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Skarg · 01-05-2018, 11:53 PM

While Steve is correct about the steeper curve with more dice, what more dice do add is more range of possible values. With higher possible values, it extends the potential risk higher than the average adjustment is.

So for example, if your GM converts all 5-die rolls to 3-die rolls with a -7 modifier, the average point may be equivalent, but if someone has a DX of 22, that makes a 15, and 16+ (a 4.6% chance) is an auto-miss or worse anyway, so the -7 has no effect on anything. But with 5d6, the roll can be up to 30, and the chance of rolling over 22 is 9.8%.

That's more significant the more extreme the characters' stats get. If the experience system somehow makes really-high-stat characters much less likely, it could be less important (and things in general would probably work better.)

Another thing to keep in mind for this is the spotting roll rules in ITL, where nothing can be impossible to spot, but there are talents that can shave multiple dice off the difficulty roll, which it seems to me is pretty well modeled by a large pile of dice, since it gives you a LOT of precision for really-unlikely things that don't get overpowered by high stats. On the other hand, it also means rolling a ton of dice, and if the GM wants to not give away that's what he's doing (which he should), he would need to either cleverly roll them three at a time, or occasionally make decoy rolls of a pile of dice when there's nothing interesting. ;-)

01-05-2018, 11:53 PM	#108
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: The Fantasy Trip While Steve is correct about the steeper curve with more dice, what more dice do add is more range of possible values. With higher possible values, it extends the potential risk higher than the average adjustment is. So for example, if your GM converts all 5-die rolls to 3-die rolls with a -7 modifier, the average point may be equivalent, but if someone has a DX of 22, that makes a 15, and 16+ (a 4.6% chance) is an auto-miss or worse anyway, so the -7 has no effect on anything. But with 5d6, the roll can be up to 30, and the chance of rolling over 22 is 9.8%. That's more significant the more extreme the characters' stats get. If the experience system somehow makes really-high-stat characters much less likely, it could be less important (and things in general would probably work better.) Another thing to keep in mind for this is the spotting roll rules in ITL, where nothing can be impossible to spot, but there are talents that can shave multiple dice off the difficulty roll, which it seems to me is pretty well modeled by a large pile of dice, since it gives you a LOT of precision for really-unlikely things that don't get overpowered by high stats. On the other hand, it also means rolling a ton of dice, and if the GM wants to not give away that's what he's doing (which he should), he would need to either cleverly roll them three at a time, or occasionally make decoy rolls of a pile of dice when there's nothing interesting. ;-)