05-23-2019, 10:40 AM | #11 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Mathematics
I think that's actually the method of some one who's learned to "think with numbers." This is only loosely connected to Mathematics skill: engineers usually have it, but professional mathematicians are often much better at picking up new systems of formal logic and applying them than they are exploiting the natural numbers. I am not a mathematician, but I work with them.
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
05-23-2019, 10:42 AM | #12 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2016
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Re: Mathematics
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Thank you both!
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05-23-2019, 10:45 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Re: Mathematics
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05-23-2019, 10:47 AM | #14 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Nashville, TN
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Re: Mathematics
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I didn't realize who I was until I stopped being who I wasn't. Formerly known as Bookman- forum name changed 1/3/2018. |
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05-23-2019, 10:52 AM | #15 | |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Re: Mathematics
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If the puzzle is purely in game and there's no actual definition for it, that's when I'd look for rolls based on the characters. If the cook needs to know how many chickens to kill to make enough meat for 23 people... I'll let the player roll (either against Mathematics or the default) to see if they figure it out correctly. It doesn't matter what the right answer is... just whether the character figured it out. So, if it's a puzzle (math or not) that I found or put together that has a specific answer that could be figured out... I'll let the players do that, and there won't be any rolls at all. If it's a puzzle for the characters and the answer doesn't technically matter: I'll let the players roll. |
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05-23-2019, 11:15 AM | #16 |
Join Date: Nov 2016
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Re: Mathematics
If this is a person with very basic math knowledge, I would think the easiest is doing something like this:
O 1 2 3 04 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F G H _I J K 1 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 2 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 3 H H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 4 H H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 5 H H H H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 6 H H H H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 7 H H H H H H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 8 H H H H H H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 9 H H H H H H H H X X X X X X X X X X X X A H H H H H H H H X X X X X X X X X X X X B H H H H H H H H H H X X X X X X X X X X C H H H H H H H H H H X X X X X X X X X X D H H H H H H H H H H H H X X X X X X X X E H H H H H H H H H H H H X X X X X X X X F H H H H H H H H H H H H H H X X X X X X G H H H H H H H H H H H H H H X X X X X X H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H X X X X I H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H X X X X J H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H X X K H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H X X If you add the letters "H" per column, you get: 18 18 16 16 14 14 12 12 10 10 8 8 6 6 4 4 2 2 0 0 Which sums 180.
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05-23-2019, 11:19 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Nov 2016
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Re: Mathematics
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05-23-2019, 02:10 PM | #19 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Mathematics
In low-tech societies, it depends on how they approach arithmetic. If they have no notation at all, they may not be able to do i, unless it's simple enough for counting on their fingers. If they have nonpositional notation (like traditional Chinese numerals or Roman numerals), they can write down the answer, but doing the problem takes either the use of an abacus, or a roll vs. Mathematics (Applied). If they have positional notation, doing the calculation is no worse than an IQ roll (and I'd probably let a player get away with doing it in their head, unless their character had some mathematical disability), but figuring out how to set it up would probably be a Mathematics (Applied) roll at default.
There's more about this in GURPS Low-Tech—chapter 3, I think.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
05-23-2019, 02:12 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Mathematics
Yes. I copy edited a study of Pascal's early work on probability theory, before he published. He had the problem of figuring the odds of different dice rolls. So he said "2, 1+1, one chance; 3, 1+2, one chance; 4, 1+3 or 2+2, two chances; 5, 1+4 or 2+3, two chances. . . . " This was a really brilliant guy, but it wasn't obvious to him right away that 1+2 and 2+1 were two different ways to roll a 3.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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