Dropping negative numbers in FUDGE/FATE

(It seems I'm on a FUDGE vibe)

When playing FUDGE, I've heard many players complain about the negative numbers. Being used to roll natural numbers all their lives, the idea of having a Mediocre (-1) skill and roll -2 on the die was inconceivable. I know, it is simple to add negative numbers, but somehow they considered that to be unnatural and against the laws of the universe.

The alternative? Upscaling the numbers. It'll be the same system and it'll address their complaints.

First of all, you should use 4d3 instead 4dF. This will ensure you'll roll something from 4 to 12. If you prefer some alternative rolling method--keep reading.

The Attributes and Skills now are changed too. The new ladder is:

Terrible (1) - Poor (2) - Mediocre (3) - Fair (4) - Good (5) - Great (6) - Superb (7)

If you look closer, that means the new ladder is the same as the old, but with 4 added to each step.

Having considered that, the next step is to determine Target Numbers. Since the old zero roll is now equal to 8, a Fairly skilled hero would need 8 on the dice to succeed on a Fair task. Fair skill (4) + 8 (rolled) = 12. The other numbers can be extrapolated from this, as below:

Difficult	Target Number
Superb	15
Great	14
Good	13
Fair	12
Mediocre	11
Poor	10
Terrible	9

Simple? Yes.

But what about using the 3d6 drop mid method I explained yesterday (or any method that gives you a -5 to +5 result)? It's just a matter of changing the target numbers...

Yesterday I told you to roll 3d6, drop the middle die, and subtract 7. That would give you a -5 to +5 result. Now we won't subtract anything, having a result from 2 to 12.

(Trait + 3d6, drop mid) is now the main mechanic. A Fair result on the dice will be a 7 now, so a Fairly skilled (4) hero would need to roll a 7 to succeed on a Fair task, as below:

Difficult	Target Number
Superb	14
Great	13
Good	12
Fair	11
Mediocre	10
Poor	9
Terrible	8

Yet, let me tell you this: once you are used with this, there's the risk of dropping the adjectives and using only the numbers...