Project Nemesis is a fan driven website for games that use the One-Roll Engine (like Nemesis, Wild Talents, Reign and Monsters) or Chaosium's Basic Roleplay System (BRP) (like Call of Cthulhu) and the Delta Green setting.
The Area (Width X Height) can be used as a function for the overall
"Story Impact" of an action. So a character is creating a work of art.
The roll comes up with a 2x5 and a 3x4. The character could make the
higher quality artwork (2x5) or the faster art piece (3x4)... but
looking at the area you have a 10 and a 12... the 3x4 art piece would
have a bigger impact (e.g. be better recieved, fetch a higher price,
etc.) than the 2x5.
Think of three different Impact 20ishs: 4x5
2x10
3x7
The 4x5 is notorious for the speed in which it happened... the 2x10 because it was so well executed and the 3x7 because it was fast and impressive. You could factor the "biggest multiplier" into the Impact to further customize what it actually means.
Impact = Effect
0 - 12 = No real impact: This effort has no lasting effects
13 - 19 = Significant Impact: This effort has some minor lasting effect
20 - 30 = Astonishing Impact: This effort has a major lasting effect
31+ = Earth-shattering Impact: This effort has numerous major and minor effects
You could look at the effects as Reputation, Infamy, Maiming, Infection, Value, etc. The action with the biggest Impact is the one which appears on the news that evening...
Hard Dice
Hard Dice count as 10 each. You punch some guys brain out with your 4hd of Body, and yeah, that's 40. Your face is going to appear beneath the question "Are talents out of control?"
"Today on Hannity & Colmes we discuss the growing Talent Menace... so, what do you think of this footage of this... what's his name? This 'Force Multiplier' character?"
Wiggle Dice
You can use Wiggle Dice to affect the manner of Impact. A 4x10 made with 3Wd's could be pulled off with such elegance, that it would only have an Impact of 10 if you wanted to do it on the sneak.
How it works in a Delta Green/Nemesis game
Maybe it gets on the news that local police are investigating an
unexplained trail of malformed and strange bodies in the sewers, but
can't come up with a single lead as to who killed them all and where
they came from?
Sort of like an X-files moment that leaks out into the media that makes
the player grin and say, "Yeah, I'm the awesome badass who did that,
but YOU'LL never know" talking at the TV screen about their latest
mission involving a pack of ghouls.
