Blades with d20s — workable compromise? Full explanation below, but the TL;DR: 11+ ~ 4+; 18+ ~ 6; 20 & 11+ ~ 6 & 6 (but 20 & 15+ is technically more accurate). Any advice or criticisms? http://anydice.com/program/cb6e
I’m planning to run Blades for my rotating-GM group when it’s my turn, and my group is very supportive of trying new games but also has expressed their preference for d20s after I roped them into a 2d6 system for my last turn.
I personally don’t have strong feelings about dice types generally aside from a preference not to have to do too much math at the table, but I find Blades’ dice system to be very elegant. I discussed it with them and came up with what I hope will be a very fruitful compromise so that my group can roll handfuls of those d20s they love so much, and the Blades mechanics are almost entirely unaffected.
Mapping successes with complications is simple — rolling an 11 or higher out of 20 is identical to rolling a 4 or higher out of 6.
Successes can be pretty close too, with an 18+/20 tracking very closely with 6/6.
Crits are a little tricky, but they’re actually pretty workable by requiring a 20 on one die and then at least one other success (11+). The probabilities are more accurate by requiring a 20 and a 15+, but I’m leaning toward the former since it avoids the odd-duck 15+ which is otherwise irrelevant.
What do you think — am I crazy? Is the increased crit probability a concern or worth it to keep the die-reads simpler? Any other suggestions or ideas would be much appreciated!