Redefining Difficulty Levels (number ranges)

[Whill]

As a bit of background, in the 1e core there aren't even difficulty number ranges. We had:

DIFFICULTY NUMBERS
.5 .Very Easy
10 Easy
15 Moderate
20 Difficult
30 Very Difficult

The actual numbers were chosen out of simplicity, because even most arithmetic-challenged players can count by fives and tens. They wanted a system that was easy to remember without having to refer back to rules and charts, but "Moderate" was still pretty difficult for PCs, and "Easy" is pretty difficult for mooks. WEG realized this and so with the first Rules Upgrade they kept the fives as a base but introduced the ranges going below them. WEG never abandoned this through multiple iterations of Star Wars D6, and we also got Heroic and Heroic+. This is better than 1e core strait, but the five-ranges has still left me feeling a little unsettled about it all these years.

You are rolling d6s to compare to those difficulty numbers. Each d6 has an average value of 3.5 (when the wild die is 2-5). It makes sense to me that the difficulty levels better correspond to the number of dice being rolled. So I first thought of having a difficulty level for each die code, but that became unappealing because it would have to have more difficulty levels than what we already have, which would really require an overhaul of the whole difficulty system and coming up with examples for each level for every skill. Ugh, no.

But the solution was hidden in RAW the whole time... This chart caught my eye:

(very) Random Difficulties (Optional)
....Difficulty .Random Difficulty
....Very Easy ....1D
...........Easy ....2D
.....Moderate. 3D-4D
.......Difficult. 5D-6D
Very Difficult. 7D-8D
.........Heroic ...9D+

Seeing the 2D groups made me think of the average result of 2D is 7, which then made me think of this chart:

DIE CODE SIMPLIFICATION
.Die.. Wild
Code. Die
. 1D ... 0
. 2D .. +4
. 3D .. +7
. 4D . +11
. 5D . +14
. 6D . +18
. 7D . +21
. 8D . +25
. 9D . +28

And then I went back to the random difficulty chart and added the average die value for 2D beside it (7). Then, 4D, 6D and 8D would be 14, 21, and 28. If I would use the wild die code simplification from 1D, that would mean that to achieve 7 for 2D, 1D would have to be 3. And then the rest of the +s on the die code simplification chart added up to the values I already had beside the even D values. (So each 1D is still worth 3.5, but the die code simplification chart determined how I rounded on the odd Ds.) So what I had now was:

....Very Easy ....1D .... 3
...........Easy ....2D .... 7
.....Moderate. 3D-4D .14
.......Difficult. 5D-6D .21
Very Difficult. 7D-8D .28
.........Heroic ...9D+

If these are my max/base values, completing the under-ranges gave me:

....Very Easy ....1D .... 1-3
...........Easy ....2D .... 4-7
.....Moderate. 3D-4D ..8-14
.......Difficult. 5D-6D .15-21
Very Difficult. 7D-8D .22-28
.........Heroic ...9D+ ... 29+

I like it. And it is the same number of difficulty levels as RAW so I could keep the names and just tweak the difficulty numbers. And after Easy, the number range increments are all 7 instead of jumping from fives to tens-ish at Very Difficulty. I'd rather the jump be at the low end so the indefinitely high end keeps following the same pattern. And the break at the low end is just splitting one 7-increment roughly in half to keep the whole thing closer to RAW.

So I wanted to complete it and address those situations that call for "Heroic+10" etc. According to RAW, the top of Very Difficult is 30, Heroic is 31+ and Heroic+10 is 40-49. What the huh? Wouldn't that be "Heroic+ 9-18"? So let's just continue the 2D/7 pattern above Very Difficult, giving "Heroic" itself a range with a max...

....Very Easy .....1D ..... 1-3
...........Easy .....2D ..... 4-7
.....Moderate.. 3D-4D ...8-14
.......Difficult.. 5D-6D ..15-21
Very Difficult.. 7D-8D ..22-28
.........Heroic .9D-10D .29-35
.....Heroic+7 11D-12D .36-42

...and so on. It's really not far off from RAW, and every new range overlaps with its range in RAW. Yes it can make some actions easier, but it makes it easier for everyone (PCs and NPCs) equally. Average galactic citizens are not quite so inept for things that are supposed to be "very easy" and "easy". For Easy and up, the top end difficulty number is the mean average roll and median of the corresponding die value, so a little more than half of the time that corresponding number of dice should succeed. The only level we don't have a single median result is 1D (mean average is 3.5), so 1D will succeed at the top end of Very Easy half the time. Of course this mod has no effect on opposed rolls.
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Star Wars D6 Damage

[Whill]

DIFFICULTY NUMBERS
....1-3. Very Easy
....4-7. Easy
. 8-14. Moderate
15-21. Difficult
22-28. Very Difficult
29-35. Heroic
36-42. Heroic+7

We all know the existing difficulty levels and their order. So all you have to remember to use this mod are multiples of 7 for the top of each difficulty number range starting with Easy, and Very Easy is half of 7 rounded down. I think this makes creating NPCs, designing encounters and planning adventures a little easier for GMs because character attribute and skill die values now directly correspond to the task difficulty chart.

The Die Code Simplification chart directly corresponds to this difficulty system (Wild Die+ and 5D+). You can still use the Random Difficulties chart in RAW for very random difficulties, or you can use this new chart I made below which only creates results within the number ranges for each difficulty level.

Less Random Difficulties (Optional)
(round up division results)
.....1D÷2 ..Very Easy
4+(1D÷2) .Easy
......8+1D .Moderate
....15+1D .Difficult
....22+1D .Very Difficult
....29+1D .Heroic

I tweaked the modifier guidelines according to die values.

Modifier Guidelines
+1-3 Character has only a slight advantage.
+4-7 Character has a good advantage.
+8-10 Character has a decisive advantage.
+11+ Character has an overpowering advantage.

If you used these new DN ranges for ranged combat difficulties (Point Blank through Long still being Very Easy through Difficult), then the high end difficulties for un-dodged shots of the first three DN ranges are a little lower, which puts even more emphasis on the dodge skill. I've already applied the 'die values' mod to the damage/wound system (more coming on that).

Here are some more re-tooled charts:

Damaged Protection / Weapon Chart
D ≥ BS
0-3 Not seriously damaged
4-7 Lightly damaged
8-10 Heavily damaged
11-14 Severely damaged
15+ Destroyed

Heavily damaged weapons lose −2D off their damage and add +7 to all difficulties to use in combat.

Terrain Difficulties
Maneuvers modifiers
+1-3
+4-7
+8-10
+11+

Movement Failures
... 1-3. Slight slip
... 4-7. Slip
..8-10. Fall / Spin
11-14. Minor tumble / collision
15-17. Tumble / Collision
...18+. Major tumble / collision

Vehicle / Spaceship Damage
D≥BS/H
.. 0-3.. Shields blown/controls ionize
.. 4-7.. Lightly damaged
.8-10.. Heavily damaged
11-14. Severely damaged
. 15+.. Destroyed

Ion Damage
_D≥H_
... 0-3.. controls ionize
... 4-7.. 2 controls ionize
. 8-10.. 3 controls ionize
11-14.. 4 controls ionize
.. 15+.. controls dead

Missiles, Bombs and Proton Torpedoes.
Increase to
Difficulty . Space . Move (Atmosphere)
... +7 ........ 3 ..... 100-150
. +10 ........ 4 ..... 151-200
. +14 ........ 5 ..... 201-250
. +17 ........ 6+ ... 251+

Tractor beam
damage roll . Space units . Target ship's
≥hull roll by: _reeled in_: . __damage_:
.... 0-3 ........ No change .. No damage
.... 4-7 ........ 1 ............... -1 Move
.. 8-10 ........ 2 ............... -2 Moves
.11-14 ........ 3 ............... -3 Moves
... 15+ ........ 4 ............... -4 Moves
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[Naaman]

I have always felt that thedifficulty chart was too slanted toward things being difficult. I tend to agree that "easy" being a 10 is a little silly when the "avg" person has 2D in whatever. While I understand that there is a range (6-10) in my experience, GM's tend to ignore that and always use the highest number in the range.

A simple solution (on WEG's part) would have been to list the diifficulty scale based on the lowest range in the category (for example, easy=6+, moderate=11+, etc).

Even still, running the averages is an excellent solution. I find it particularly good in light of the pip system, which will--I'm guessing--make a significant difference to the likelihood of succeeding within one's element. In other words, the difference between 2D and 2D+2 matters more.

Of course, the down side is that people who don't like the mathz will have to learn how to count by 7s... though I suspect that this should not be too difficult for anyone who actually gives it a chance.

[Raven Redstar]

As a GM, I generally pick the bottom of the difficulty scale for standard skill difficulties. Just easier for everyone.
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[garhkal]

I often go mid diff.. 7 for easy, 13 for mod, 17 for diff 25 for very diff..
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[Whill]

[garhkal]

Personally if i was gonna redo it, i would go
V.easy - 1-5 (3 ave)
Easy - 6-10 (7 ave)
Not so easy - 11-15 (13 ave)
Moderate - 16-20 (17 ave)
Difficult - 21-15 (23 ave)
Very difficult - 26-35 (31 ave)
Almost impossible - 46-45 (41 ave)
Heroically impossible - 46-55 (51 ave)
"Never tell me the odds impossible" - 56+
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[Naaman]

[CRMcNeill]

[Whill]

It's hard to believe I posted this over 4 years ago.

[CRMcNeill]

[Raven Redstar]

I ran yesterday, and I found that using the standard 1E Difficulties a Moderate Difficulty (15) was a significant challenge for my starting characters. Which was good, since picking the difficulty level and just using the number rather than the range made it so I didn't need to worry so much about being finnicky with difficulty scale.
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[CRMcNeill]

Whill, how does this system compare to the Open D6 Difficulties, where the spread for Very Difficult and Heroic is reduced from 10 to 5, with Legendary replacing Heroic at the 31+ mark?
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The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Whill]

[Crimson_red]

I really like this change to number ranges, it appears to fix everything from the RAW number ranges that rubbed me the wrong way simply by accounting for how d6 behave. I suspect remembering "Up to 3/7/14/21/28/+7" is just as easy/easier to remember than "Up to 5/10/15/20/30/+10," especially if someone has played any notable number of games that used d6 in play (Your game uses pairs of d6? I Bet you something happens on a '7' . . . like rolling a '7' on a pair of d6, it may not be a good bet, but it is the best bet).

Whill, it appears you were using this change four years after you first posted it, if so, are you still using now? Do you have any addition observations/thoughts/experiences you might share after using these numbers? Has anyone else been using Whill's Number Ranges, and have you any additional insights/feelings?

A little off-topic, I think I also like these numbers for things like Skill (Damage) Bonus, something like, "For every 7 points above the difficulty number add +1d6 to a resulting damage roll, or apply as a bonus/penalty for a round." It would fall somewhere between the two variants in Rules of Engagement. A +2D difference in a skill die code would loosely translate into +1D bonus in damage or other other derived effect.