Dice System: assign dice to determine risk/effect
I'm working on an epic high fantasy JRPG focused PBTA informed TTRPG (as a hobby, mostly) and I've been thinking about my core dice mechanic for tests.
Current iteration. Players roll 2d6 and they get one of five outcomes; 2 means that you suffer the risks and they are worse (+1 Risk), 3~6 means you suffer the risks as they stand, 7~9 means you avoid some of the risks (-1 Risk), 10~11 means you avoid the risks completely, 12 means you avoid the risks and gain a benefit (+1 Effect).
Risk's value determines how many moves the GM makes (able to double down on a specific move to make it harder) and Effect's value determines how much the PC is able to do in a situation (add ticks to a clock, cause Harm, etc.). There are metacurrencies and abilities that can change these values before and/or after the roll. Risk and Effect typically start at 2 unless the fiction indicates otherwise; hitting 4 Risk/Effect typically means that a combatant is defeated in that moment or a task is finished.
As you can see, the roll only impacts Effect on a critical. Of course, a GM move can be as simple as -1 Effect (wrapped in the fiction, of course). But I had an alternate idea...
2d6 as normal but the player assigns one die to Risk and the other to Effect. Risk; 6 = -2 Risk, 4~5 -1 Risk, 1~3 full Risk. Effect; 6 = full Effect, 4~5 -1 Effect, 1~3 -2 Effect.
I think this would work and might implement it for playtesting in our session next week but I thought it would be valuable to ask the brilliant minds here for some feedback. My main concern is the extra operation time of assigning dice might add up over time.
Thanks for reading!