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i'm gettin too old for this poo poo
big fuckin deal
ok boomer
what the hell is going on here?
i hosed ur grandmother
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hot cocoa on the couch
Dec 8, 2009

Valko posted:

Level 8 fireball. I don't think it matters if you are rolling 6 8's or 8 6's.

I see this thread every year and it reminds me that my birthday is only a week later.

it absolutely matters. because you're rolling more dice for 8d6, it results in a wider spread of values since the min is lower and the total number of different outcomes is more. with 6d8, which has a peakier curve, you're more likely to get a result somewhere around the median. think about it this way: if you could choose to roll 24d2, or 2d24, which would you prefer to roll? both maximums are the same but the distribution is very different

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hot cocoa on the couch
Dec 8, 2009

forgot what thread i was in

hot cocoa on the couch
Dec 8, 2009

Inexplicable Humblebrag posted:

the minimum roll for 8d6 (8) is larger than the minimum for 6d8 (6), op.

yep you're right. i was probably "on one" as they say, last even. anyway, point stands, distribution is different and youd probably prefer one over the other if you want to deal reliable damage, even thoug hthe maximums are the same

hot cocoa on the couch
Dec 8, 2009

btw dee eight can GO TO HELL and also i voted this thread a 2!!!!!!!!!

hot cocoa on the couch
Dec 8, 2009

poo poo like thac0 is so 80s game design it rules. actually it's bad but it's fun to think about how game designers arrived at it. like a lot of 80s game design, a lot of thought process was put into the end result being high fidelity (as they saw it), so you get these twisted permutations of mathematical functions that don't make any sense to execute, in search of a specific distribution of results along a power or leveling curve. in the end, very little effort is made to have the game mechanics be intuitive or staightforward, so long as the desired result was attained. the philosophy of results over process is also seen in the ludicrous amount of chart look ups required, and cross referencing. doing all this little poo poo was so tedious but the "precision" was seen to deliver a highly specific result. in the end we now know that you can instead use a simple mechanism and a mixture of dice size, volume and combinations to affect a desired outcome, all while still being easy to understand and easy to link conceptually with the uncertainty of the task trying to be simulated by the randomness of dice

another good example of this that i love to hate on becasue the rules are basically unchanged since the original edition in the 80s is battletech. hope you fcuking love table look ups and doing hundreds of single digit additions on dice rolsl every game because thats what it asks of you. especially if you're playing a game where both sides have a bunch of LRMs and ACs and then also targeting computers and artemis and poo poo. the whole system is so algorithmic it begs to be automated. and in fact it has been, to the point where you can use a tablet as an assistant to do all the table look ups and dice rolling for you, because otherwise it's a nightmare. i can only imagine the kind of insanity d&d would have got up to with poo poo lik thac0 if the same brain geniuses were allowed to continue down that line of thinking rather than streamlining into the d20 system of today

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hot cocoa on the couch
Dec 8, 2009

Tarquinn posted:

It fits in very well. Thanks for asking!

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