Enlils Game: Perception and Observation.

[Sentack]

Ever had a wierd string of luck? Well lately in Enlil's game, I have. Right now in his game, our players are all part of a 'gang' in a conan-esk major city. I'm currently playing the Assassian in the group, although I've kind of fudged things up related to that but that's besides the point. Let me just say though, that we all officaly hate Enlil every time he has to roll perception, he seems to roll several 6's each time he has to, and we're often talking about mooks with 4 Perception, not someone with Observation training or anything!

Okay but, I shouldn't complain too much. What I want to get at here is Perception, none of our characters have Observation training but due to some rather insane luck, my character has been making some seriously difficult Perception checks and managed to actually get his Perception up from 4 to a 5. Not only that, but he's now just one test shy of getting Observation as a Skill.

One quick question though, With a Perception of 5, that'll generate an observation skill of 2, correct? But, doesn't that mean my character will do better with rolling 5 dice and halfing the results then rolling 2 dice?

I have a 81.3% chance of getting 2 successes with 5 dice compared to a 75% chance of getting 1 success on 2 dice. While, yes, my character will raise in the 2 die skill relatively fast, it still seems like he'll face a period where he's 'worse' at observing before he gets better again. Sort of a wierd dip in the scale. Just something I noticed.

Sentack

[donbaloo]

This has come up a few times in previous threads...I'm pretty sure I created one actually. :D You are correct in you observation, unintentional pun, but it supposedly only really holds at the very lowest obstacles, thus the reason its called Beginner's Luck. Once you get to an obstacle of 2 or 3, you're better off with the skill. Remember, an untrained Observation test at obstacle 2, turns into a Perception test with an obstacle of 4. Once you begin attempting stuff beyond that base 2 obstacle, you really need that trained skill to pull it off.

Edit to add: Also, I like that little dip in the scale you mention. Though Burning Wheel isn't trying for realism I've found that in general, that dip is a real life phenomenon for me. I often find that I'm better at something when I first go into, without any training, than in that somewhat awkward short period afterwards. It seems that in that period where I've just picked up a few of the fundamentals I find myself thinking too much about how to apply them and their effects. Not until I get those fundamentals secured and stop thinking about the basics so much does my performance begin to improve again. My RL bowling experience very much exemplifies the phenomenon. There really is something to Beginner's Luck.

[luke]

Donbaloo's right. And that's why it's called Beginner's Luck. Mechanically, I'm trying to encourage you to attempt tasks and initiate conflicts in which you have "no skill."

Pretty neat, eh?
-L