> if you get rid of the pseudo-base 20 number notation, using base 10 instead,
> you can do away with the Wtag, use straight arabic numeral and, in addition,
> use 1D12-1 for contest resolution, with zero as a critical, and 11 as a
> fumble. Changes the ratio of Hero Points to Ability ratings, (but you could
> always increase the cost of ability increases).
>
> I think Alex Ferguson suggested this idea.
One very close to the above. In my original, 11 ("natural!") meant "possible crit, reroll and bump up", and 12 ("boxcars...") meant "possible fumble", which is a small additional complication, though with some nice (I think) features[*]. I rather like the "summon the elevens..." account though. Mikael Raatverova is the only person I know to play a d12 version, and his is more like the scheme you describe above.
(Official Greg feedback: "You know, that idea has its charms. Shame they don't make d22s.")
HPs aren't much of a problem: just award half as many (or, let your players increase twice as fast!). The only other thing it affects is the "value for money" you get from an HP-bought bump-up, and personally I'd say this was beneficial.
Cheers,
Alex.
[*] NB (i.e., a Nick Brooke style footnote): it keeps fumbles and crits on average as common as in standard HW1, but it makes them "sliding scale" rathjer than "flat rate" (within a given W range). Also it has the side effect of making rolls ever so slightly open-ended: you could adapt this to give someone a chance (albeit a tiny one) of winning an exchange against someone W3 better than them. (If they get a "triple-fumble", or you allow "better than crits" to allow offsetting against mastery advantage.)
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