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Old 11-04-2024, 06:08 AM   #1
EKB
 
Join Date: May 2024
Default Reaction Rolls

My reaction-roll house rules:

Roll 1 die to determine a non-player-character’s reaction to a character or situation: A roll of ‘6’ indicates that the NPC is as friendly and helpful as is reasonable under the circumstances, a ‘5’ is friendly but not maximally so, a ‘4’ is neutral leaning toward friendly, a ‘3’ is neutral leaning toward unfriendly, a ‘2’ is unfriendly but not maximally so, and a roll of ‘1’ indicates that the NPC is as hostile and unhelpful as is reasonable under the circumstances.

Note that “reasonable under the circumstances” is situation dependent. In some situations, for example, “the NPC attempts to take the PC prisoner” may be the most hostile reasonable result, and in others it may actually be the most friendly and helpful reasonable result.

Reaction modifiers increase the number of dice rolled. If the net modifier is positive, roll a number of extra dice equal to the modifier and use the result of the highest rolling die. For example, if a character has a +1 reaction modifier, then roll one extra die (two dice total) and use the higher of the two dice rolled. If the net modifier is negative, then roll one extra die for each 1 modifier but use the lowest rolling die. For example, if the net modifier is -2 then roll two extra dice (three dice total) and use the lowest-rolling die of the three dice rolled.
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Old 11-04-2024, 12:28 PM   #2
Bill_in_IN
 
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: Indiana
Default Re: Reaction Rolls

Quote:
Originally Posted by EKB View Post
My reaction-roll house rules:

Roll 1 die to determine a non-player-character’s reaction to a character or situation: A roll of ‘6’ indicates that the NPC is as friendly and helpful as is reasonable under the circumstances, a ‘5’ is friendly but not maximally so, a ‘4’ is neutral leaning toward friendly, a ‘3’ is neutral leaning toward unfriendly, a ‘2’ is unfriendly but not maximally so, and a roll of ‘1’ indicates that the NPC is as hostile and unhelpful as is reasonable under the circumstances.

Note that “reasonable under the circumstances” is situation dependent. In some situations, for example, “the NPC attempts to take the PC prisoner” may be the most hostile reasonable result, and in others it may actually be the most friendly and helpful reasonable result.

Reaction modifiers increase the number of dice rolled. If the net modifier is positive, roll a number of extra dice equal to the modifier and use the result of the highest rolling die. For example, if a character has a +1 reaction modifier, then roll one extra die (two dice total) and use the higher of the two dice rolled. If the net modifier is negative, then roll one extra die for each 1 modifier but use the lowest rolling die. For example, if the net modifier is -2 then roll two extra dice (three dice total) and use the lowest-rolling die of the three dice rolled.
I've not really run into situations where I needed add dice to the reaction roll as you have. I've stuck with the + and - modifiers limited to three and it has worked well thus far.

By adding dice per the number of modifiers and taking the lowest or highest roll, it appears that you have increased the probability of the positive or negative modification to occur. The determination of impact of the change would be comparing the probabilities positive, negative, and neutral results using the one die with modifiers or the multiple die rolls that you have house ruled.
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Old 11-04-2024, 03:57 PM   #3
Shostak
 
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Default Re: Reaction Rolls

I think the result of this house rule is that bonuses make it easier to get a reaction that skews toward favorable, and easier to get a one that skews negative if applying a penalty.
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Old 11-05-2024, 12:44 AM   #4
EKB
 
Join Date: May 2024
Default Re: Reaction Rolls

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Originally Posted by Shostak View Post
I think the result of this house rule is that bonuses make it easier to get a reaction that skews toward favorable, and easier to get a one that skews negative if applying a penalty.
A positive modifier gives you a better chance of getting a 4 or 5 with my house rule, but also a chance of getting a 1, something that the standard rule eliminates as a possibility.

And my house rule also gives a reduced chance of a 6 with positive modifier, compared to the standard rule

chance of a 6:
+1 mod: standard 0.333; house-rule 0.306
+2 mod: standard 0.5; house-rule 0.421
+3 mod; standard 0.667; house-rule 0.518

Finally, there's the way my intuition keeps rebelling at the idea of "5+2 = 6" when rolling a reaction. YMMV, but my intuition insists that a reaction roll of 7 or 8 on a d6, due to a +2 modifier, really really ought to have meaning other than just "same as a 6." So the purpose of my house rule is to keep the result from exceeding 6, even with a reaction bonus, as well as to keep alive the possibility of a 1, despite a bonus.
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