I enjoy meta currencies, but I personally don't like to use luck for that. Nor do I like Luck as stat, the randomness of the dice are already enough chance, I don't think there is any further need to have an explicit stat for that. I guess my main issue with luck is that I simply don't think such nonsense exists, it is like deities, something people want to believe in, but in reality the world just don't care. And sure, meta currencies are a break from reality too, but if people at the table are aware that it is a completely narrative tool and not a metaphysical aspect of the world, then I can live with it, even i it gets then called luck. I once was in a GURPS game in which one of the players took the 60 point version of the advantage, and since we were a really big group, he almost always had the luck available again when his tur came around. I think that in-game time versus out of game time was handled much better in Shadowdark with the torches there, since there it encourages the players to push the adventure forward, while in the GURPS version it incentivizes wasting time.
It was honestly the first game I could find that uses luck. I was shocked too, since the luck stat is kinda just not explained what it does in the game?
Luck is such a fascinating stat/currency, precisely because it's so difficult to balance. In every game I've ever seen with a Luck mechanic, it is either useless or utterly broken with very little in-between.
It is worth considering why it feels unbalanced or useless. It might be worth talking to the other players and GMs on either including it or having a heart to heart on the matter.
Another fun video! A group of systems that come to mind with luck are Mutants and Masterminds which has Hero Points and a luck advantage and The Expanse, Blue Rose, Fantasy Age, and Modern age which all have Fortune. With Fantasy Age also having a thing called the Daring Pool which is built up for bad omens and bad luck.Those folks over at Green Ronin really put the metacurrencies to work lol.
I definitely have to check out some Green Ronin games. I have been wanting to run Mutants and Masterminds for a while myself! One day I will play one of these games! Any preferences for which?
@@Blerdy_Disposition well I've only run a couple of sessions of m&m3e but I've read all the books. I love how versatile characters can get. Admittedly I've only read through the other ones. I've yet to run or play them. But I've watched a couple of actual plays. Preference is really hard tbh. They all have something I love about them 😭 😂
I really love Luck on a conceptual level in games and think it is alright in execution for the games I've seen use it. Because we so heavily associate dice with chance _and_ the majority TTRPGs use dice it always feels the inclusion as a stat matching the other groups feels weird or that there is an underutilized ludonarrative aspect. For instance, though Savage Worlds is not my favourite game, I appreciate Bennies as a metacurrency which represents your Luck and fictional "weight" with certain actions you can take, but always find rerolls as representing Luck too flippant. Would love to see more design where games either do dice manipulation for the expense (especially via limited resource instead of stat) OR have Luck be directly linked to the random elements themselves, for instance only rolling dice when it involves fortune/chance while other options use non-random resolution.
I think when the game has a very strong, Luck as a state or metacurrency can be a game changer. For me I really think DCC does that it well. Luck feels distinct and exactly like Luck. And it is not too powerful of a resource that it can be abused (especially if the GM is cruel).
@@Blerdy_Disposition While I'm a player of Classic Chronicles of Darkness, the current edition (5th) for World of Darkness's Vampire: The Masquerade or Hunter: The Vigil are solid options. All you need is the core book of either, and all of the books of the same edition can be used together, and they just came out with the new run of Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
@@thecreepoid901 And the new version is by White Wolf games correct? I definitely have to play one of these games since they are well known in the scene. It is good to know folks who are still playing the Classic CoD games!
I enjoy meta currencies, but I personally don't like to use luck for that. Nor do I like Luck as stat, the randomness of the dice are already enough chance, I don't think there is any further need to have an explicit stat for that. I guess my main issue with luck is that I simply don't think such nonsense exists, it is like deities, something people want to believe in, but in reality the world just don't care. And sure, meta currencies are a break from reality too, but if people at the table are aware that it is a completely narrative tool and not a metaphysical aspect of the world, then I can live with it, even i it gets then called luck.
I once was in a GURPS game in which one of the players took the 60 point version of the advantage, and since we were a really big group, he almost always had the luck available again when his tur came around. I think that in-game time versus out of game time was handled much better in Shadowdark with the torches there, since there it encourages the players to push the adventure forward, while in the GURPS version it incentivizes wasting time.
I had no idea Tunnels and Trolls was one of the first systems that used a luck-style currency! Very cool to see how that’s evolved over time
It was honestly the first game I could find that uses luck. I was shocked too, since the luck stat is kinda just not explained what it does in the game?
Luck is such a fascinating stat/currency, precisely because it's so difficult to balance. In every game I've ever seen with a Luck mechanic, it is either useless or utterly broken with very little in-between.
It is worth considering why it feels unbalanced or useless. It might be worth talking to the other players and GMs on either including it or having a heart to heart on the matter.
Another fun video! A group of systems that come to mind with luck are Mutants and Masterminds which has Hero Points and a luck advantage and The Expanse, Blue Rose, Fantasy Age, and Modern age which all have Fortune. With Fantasy Age also having a thing called the Daring Pool which is built up for bad omens and bad luck.Those folks over at Green Ronin really put the metacurrencies to work lol.
I definitely have to check out some Green Ronin games. I have been wanting to run Mutants and Masterminds for a while myself! One day I will play one of these games! Any preferences for which?
@@Blerdy_Disposition well I've only run a couple of sessions of m&m3e but I've read all the books. I love how versatile characters can get.
Admittedly I've only read through the other ones. I've yet to run or play them. But I've watched a couple of actual plays.
Preference is really hard tbh. They all have something I love about them 😭 😂
I really love Luck on a conceptual level in games and think it is alright in execution for the games I've seen use it. Because we so heavily associate dice with chance _and_ the majority TTRPGs use dice it always feels the inclusion as a stat matching the other groups feels weird or that there is an underutilized ludonarrative aspect. For instance, though Savage Worlds is not my favourite game, I appreciate Bennies as a metacurrency which represents your Luck and fictional "weight" with certain actions you can take, but always find rerolls as representing Luck too flippant.
Would love to see more design where games either do dice manipulation for the expense (especially via limited resource instead of stat) OR have Luck be directly linked to the random elements themselves, for instance only rolling dice when it involves fortune/chance while other options use non-random resolution.
I think when the game has a very strong, Luck as a state or metacurrency can be a game changer. For me I really think DCC does that it well. Luck feels distinct and exactly like Luck. And it is not too powerful of a resource that it can be abused (especially if the GM is cruel).
Curious what you would have to say about the willpower mechanic of World/Chronicles of Darkness
I have never played World/Chronciles of Darkness (or ran it). Do you have any suggestions on where to start?
@@Blerdy_Disposition While I'm a player of Classic Chronicles of Darkness, the current edition (5th) for World of Darkness's Vampire: The Masquerade or Hunter: The Vigil are solid options. All you need is the core book of either, and all of the books of the same edition can be used together, and they just came out with the new run of Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
@@thecreepoid901 And the new version is by White Wolf games correct? I definitely have to play one of these games since they are well known in the scene. It is good to know folks who are still playing the Classic CoD games!
@@Blerdy_Disposition White Wolf no longer makes them, I believe it's Onyx publishing now?
Oooh thank you, I honestly could not recall. Thank you!!!