D&d without bell curves: too chaotic?

[Rainbownaga]

I recently found myself deprived of my usual collection of dice, only having a basic set of one of each type.

I was wondering how well the game would work if you interpreted xdy as "roll dy and multiply by x" instead of the usual "roll x dy's and add".

[imanidiot]

I recently found myself deprived of my usual collection of dice, only having a basic set of one of each type.

I was wondering how well the game would work if you interpreted xdy as "roll dy and multiply by x" instead of the usual "roll x dy's and add".

It works well enough if you just assume half rounded up like Hp (3 for d4, 6 for d10, etc) and only worry qbout rolling d20s. It's not ideal but it works.

[Steampunkette]

It'll work just fine. Though it'll make low-damage rolls feel that much more piddly and high damage rolls feel overwhelming.

[Ruebin Rybnik]

For the reason that Steampunketten stated is why this doesn't feel liked a really good option. Without just purchasing some new dice you have a few options. Depending on the superstition and rapore with you fellow players you could borrow the needed die on your turn. There is a new player in one of my groups who did not have dice at all, and he borrowed on his turn without to much problem.

Second option would be to get a physics based dice app. I personally don't like number generators, but the apps where you shake your phone to roll the dice have a more authentic feel.

Last choice is kind of situational depending on where you are. See if there are any board games around that you could snag some dice from to play with. I am currently away from home on a long business trip and have found d6's, d8's, and d10's in an assortment of games that i play with. No d20 but i just use an app for that one.

[Steampunkette]

Or just keep rolling the die and adding the mounting value as you go.

It takes longer, but can also be more dramatic. Especially when others don't know how many times you'll be rolling.

Alternatively you could do damage through value dice. If you need to roll 3d6, throw a d6 and a d12. 4d6? D12, d8, d4. Same maximum value, different distribution. When you get up into 8d6 you can roll the same fistful twice or start using the d20 in the damage roll.

If you go value based, remember to break down damage rolls by damage type. It'll add another roll, but it'll make it easier to divide damage types for resistances and stealthily allow you to use smaller dice groupings rather than running out of dice so quickly.

[Armored Walrus]

I think if you're the only one doing it in the group, and are doing it temporarily, you may not really notice the difference. (except maybe a couple max damage rolls that result in overkill, and a couple min damage rolls that are going to make you cry) However, if the whole group were going it, permanently, I think your DM would definitely notice the combat getting a lot more swingy, and would have a harder time planning encounters.

Not to mention the fact that there are a handful of feats that would be nullified by this.

[Anymage]

Since d6s are coincidentally the most common sort of dice to roll fistfuls of, just raid a couple of old board games.

Doubling the results of a few dice here or there won't break anything. But 1d6x10 fireballs will feel notably different from 10d6 fireballs.

[jas61292]

It really depends on what you are rolling. Weapon attacks and the occasional low level spell won't see anything too major, but when you get into spells with a lot of dice, things get thrown out of whack. To use the ever popular Fireball as as example, normaly you have a greater than 90% chance of doing between 20 and 36 damage. With this method of rolling, only 2 of the 6 possible results are in this range. Also, when it comes to min (8) or max (48) damage, normally you have a whopping .00006% chance of getting either. With this, you would hit those 1/6 of the time (16.67%). This means your spell is both far more likely to straight up end a battle, and fast more likely to be utterly pathetic and a waste of a slot. The more dice you add, the worse this gets.

So honestly I'd only really recommend doing this for a fighter or barbarian or the like, and not anyone that frequently has multiple die attacks.

[Rainbownaga]

Thanks for all the advice. It's still tempting to run a game like this in a "magic is chaotic" setting, but It does sound like it has the same drawbacks of the oldschool "SoD's", so it is probably worth tracking down some dice after all.



Not to mention the fact that there are a handful of feats that would be nullified by this.

Which feats were you thinking? I can't think of any offhand.

It would make elemental mastery a fair bit more powerful (same average effect, but more visible and more "when needed").