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\title{WHOOPS!}
\author{Failed and fumbled tasks for 2300 A.D.}
\date{Brian Yip}
\maketitle

{\it \noindent
{\large B}rian takes a stab at task resolution in GDW's futuristic RPG.}\\

{\noindent I}n 2300 A.D., a character will fumble on a task requiring a die roll
10\% of the time.  That's okay for Joe Novice trying to jury-rig
a fusion reactor, but the Grand Master of Chess should not fumble the
game away to Joe one out of ten times!  Under the current rules, ability
and task difficulty
have no bearing on how frequently a botch occurs.  Also, when
a task is failed, the severity of failure is not related to skill.  

Here's a suggestion:

When a task is rolled, and the die comes up ``1'', it is
a fail, but not necessarily a fumble.  Roll for the task again.
If the task is failed a second time, then it is indeed a fumble.
If the task is successful on the second roll, the attempted
task is merely a failure.

\begin{quote}
Example: Joe Novice has a strength of 3 and wants to do the task:

\begin{quote}
To force open a door: Routine, Strength, 6 seconds.  
\end{quote}
Joe needs
to roll 7+ with a DM of 0.  He rolls a 1 so he fails.  We roll
again: if he rolls 7+ this time, he just failed; but if he rolls
6--, he actually fumbles.  Joe rolls a 5 so he actually fumbles,
breaking his left pinky and jamming the door even tighter.
If Joe had rolled an 8, for example, he would have merely failed
and rolled 2d6 on the failure table as usual.
\end{quote}

You can see that using this method, it is less likely to fumble
simple tasks than, say, difficult tasks.  Also, the higher DMs
reduce the likelihood of fumbles.  The ceiling chance of a fumble
is 10\%.

When a character fails (not fumbles), you roll on the failure table.
Take one quarter of the task DMs, and use this as a negative DM
on the failure roll. The mishap roll is not modified.

\newpage

\begin{quote}
Example:  Chip has Computer-9 and tries the hasty task:

\begin{quote}
To find information from a computer data bank (Hasty):
Formidable, Computer, 10 minutes.
\end{quote}

Chip needs a 15+ with a DM of 9.  He rolls a 3 and so he
fails.  When rolling on the Failure table, Chip gets a
DM of --2 (negative 9$\div$4 rounded toward zero) because he's 
so good with computers.  Chip rolls a 12 on the failure
table.  Normally this would be a mishap (2d6) but the
DM of --2 makes the result 10 instead.  So Chip need only
check determination to try again instead of having erased
the data base.
\end{quote}

Note that the largest modifier is --2, so a serious
mishap is still possible when doing a hazardous task.

\vspace{2.5in}

\begin{quote}
``Failure has a thousand explanations. Success doesn't need one."\\

\ \ \ --- Alec Guinness\\
\end{quote}


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