolled and a 50% chance of nothing and then five other options based on the roll with a stepped % table. This instead gives you a chance starting at 16 so I would got 16 gives a 10% chance, 17 gives a 25% chance and an 18 gives a 50% chance.

I like that!  That keeps it special and doesn't make it impossible to get.  These ARE heroes so might as well give them a chance to have extraordinary abilities.