You have a pool of x dice at your disposal, each one already rolled to a result. Every time you'd normally roll a die, you choose one die and use the result. A new die is rolled to replace it.
To prevent hanging on to good rolls for too long, or just never using the bad ones, dice slowly "heat" and if they remain in the pool for too long, explode and cause adverse effects.
@arzi The #ttrpg Castle Falkenstein has a similar system, except using cards instead of dice. Players like knowing what their luck will be, but you only ever have a hand of 4 cards, and the GM controls when they refresh. So it mostly works out.
The suits do different things, but that just encourages creativity. ("Guess I will have to seduce that law clerk instead of pickpocketing him!")
@afeinman@arzi I have used versions of CF's card play system in house rules ever since first playing that game. I love that controlled chaos feel of having hands of numbers, individually random, but somewhat manageable to smooth out what is otherwise a completely random and arbitrary feel.
@zdl@afeinman This was for a computer game but the CF system does sound interesting too! I'm not entirely sure how I feel about players' actions being dictated by the hand of cards they have, but I think it could be woven to the narrative (like the cards determining on what mood the character is that day and thus rather seducing than pickpocketing the clerk).
The final form for my house-ruled games had the four suits matched to stats: ♣️ = Might, ♠️ = Finesse, ♥️ = Insight, ♦️ = Intellect. (Roughly strength, agility, wisdom, intelligence respectively, but broader.)
You got a hand of cards based on several factors and for any action you compared the relevant stat against the relevant target. If you needed to bolster, you'd play a card of the relevant suit and add its value (2-10 were numerical, A, J, Q, K were special).
@arzi@afeinman If you didn't have a card matching the suit you could burn a non-matching card for a value of 1.
If you spent were successful you got to draw one card from the deck into your hand. There were other circumstances when you could draw to your hand (and even expand or contract your hand size). When the first joker is drawn, you throw away your hand and replenish to full. When the second joker is drawn EVERYBODY discards, their decks get shuffled, and redrawn to full.
Definitely an interesting mechanic! I especially like burning cards of other suits for a small boost. If you manage to empty your hand, how long until you'd get to draw new cards?
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