Reworked dice mechanics for SHCURPG

The player rolls three six-sided dice (3D6) and they add one if they have an applicable role, and an extra one for each applicable tag within the role. The action is a success if the result is greater than or equals to 12.

is changed to

If the player character has an applicable role, they roll two six-sided dice plus one for each applicable tag within the role. Each 4+ is a hit, and 2 hits are required for the action to succeed. Without an applicable role, the player rolls three dice and remove the highest from the result.

As I was designing the next chapter for SHCURPG, I decided to change the dice mechanics of the game from 3D6+modifier to roll a number of D6 and count the 4+ for success.

Generally, each character has a weak, medium and strong role, offer a maximum of +2, +3 and +4 bonus respectively in the old system. Certain special moves may boost the bonus to +5. Here are the probabilities:

• No bonus - 37.5%
• Weak role (+2) - 62.5%
• Medium role (+3) - 74.1%
• Strong role (+4) - 83.8%
• Special (+5) - 90.8%

Below are the probabilities for the redesigned system:

• No bonus - 12.5%
• Weak role (3 dice) - 50%
• Medium role (4 dice) - 68.8%
• Strong role (5 dice) - 81.3%
• Special (6 dice) - 89.1%

I don't believe that games should be designed around failure, but the old probabilities seemed a bit too high for me, especially for the unskilled roll. The new system is also more flexible for me to design new mechanics around it.

P.S. When I said "new" mechanics, I meant it as new for my game. Similar dice mechanics have existed in TTRPG for a long time.