Pyramid Pick
Promised Sands RPG
Published by BBRACK Productions
Written by Benjamin Rogers, Mike Rennaker, Robert Anderson, & Kelly Slaughter
394-page b&w softcover; $36.95
Asking gamers who are already familiar with half a dozen RPG systems to learn another one is an uphill battle. That's exactly the battle chosen by BBRACK Productions with their new title Promised Sands. To make things a little more palatable for gamers who don't really want to have to learn a new mechanic, they've made sure of a few important things. First, the game mechanic is simple to learn and use, but offers a surprising amount of depth. Second, the game world of Promised Sands is rich and complex, providing incredible potential for adventures.
Promised Sands uses what its creators call the "Trinary System" for determining everything in game, with the exception of character creation. It works like this: roll 3d10. Two dice are a percentile roll, which must be under or equal to the success value (SV) of the task at hand. The third d10, called the Effect Die (ED), is used to determine how successful the character is at the selected task. The percentile roll can be modified by reducing the value of the ED. For instance, if you need a 35 to succeed at a task and roll a 49, with a 6 on the ED, you can still succeed. Reducing the value of the ED by 1 drops the percentile roll by 5. So, in the example above, if you drop the ED to a 3, the percentile drops to 34. Success, . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 8, 2003
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