--- In rpg-create@yahoogroups.com, rpg-create@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> Kiz,
> Thank you for looking at my file.
> I see your point about 70-30.
> Players are more likely to try things when they know they think they
> have a good chance of success and less likely to try things when the
> A chance of success is low.

It depends on a lot of things. If we look at how often an attack should hit an
equally skilled opponent, I would say that the success rate should be at least
50% and perhaps closer to 66%, or else combat slows down too much. In Hero
System, which seems to work well in this respect, it is 62.5%. It is harder to
judge in d20, since armor is subsumed into defense, but in D&D4, you have 60-65%
chance of hitting an unarmored character of same ability, since weapon
proficiency gives a +2 or +3 attack bonus.

It also depends on what style of game you want. In fast and furious games, the
chance of success or failure should never drop below 10-15%, but in more serious
games, a skilled character should succeed almost 100% of the time at simple
tasks. In either case, I would set the chance of a decently skilled character
succeeding at a medium task at 60-70%.

- Klaus