One of the most commonly suggested modifications to d20 is to use 2d10 or 3d6 instead of 1d20 for task resolution. On the face of it, this seems quite reasonable. Certainly, it doesn't break the game.
However, this modification fails to take into account the fact that d20 isn't particularly random in the first place. Once you go above the low levels, the modifiers used by characters are so high that they dwarf the 1d20 roll in importance. Therefore, characters perform fairly consistently in most conditions anyway. (The main exception is combat, which should be fairly random anyway) Additionally, for most tasks, characters can be expected to take 10 or take 20, which is totally non-random.
Children of the Sun makes very good use of random and non-random elements in action resolution with its skill/attribute mix. PCs have to trade-off boosting their skills, which consistently adds to their totals, or boosting attributes, which can have a huge benefit, but is much less certain. Of course, after about 3d in any attribute, it's always better to boost your skills (except for the losing dice with each action thing).
Again, I don't think I really have a point here. Just making an observation.
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