Question about Luck advantage: Do you re-roll all three dice?

penthrift · 06-20-2012, 12:40 PM

The Luck advantage lets you "reroll a single bad die roll twice and take the best of the three rolls!".

I was looking at this page with probabilities of success with 3d6 in GURPS, and they provide a special table for Luck rolls at the bottom. I did my own analysis and the values they list match what you get if you're allowed to reroll all three dice.

My intuitive interpretation of "a single bad die roll" is the roll of one die, not all three. But...

The GURPS basic set never explicitly defines "die roll", but does define a "success roll" to be a type of "die roll", and that a success roll involves three dice. This suggests that the "single roll" referred to by the Luck advantage includes all the dice used for a particular roll, and not only a single die.

Which is the correct interpretation? Is it all the dice included in a roll (e.g., all three for a standard success roll), or is it just one die involved in the roll, no matter how many dice are used?

Edges · 06-20-2012, 12:44 PM

You roll all three dice again. Then you roll all three a third time. Then you take the best of the three results.

Kuroshima · 06-20-2012, 12:46 PM

Luck can also be used on Damage rolls, that can be 1d to infinity, and you reroll all dice in all cases. That's why the number of dice isn't stated.

penthrift · 06-20-2012, 12:58 PM

Thank you both, Edges and Kuroshima. This answers all my questions.

Anaraxes · 06-20-2012, 01:00 PM

Very few English speakers say "dice roll", even if that's technically correct.

You do, however, hear "roll of the dice".

If I were editing, I'd try to Dodge the problem by just using the term "roll", dropping the adjective "die" or "dice". (I get an extra bonus from a Dodge and Drop.)

Refplace · 06-20-2012, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Very few English speakers say "dice roll", even if that's technically correct.

You do, however, hear "roll of the dice".

If I were editing, I'd try to Dodge the problem by just using the term "roll", dropping the adjective "die" or "dice". (I get an extra bonus from a Dodge and Drop.)

The editor is Canadian and in my (admittedly limited) experience the average Canadian (Dutch too) speak and write better English then the average American.
Just saying.

Dwarf99 · 06-20-2012, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Refplace

The editor is Canadian and in my (admittedly limited) experience the average Canadian (Dutch too) speak and write better English then the average American.
Just saying.

I like to believe that it is more "different" than better.

RyanW · 06-20-2012, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwarf99

I like to believe that it is more "different" than better.

Yeah. We talk English good here.

Dwarf99 · 06-20-2012, 06:35 PM

What I mean is that while the average citizen of a given country may not individually have the best grammar, the grammar itself by way of being different is merely different rather than better.

Refplace · 06-20-2012, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwarf99

What I mean is that while the average citizen of a given country may not individually have the best grammar, the grammar itself by way of being different is merely different rather than better.

Having worked years in the customer service industry I'll have to say that is not the type of thing I was talking about.

06-20-2012, 12:40 PM	#1
penthrift Join Date: Jun 2012	Question about Luck advantage: Do you re-roll all three dice? The Luck advantage lets you "reroll a single bad die roll twice and take the best of the three rolls!". I was looking at this page with probabilities of success with 3d6 in GURPS, and they provide a special table for Luck rolls at the bottom. I did my own analysis and the values they list match what you get if you're allowed to reroll all three dice. My intuitive interpretation of "a single bad die roll" is the roll of one die, not all three. But... The GURPS basic set never explicitly defines "die roll", but does define a "success roll" to be a type of "die roll", and that a success roll involves three dice. This suggests that the "single roll" referred to by the Luck advantage includes all the dice used for a particular roll, and not only a single die. Which is the correct interpretation? Is it all the dice included in a roll (e.g., all three for a standard success roll), or is it just one die involved in the roll, no matter how many dice are used?

06-20-2012, 12:44 PM	#2
Edges Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: GMT-5	Re: Question about Luck advantage: Do you re-roll all three dice? You roll all three dice again. Then you roll all three a third time. Then you take the best of the three results.

06-20-2012, 12:46 PM	#3
Kuroshima MIB Pyramid Contributor Mad Spaniard Rules Lawyer Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: The ASS of the world, mainly Valencia, Spain (Europe)	Re: Question about Luck advantage: Do you re-roll all three dice? Luck can also be used on Damage rolls, that can be 1d to infinity, and you reroll all dice in all cases. That's why the number of dice isn't stated. __________________ Antoni Ten MIB3119 My GURPs character sheet My stuff on e23

06-20-2012, 12:58 PM	#4
penthrift Join Date: Jun 2012	Re: Question about Luck advantage: Do you re-roll all three dice? Thank you both, Edges and Kuroshima. This answers all my questions.

06-20-2012, 01:00 PM	#5
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Question about Luck advantage: Do you re-roll all three dice? Very few English speakers say "dice roll", even if that's technically correct. You do, however, hear "roll of the dice". If I were editing, I'd try to Dodge the problem by just using the term "roll", dropping the adjective "die" or "dice". (I get an extra bonus from a Dodge and Drop.)