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7 months ago ::
Nov 27, 2012 - 8:05PM
#11
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Date Joined:
Jul 12, 2008
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To work out how 3d6+modifier works in play, don't pay attention to the chance to hit a particular DC. Pay attention to the chance to roll at or over a given DC.
Graph it beside the chance that 1d20+modifier has to roll at or over a given DC.
When you look at the chance to hit a DC, these two curves look way different. When you look at the chance to roll at or over a DC, they start looking really similar after a simple rescaling.
Take 3d6+modifier vs 10+modifier, and compare it to 1d20+modifier*1.7 vs 10+modifier*1.7. The difference between these two is nearly impossible to detect in actual play. Or 2d10+modifier vs 10+modifier against 1d20+modifier*1.4 vs 10+modifier*1.4. Or 1d10+5+modifier vs 10+modifier compared to 1d20+modifier*2 vs 10+modifier*2.
Almost the only thing that changing the dice you add up does is change the average and the standard deviation, plus maybe change how the crit miss/hit mechanics work, and they scale how "important" each +1 to DC and +1 to roll is.
You can continue playing 1d20 D&D and just double every modifier to d20 rolls, and double every static bonus to DCs away from 10, and you'll get a game that is less swingy (and more predictable) than standard D&D. The bell curve of 3d6 is a red herring.
But you don't have to trust me -- just graph the chance that 3d6 rolls at-or-over a given value, then scale it horizontally by sqrt(3) (with 10.5 fixed), and compare it to the bog-boring d20 rolling at-or-under a given value.
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7 months ago ::
Nov 27, 2012 - 9:02PM
#12
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Why is this thread in the Dungeon Master Playtest Forum?
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7 months ago ::
Nov 27, 2012 - 10:01PM
#13
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Date Joined:
May 24, 2012
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because it's from a long time DM looking for thoughts from other DMs and there was no place in the D&D Next Forums for "Proposed Rules"... but if one of the Moderators feel it belongs under General discussion or somewhere else, so be it. And it's an Optional idea to cut down the wild variation of a straight d20 while also creating a few other options for resolving actions quickly in the game to keep the action moving.
-UrielApeiron wrote: "There's no such thing as hot or cold dice. Luck is imaginary. Poorly made or loaded dice will skew results. Get some Game Science dice." I've played this game for 30 years and have seen some really bad rolling streaks even with Game Science dice (see OP in which I specifically name them). Luck may be imaginary but sometimes really bad rolling streaks are a reality, sadly.
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7 months ago ::
Nov 28, 2012 - 8:20AM
#14
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Date Joined:
Nov 18, 2007
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I've played this game for 30 years and have seen some really bad rolling streaks even with Game Science dice (see OP in which I specifically name them). Luck may be imaginary but sometimes really bad rolling streaks are a reality, sadly.
I'd love to see a dice system that gives a bonus/penalty to the success/fail roll and a balancing bonus/penalty to the degree of success and failure based on streaks. The more successes you get in a row, the more confident you are and the more amazing your successes become... but also the more likely that hubris will strike you down with huge failures. The more failures you get in a row, the more humble you become and so your degree of failure (and first, tentative successes) decreases, but your caution makes it all the more probable that you will be successful.
Of course, this could produce its own sort of disparity. Rather than one player having streaks of bad luck and another player having streaks of good luck, you could get one player having streaks of mildness while another player has streaks of cinematics. But I think even this could be adjusted by applying the bonuses and penalties to the succes/fail roll in a nonlinear fashion. And maybe you could remove a bonus or penalty more quickly than you added it. For instance, maybe the first instance of a humble success or hubristic failure takes you right back to normal immediately. There are a lot of variables here that could be manipulated to produce the desired flow of play.
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