Anyway. The one thing which I absolutely do not like about Fudge is the scale mechanic. The math is just... awkward, while the rest of the system is, well, not. So, let's nuke the current scale mechanic - kablam - and replace it with a standard Fudge adjective latter.
So now you'd have Fair scale. Or Great scale. Or even Poor scale. Standard people would be Fair scale, right in the middle.
Scale usually affects strength and mass, both which are usually described also with the standard Fudge adjective ladder. So each level of scale is then further broken down into normal levels, resulting in something like Great Strength, Fair Scale. Here's where it gets easier than the regular scale rules: Superb Strength, Fair Scale is only one level below Terrible Strength, Good Scale. If a character with Superb Strength, Fair Scale were arm wrasslin' with a character having Terrible Strength, Good Scale, the Fair Scale character would win with a roll of +1 or better, if the Terrible Strength, Good Scale character rolls -1 or worse. It would lay out like this:
| Scale | Level |
|---|---|
| Good | Superb Great Good Fair Mediocre Poor Terrible |
| Fair | Superb Great Good Fair Mediocre Poor Terrible |
| Mediocre | Superb Great Good Fair Mediocre Terrible |
Of course, the "new" scale would use all seven adjective levels, I just didn't want to code the full table. You can easily extrapolate up from Good Scale and down from Mediocre Scale.
But note how, as mentioned, Superb on the Fair scale level is right underneath Terrible on the Good scale level, just like Good is normally right under Great; I guess you could say that the relative degree of difference between Fair/Superb and Good/Terrible is one step. This begs the question: what happens if a Mediocre scale Superb strength character wants to arm wrassle a Great scale Terrible strength character? There's NO WAY that a roll of 4dF on behalf of the Mediocre scale Superb strength character is going to get anywhere near the Great scale Terrible strength character. My response would be, "yeah, the Mediocre scale Strength guy loses".
Which is, I think, how it should be. Ever try to arm wrassle the Hulk? No matter how well you do, you ain't gonna win. :)
Of course, a roll of +4 on behalf of the Mediocre scale strength guy might buy him a round or so, and maybe the expenditure of a Fudge point might actually give him a momentary leg up, but that's all dependent upon the GM.
Also, of course, the scale mechanic disappears when scale is not a concern. If two normal guys are arm wrasslin, one with Great strength and one with Good strength, it would just be resolved as normal. No need to involve scale at that point, as saying "wow, I rolled Poor, but on Good scale!" would be awkward.
Hmm. Yeah, I think this has legs. :)
This post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.
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