[SirFozzie]

Some of this is looking for feedback, some of this is for my own memory.

Post non-nuclear World War III cyberpunk (basically post Twilight 2020 type thing, the well off in cities have recovered due to strict rationing and recovery, but Joe Average hasn't recovered much at all, many people work on sufferance from home thanks to the grid (at barely starvation wages), in some cities the well off portion is literally walled off with checkpoints, etcetera, while in other cities, they just patrol the well off areas much more then the slums, which hardly get any attention. So, pretty close to a Cyberpunk RED type setup, except the Net isn't a polluted wasteland (yet). In the race to recovery, many cities sold out to the corps, and the already-weakened governments could do little to stop it, so the places THAT do have in-house work can be hellholes, Union organizers get beaten (or shot, or disappeared). Psionics/Mentalism is a thing, (a poorly understood, misconstrued thing), but while it can work wonders, there are limits (force bolts yes, giant meteors now, encourage someone to heal faster, yes, regenerate no (although the corps are working on that)

Current thought is a 1-10 attribute system

Toughness
Agility
Physical Power (read: Strength)

Resilience
Magnetism (read: Raw Charisma/looks)
Brains:

Special Ability (only for those rare people with psionic/mentalistic abilities)
Mental Power:
Mental Control:

Skill checks would be an Attribute+1d10 result (the character would roll 3d10, and take a result based off their skill level in the relevant skill)

Untrained: You must take the lowest die (disregard the middle and higher die)
Trained: You cannot take the highest die, you can take the middle die or the lower die
Master: You can take any die you want

Now, why wouldn't you take the highest die you're allowed to? Dice that you're eligible for can also be used for extra effects, for example, extra base damage may be a 6+ die for an unarmed combat style, or shooting someone to disarm them may require not only that you succeed, but have a die left over of 7 or more).

Skill example: Bruiser A is fleeing a rent-a-cop squad in the slums of the ruined city. He has Physical Power of 7, and is trained in the skill of Unarmed Combat. He spots a locked door leading deeper into an area where the rent-a-goons would be hesitant to go (too many paths that he could take), and wants to make a skill check to break through the door. The GM allows it, sets a difficulty check of 12 (the locked door is sturdy, it would take some real power or knowledge of where to slam through it to break through), but warns the player that without an effects die of 5, he will bruise his shoulder slamming through, and take a -1 Physical Power penalty until he has time to rest and recover.

Bruiser A rolls 3d10: 8 7 3

So, Bruiser A can take the middle or lower die because he is trained in the skill, but because he can't take the 8 (since he is not a master in the skill), he has two options. One is to take the 7 for the skill roll, and the 3 for the effects die. That means he would break through the door (7+7=14), and likely put some distance between him and his pursuers, but he's going to hurt until he can take some time to ice down his shoulder (or take a pain-patch to numb it). Or take the 3, he would fail the skill roll (7-3), but using the 7 as the effects die would mean that while the rent-a-goons would gain ground on him, he might have time to try again (or choose another option)

I need to find the old thread I made on dice probability under such a system to work out the proper difficulty checks, etcetera.

I figure the mental power/control ratings would work to power abilities, with the effects die either being used to resist strain/drain (aid recovery), or boost length of time