Because of the kind of person I am, I invariably concern myself with style choices of which most readers are unaware. I care about such things because it has an impact on clarity, and clarity is paramount in good rule-writing. As I have agonized over optimal game notation for Omnia, I have become aware that I do not have a clear way of indicating when a number refers to an actual randomly generated result as opposed to a rating such as Ability or Difficulty. If I don't resort to any of the game notation gimmicks I have been toying with, it stands to reason (in my mind, at least) that something should at least distinguish a result from other numbers. I could enclose it in quotation marks, but this becomes tiresome if it is nested in a quotation. I have decided, for now, that it would be best to italicize results. For example:
- Jane Doe tests her Ability as a Pole Vaulter 4 versus a Difficulty of 2 and scores a 3.
- Jeremiah Doe, Brawler 4, throws a punch and scores a 1.
- Jedediah Doe, Veteran Infantryman 3, defends with a 2.
- "I'll use my Ability as a Cat Burglar 5 to deactivate the alarm. The Difficulty is 3? I scored a 4."
- "Test your Botanist 4 Ability. The Difficulty is 3. You scored a 3? The plant is clearly extra-terrestrial in origin."
- "The Difficulty is 3? I'll use my Ability as an Armorsmith 4. I scored a 2 and I'll spend 1 point of Luck to bring it to a 3."
(You will note I avoid using terms such as "roll," "throw," "shake," or "toss" because the randomizers used in Omnia could take a variety of forms from coins to dice to cards to anything that can be used to generate a binary result.)
Is this style choice helpful?
