For those not in the know, Wyrmwood plans to make a run of special "High Variance" dice for the go big or go home campaign moments. Same theory as the special character dice in Mario Party, but The numbering will be as follows:
I get the idea and I love rolling 10 on my EB as much as anybody but I feel like the increased low numbers will actually make it feel bad on average. Especially on attack rolls I feel like 10's and 12's and whatnot actually result in a reasonable number of hits, like i feel the D20 at least might end up being worse for some characters.
If you need to roll an 11 or better to hit an AC - it's 50% to hit - and the "high variance" d20 will be 50% too. But if you need to roll a 16 or better - it's 25% chance to hit on a normal dice but on the high variance die it's 45% to hit. It's statistically better than a normal die. If you need to roll a 7 or better then it goes from a normal 70% to hit to a 50% chance to hit. So it's statistically worse.
In summary it's better for players going against high DCs (because it makes them more likely to succeed) but worse against low DCs (because it makes them less likely to succeed).
The problem is that I feel the higher DCs will be more common so the high-variance die will mean better results across the board. Just because the average is the same doesn't mean the results will be - because DCs require specific rolls or better to succeed and the high-variance dice shift that balance.
It's an interesting gimmick but I wouldn't allow them (Edit: for normal play).
I'd allow them for fun, or for an evening or a one-shot or something (and I would use them for the NPCs/Monsters as well -- either everyone gets to use them or no one does). But I would not allow them in normal play.
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Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Doesn't it really work only for single dice? Rolling 1d6 this way could be fun, but rolling 4d6 wouldn't make that much difference.
Another issue with the d20 is the additional numbers of natural 20's that will be rolled on attack rolls. Nat 20's is not balanced really well with nat 1's. Since it would apply to both PC's and adversaries, it would basically mean that they both roll more natural 20's and deal more damage. It would however make combats against a single foe slightly easier since this d20 will "not favor" the side in the battle who rolls most d20's.
The problems don't stop with hitting DCs on single die rolls. Advantage suppresses the lowest rolls and emphasizes the highest rolls, which makes the outcomes even more extreme with the high variance dice. A character with the Elven Accuracy feat (roll 3d20 instead of 2d20 with advantage) suddenly has a 38.6% chance of rolling a 20 on any given attack, which is absurd for Paladins or any character with a Vorpal Sword.
Any mechanic that works off of specific numbers on the die is going to be affected too because those rules assume every number is equally likely. If you have the Great Weapon Fighting fighting style and use the high variance die with a greatsword, not only is your average damage higher than it would be with fair dice, you have a 50% chance of rolling an 11 or 12. Likewise, the high variance dice drastically mess with the new psionic-themed UA which shrinks or enlarges your Psionic Talent die when you roll the minimum or maximum number.
In short, the problem with these dice is that the average of a die roll rarely matters so the fact that these dice have the same average roll is almost always irrelevant. Just about the only time they'd give you sensible results is if you're rolling a bunch of damage dice (e.g. for Fireball) and you don't have any features that replace specific numbers (e.g. the Elemental Adept feat.)
It seems like it would make bonuses matter less, bringing everything closer to a 50/50 roll. For example, if I need to hit DC15...
With normal dice: with no bonus, I've got a 30% chance of hitting that. With a +4 bonus, I've got a 50% chance of hitting that. With a +8 bonus, I've got a 70% chance of making the roll.
With these dice: With no bonus, I've got a 50% chance to hit DC15. With a +4 bonus... I've still got a 50% chance of making the roll. With a +8 bonus... I've STILL got the SAME damn 50% chance!
I’m pretty late to this thread, but I have to say, I’m very curious about the d10000 table. What’s it for? And is there any way you could share at least a part of it? Thanks
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So wyrmwood is going to make them. Is this cheating or more fun what's your opinion?
For those not in the know, Wyrmwood plans to make a run of special "High Variance" dice for the go big or go home campaign moments. Same theory as the special character dice in Mario Party, but The numbering will be as follows:
I get the idea and I love rolling 10 on my EB as much as anybody but I feel like the increased low numbers will actually make it feel bad on average. Especially on attack rolls I feel like 10's and 12's and whatnot actually result in a reasonable number of hits, like i feel the D20 at least might end up being worse for some characters.
Yea the D20 will cause problems.
If you need to roll an 11 or better to hit an AC - it's 50% to hit - and the "high variance" d20 will be 50% too. But if you need to roll a 16 or better - it's 25% chance to hit on a normal dice but on the high variance die it's 45% to hit. It's statistically better than a normal die. If you need to roll a 7 or better then it goes from a normal 70% to hit to a 50% chance to hit. So it's statistically worse.
In summary it's better for players going against high DCs (because it makes them more likely to succeed) but worse against low DCs (because it makes them less likely to succeed).
The problem is that I feel the higher DCs will be more common so the high-variance die will mean better results across the board. Just because the average is the same doesn't mean the results will be - because DCs require specific rolls or better to succeed and the high-variance dice shift that balance.
It's an interesting gimmick but I wouldn't allow them (Edit: for normal play).
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I'd allow them for fun, or for an evening or a one-shot or something (and I would use them for the NPCs/Monsters as well -- either everyone gets to use them or no one does). But I would not allow them in normal play.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I like the idea, but...
Doesn't it really work only for single dice? Rolling 1d6 this way could be fun, but rolling 4d6 wouldn't make that much difference.
Another issue with the d20 is the additional numbers of natural 20's that will be rolled on attack rolls. Nat 20's is not balanced really well with nat 1's. Since it would apply to both PC's and adversaries, it would basically mean that they both roll more natural 20's and deal more damage. It would however make combats against a single foe slightly easier since this d20 will "not favor" the side in the battle who rolls most d20's.
Ludo ergo sum!
The problems don't stop with hitting DCs on single die rolls. Advantage suppresses the lowest rolls and emphasizes the highest rolls, which makes the outcomes even more extreme with the high variance dice. A character with the Elven Accuracy feat (roll 3d20 instead of 2d20 with advantage) suddenly has a 38.6% chance of rolling a 20 on any given attack, which is absurd for Paladins or any character with a Vorpal Sword.
Any mechanic that works off of specific numbers on the die is going to be affected too because those rules assume every number is equally likely. If you have the Great Weapon Fighting fighting style and use the high variance die with a greatsword, not only is your average damage higher than it would be with fair dice, you have a 50% chance of rolling an 11 or 12. Likewise, the high variance dice drastically mess with the new psionic-themed UA which shrinks or enlarges your Psionic Talent die when you roll the minimum or maximum number.
In short, the problem with these dice is that the average of a die roll rarely matters so the fact that these dice have the same average roll is almost always irrelevant. Just about the only time they'd give you sensible results is if you're rolling a bunch of damage dice (e.g. for Fireball) and you don't have any features that replace specific numbers (e.g. the Elemental Adept feat.)
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Kind of a neat idea but I don't care for it myself. I use critical hits AND critical fumbles and that would cause a lot more of both on a d20
But this is from the DM that has a table that uses a d10000 roll
It seems like it would make bonuses matter less, bringing everything closer to a 50/50 roll. For example, if I need to hit DC15...
With normal dice: with no bonus, I've got a 30% chance of hitting that. With a +4 bonus, I've got a 50% chance of hitting that. With a +8 bonus, I've got a 70% chance of making the roll.
With these dice: With no bonus, I've got a 50% chance to hit DC15. With a +4 bonus... I've still got a 50% chance of making the roll. With a +8 bonus... I've STILL got the SAME damn 50% chance!
I’m pretty late to this thread, but I have to say, I’m very curious about the d10000 table. What’s it for? And is there any way you could share at least a part of it? Thanks