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View Full Version : Pc Rolling Vs DM Rolling (3.5)



Falrin
2009-12-16, 10:38 AM
It’s a simple premise.

- Players like to roll themselves.
- Dm’s are, especially in big battles, drowning in an overload of rolls, questions and information.

So it would be possibly beneficial to turn some of the DM rolls over to the Player, following a basic principle;

Roll attack + Bonus Vs AC + 10
=
Roll AC + Bonus Vs Attack +10

Statistically, it’s a match.


And we have some prime candidates;

1- Saves.

This is the big one I’m aiming for. Instead of declaring ‘I cast Dominate Monster’, you get to actually roll your d20 Vs the monsters Will Safe. And this goes for many abilities.


2- AC.

This one appeals less to me, as I feel this would shift to much on the players.


I don’t see any other contestants at the moment, but maybe you do. Problems may arise with area of effect spells, but I don't see an elegant way out of it besides excluding them.

Any thoughts?

Emmerask
2009-12-16, 10:45 AM
The ac rolls are actually a variant rule in unearthed arcana :smallbiggrin:
the self saving throw roll seems a good idea though

Duke of URL
2009-12-16, 10:47 AM
See Players Roll All The Dice (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/playersRollAllTheDice.htm), open content from unearthed Arcana.

It covers attack/defend, saves, and spell resistance.

In a similar vein, opposed checks can be made as DC 11 + opponent's modifiers rather than both sides rolling a d20.

Sliver
2009-12-16, 10:48 AM
This is a pretty common fix when DMs decide they want to roll less..

Sir.Swindle
2009-12-16, 10:54 AM
4th Ed. did some of that.

Any time you are on the offensive you roll, defenses are always static. Makes sense to have it just one way or the other.

hewhosaysfish
2009-12-16, 11:00 AM
Players roll all the dice? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/playersRollAllTheDice.htm)

EDIT Too slow!

Saph
2009-12-16, 11:17 AM
I played in a short campaign which we did the "Players Roll All The Dice" thing.

It was okay, but in the end we decided that having the roll method vary depending on whether the guy doing the action was a PC or not was a bit confusing.

Besides, DMs like to roll dice too. :)

Person_Man
2009-12-16, 11:51 AM
I allow my players to roll all of the dice. I've found that it makes the game much more fun for them, and removes the specter of DM cheating. And there's really no reason to use any houserules or UA variants. If a monster is attacking them, they just roll the attacks and/or Saves (and obviously want to roll low).

Eldariel
2009-12-16, 11:54 AM
One thing about rolling though is that it actually has a mechanical impact; generally the character rolling the dice is the one that's able to apply one-time bonuses (think True Strike/Moment of Prescience/Luck rerolls/Action Points/whatever) to the die rolls.

So it's actually very advantageous for the players to do this; something to keep in mind. Suddenly they can reroll/improve ANYTHING. This at least improves all open-ended "redo X"-abilities.

Sleepingbear
2009-12-16, 11:56 AM
Besides, DMs like to roll dice too. :)

Yes. Absolutely this. :)

Ernir
2009-12-16, 12:12 PM
I use PRAtD in one of my games, and I'd say it works great. Suddenly, players have something to do even out-of turn.
And now it's obviously not my fault when they get a crit to the face. :smalltongue:

I am also playing in a game where it does nothing but cause confusion. Your milage...


generally the character rolling the dice is the one that's able to apply one-time bonuses (think True Strike/Moment of Prescience/Luck rerolls/Action Points/whatever) to the die rolls.
I houserule that particular mechanical impact away.

I have not run into NPC rerolls yet, but if it were to happen, I'd just tell the player that the NPC enforced a reroll.

Devils_Advocate
2009-12-16, 12:22 PM
As a third option, you could turn every attack into an opposed roll if everyone in your gaming group likes rolling dice a lot.

That changes the statistics involved, though.