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The Resistance Table that became a World - How an old forgotten game coaxed simple, elegant procedural mechanics from a sub-system designed to model magical duels #ttrpg #callofcthulhu #nephilim #OSR #brp https://tasker.land/2025/12/04/the-resistance-table-that-became-a-world/

The Resistance Table that Became a World

When I returned to TTRPGs, I tried to approach running games with an open mind: I assumed that I knew nothing, I took in new ideas, and I ran systems that I would never have run back in the old day…
Taskerland
#ttrpg #CallOfCthulhu #nephilim #OSR #brp
Hypolite Petovan
Hypolite Petovan  
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@Moreau Vazh Thank you for this, I appreciate a table of numbers as much as the next neurodivergent person, but doesn't this generalized system simply move the goalpost for the GM from having to figure out if something is possible to having to figure the active/passive characteristics for non-trivial questions? In that case, is this easier than having to figure the answer to the initial question?
@Moreau Vazh
Moreau Vazh
Moreau Vazh  
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That is an excellent question and as someone who is comfortable improvising, I could just go '25% chance they've got the book' and leave it at that.

My feeling is that you could ask that of anything you prep and the answer is that setting this stuff up ahead of time adds depth and texture to the world because fixing the number ahead of time will inform other creative decisions.

You could just wing it, but the cognitive load this approach demands is tiny compared to the benefits.

Moreau Vazh
Moreau Vazh  
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Does that make sense? Mileages vary but this works for me as it feels fair and more structured than just improv but doesn't require the cognitive load associated with OSR-style tables.
Hypolite Petovan
Hypolite Petovan  
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@Moreau Vazh Yeah, it does, although I'm not versed enough to know what OSR-style tables are!
@Moreau Vazh
Hypolite Petovan
Hypolite Petovan  
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@Moreau Vazh I was recently bemoaning the D20 system of for being unfun to use in a computer game setting, and I wasn't sure exactly why, so I created the table of Modifier vs Difficulty Check, and it hit me instantly. It is as linear in the middle as the Resistance Table, but it has never ending tails on each end because of the Critical Failure and Critical Success chances. Which means you always have to roll no matter what. And I think it is a mistake and leads to more dice and eye-rolling than necessary.
@Moreau Vazh
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