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QAGS Corner

Number Crunching

Columns - QAGS Corner

It's not a big secret that Leighton and I didn't do a lot of statistical analysis when we wrote QAGS. After all, the system was originally meant for use in pick-up games when we didn't have time to spend hours on character creation. We never really intended for it to be a "real" system used for "serious" games (the "real" game system was Anyworlds, the overly complex system I'd written in college). Of course, once we started actually using QAGS, we quickly discovered that it worked just as well as (and in many cases, better than) the more complicated systems we were used to. When it came time to write QAGS 2E, we didn't want to make any major changes to the system, but we did make a few changes and define the mechanics in more detail to improve the "game" aspect of things a bit. Mainly, though, we just tried to make it clear that Yum Yums were the great equalizer.

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Re:Number Crunching
Jul 01 2010 02:15:40
There's some discussion of this article going on in the Hex Forums. If you've got thoughts, feel free to join us there.
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The Price Isn't Right

Columns - QAGS Corner

The basic QAGS mechanic is apparently way too simple for most gamers. Even though we tell them that the highest successful roll wins, everybody insists on thinking that the Number they're rolling against has something to do with how well their character succeeds. A few (mostly those familiar with 2nd Edition AD&D's non-weapon proficiency system) try to use the difference between their roll and Number as the success degree. While I can't help the AD&D people, I recently realized that the "Price Is Right" analogy that we often use to explain the mechanic might be part of the problem for others, since on the game show the idea is to get as close as you can to the price of the item (your Number) without going over. While this is technically true in QAGS as well (since anything over the Number is a failure), this makes it seem like the Number itself is import. It isn't, unless you're using the Lucky Break rules aned roll the Number exactly or fail and the Failure Degree is important. 

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The Company (Rules for Group Resources)

Columns - QAGS Corner

When Hex wrote M-Force: Monster Hunting in the 21st Century, we included a lot of detail about the organization and all of the support that it could offer a team of monster hunters in the field. Unfortunately, we didn’t include any rules for dealing with this support structure, which meant the competence and response time of support personnel was basically left up to GM fiat.

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Money & Stuff

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Columns - QAGS Corner

In D&D, all characters start the game with a randomly determined number of gold pieces with which to buy equipment. Once the campaign gets started, they keep track of every piece of treasure or equipment they find, buy, sell, or give away, which can lead to very complex accounting and resource tracking once characters reach higher levels and start running their own fiefdoms. While this system works fine for the heavily-armed homeless who make up the typical D&D party, some level of abstraction is required for characters who actually live somewhere (unless you want to keep up with exhaustive lists of furniture and kitchen appliances, that is). What follows are some guidelines for handling money and resources in QAGS without having to hire an accountant.

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Re:Money & Stuff
Nov 18 2009 14:38:58
For those who want a little more structure for the Credit Rating stat, here are a few additional guidelines (Warning: These are really crunchy):

  • If a character with a positive CR would have failed the roll without the CR bonus, his CR goes down by one. If the DN of the roll would have made success impossible without the CR bonus, his CR is reduced by the difference between the DN and the number the character would have rolled against without the CR.

  • If the character misses more than a week of work, his CR goes down by 1 for the next month, unless he has paid vacation time or sick days that he can use.

  • If a character receives a windfall (bonus, reward, lottery winning, etc.) compare the amount to his approximate monthly income. If the amount is less than his monthly income, his CR doesn't change (since expenses have a way of increasing to match income). If it's equal to our greater, his CR goes up by the amount of the windfall divided by the character's monthly income (rounded down). This bonus to the CR decreases by 1 point per month until it disappears.* If the CR bonus would be 10 or greater, the character may take a "Wealth" type Gimmick with a Number equal to 1/2 of the CR Bonus instead of increasing his CR.

  • If, during an adventure, the character spends a lot of money or lives beyond his means, he must make a Credit Check. If the roll fails, his CR goes down by 1.


*If this method is used, the character's CR can go above +5.

Going into Debt:
If a character fails a credit check roll, he can still buy the item by going into debt (note: Most characters (at least in modern games) are assumed to carry some debt. A debt Flaw just means the character has more debt than he can reasonably handle.). The amount of the Flaw is equal to 1/3 of the DN for the roll. If the DN is higher than the character could roll with a normal Credit Check, the Flaw Penalty is doubled. If a character's Debt flaw ever goes above +5, it becomes a Weakness with a Number equal to the Flaw Penalty.

If a character has a "Wealth" type Gimmick, he can choose to reduce his Gimmick Number by 1 instead of taking a Flaw. If the DN for the item is greater than the character's Gimmick Number, he must reduce the Gimmick by the difference.

Getting Out of Debt:
Characters may trade in positive CR bonuses or bonuses from resource-related Skills in order to get rid resource-related Flaws (or negative CR penalties) on a 1:1 basis. Characters may also reduce the Number of Debt Weakness by trading in 5 points of positive CR or resource-related Skill Bonuses. If this reduces the Weakness to 5 or less, the Weakness reverts to a Flaw.
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Re:Money & Stuff
Nov 19 2009 03:41:57
Another idea: characters who run a business, play the stock market, etc. can make an appropriate roll each month. On a Lucky Break, they get +1 CR. On a Bad Break, their CR goes down by 1. Any other roll means an average month, though a Quirky Success could have some interesting consequences.
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New Rule: Flaws

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Columns - QAGS Corner

Characters in fiction often have disadvantageous quirks and foibles that, while annoying, aren’t really Weaknesses in QAGS terms. Willow Rosenberg’s “frog fear” is a good example of this kind of thing, as is her pal Anya’s fear of bunnies. Such minor disadvantages are not really debilitating to be considered a Weakness, probably should have some game effect. As Weird Times at Charles Fort High readers already know, this dilemma can be solved in the QAGS system by adding a new word called Flaws.

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