For the past two weeks-ish, I've been chewing away at a SUUUPER satisfying topic. I went on one of my youtube rabbit holes and learned about Vancian Magic. I knew that's where the DnD reference was from, I just didn't learn the context. So I ended up learning about and really digging Dying Earth. Which got me to the question: "How would I do my version of a DnD Wizard?" 2 weeks later, I've hacked out 20 pages of "Old School DnD that pays homage to 'so far in the future the scifi went back around to being fantasy again'", complete with twists on the solid Knave system. It's been exhausting hyperfixating on this, but feeling this world evolve while also adding in elements that make me happy is gratifying too.

One of the gimmicks for this system is Safe vs Risky rolls. One of my dives was "How much do the rolls vs what your character has achieved matter" and I feel like a transition step for D20 is doable. If you're playing it Safe, you roll 2d10 and and add a Stat versus a target number (typically a Defense in the Knave system). You get no criticals when playing it safe. If you play Risky, you roll 1d20 and add a Stat, and you crit fumble on 1-2, and you crit succeed on 19-20. Subconsciously what I'm after is nudging towards a "your character's achievements mattering more" by having a more consistent rolling system be default. This also helps the players with bad dice voodoo a bit by having the Safe rolls be more consistent.