More satisfying? Two nat 20s with disadvantage or a 1 followed by 20 with advantage?

[Wasp]

Just a general question:

What would you say is more satisfying? Rolling two natural 20s when you have disadvantage or rolling a 1 followed by a natural 20 when you have advantage?

And have you ever experienced one of them in-game?

[JellyPooga]

Rolling that double 20 with disadvantage is 100% awespme. Can confirm!

[J-H]

It depends: Did you roll that on your Knowledge: Nature check to identify a CR 3 creature? Or did you roll it for your attack roll when you're dueling a Death Knight on a bridge above a river of volcanic lava, with everyone in the battle in single digit HPs?

[da newt]

Rolling that double 20 with disadvantage 9 times out of 10.

But as J-H pointed out, context can make all the difference in the world, so whichever one that yields 'how do you wanna do this?' wins.

[Pex]

Double 20 on disadvantage because 1) Rolling with disadvantage makes it harder to succeed, but it's easy to forget it's only harder not impossible. Succeeding on disadvantage is already a cool thing. 2) When people roll Advantage/Disadvantage they usually roll both d20s at the same time so double 20 is immediate gratification where as while rolling a 1 and a 20 on advantage is nice, there was no physically rolling the 1 first to elate getting the 20 on the following roll.

[Gtdead]

Rolling a crit with disadvantage is a 0.25% chance. When it happens, it's a cause for celebration. It's sweeter when it's a double 20.

[stoutstien]

Imo passing or making a check/save/challenge by one is the best feeling. Something about that near miss that is oh so satisfying.

[elyktsorb]

Being a halfling and rolling a nat 20 and a nat 1 with disadvantage, then re-rolling the 1 and turning it into a 20.

[Chronos]

Rolling a 20 and a 1 with advantage is "Oh, gee, I'm glad I had advantage, there.". But really, when you're rolling with advantage, you already expect that you're probably going to succeed, and even have a decent chance for a critical success, so the outcome isn't surprising. The fact that the other die is a 1 is perhaps a bit interesting, but it doesn't actually matter.

Rolling a double-20 with disadvantage is "That. Was. Awesome." You're doing something that has an extremely small chance of success (typically, the lowest nonzero chance of success possible in the game), and succeeding on it anyway. Succeeding on something hard is made all the sweeter, the harder the success is (even if it's just based on dumb luck).

Then there's the advantage-with-two-20s, or the disadvantage-with-two-ones. Those are the situations where you say "Wow, I guess the dice gods really wanted me to succeed/fail on that one".

[Pex]

Rolling a 20 and a 1 with advantage is "Oh, gee, I'm glad I had advantage, there.". But really, when you're rolling with advantage, you already expect that you're probably going to succeed, and even have a decent chance for a critical success, so the outcome isn't surprising. The fact that the other die is a 1 is perhaps a bit interesting, but it doesn't actually matter.

Rolling a double-20 with disadvantage is "That. Was. Awesome." You're doing something that has an extremely small chance of success (typically, the lowest nonzero chance of success possible in the game), and succeeding on it anyway. Succeeding on something hard is made all the sweeter, the harder the success is (even if it's just based on dumb luck).

Then there's the advantage-with-two-20s, or the disadvantage-with-two-ones. Those are the situations where you say "Wow, I guess the dice gods really wanted me to succeed/fail on that one".

The absolute worse - rolling with Advantage and getting two 1s.

[ad_hoc]

2 20s with disadvantage.

It's going to happen so rarely and it is awesome when it does.

It is 1/400 and how many times are players rolling with disadvantage?

It happened in our current game a few sessions ago. The archer fired through a blizzard and allies (no SS in our game) at a creature wearing full plate and a shield.

That's 22 AC total with a +9 to hit so a 16% chance to hit.

In our game the extra crit damage (weapon dice only) is maximized. He rolled 20+20, rolled high on his damage roll, and took the creature down. It was an amazing moment.

[dafrca]

I think I would have to say the rolling of two natural 20s when you have disadvantage would be the greater thrill and thus more satisfying for me.

But no, I have not had such a wonderful outcome as me and dice have a... rocky... relationship at the best of times. :smallbiggrin:

[Lunali]

Two 20s by far would be more satisfying, but I have to add the closest to that I've had to date, a 1 and 20 with disadvantage and lucky available.

[Battlebooze]

Being a Halfling, trying something with disadvantage, rolling two 1's, then re-rolling them both into a pair of 20's. :)

[MoiMagnus]

I will go against the general sentiment here:
A 1 followed by a 20 is the textbook definition of satisfying as in "you made a choice [that lead you to get an advantage] and you are satisfied to be confirmed in your belief that it was the good choice".

The double 20 with disadvantage is awesome, amazing, a miracle, etc. It's generally "better". But it isn't "fulfilling" as there will always be a part of me that says that "it isn't the expected result".

And I will particularly feel that if you repeat it:
If I make 10 checks with advantage in a row, and each time obtain a "low then high", I will be very satisfied.
If I make 10 checks with disadvantage in a row, and each time obtain a "double high", then I be both very happy and feeling bad for whoever is opposed to me.

[Lunali]

I will go against the general sentiment here:
A 1 followed by a 20 is the textbook definition of satisfying as in "you made a choice [that lead you to get an advantage] and you are satisfied to be confirmed in your belief that it was the good choice".

The double 20 with disadvantage is awesome, amazing, a miracle, etc. It's generally "better". But it isn't "fulfilling" as there will always be a part of me that says that "it isn't the expected result".

Those are precisely the reasons why I feel the second is more satisfying. You make a choice to attack even though you have disadvantage and get a result that isn't expected.

[JellyPooga]

Those are precisely the reasons why I feel the second is more satisfying. You make a choice to attack even though you have disadvantage and get a result that isn't expected.

Indeed. Beating the odds is always more exciting than getting the expected outcome. To make an extreme analogy, I doubt anyone celebrates or feels satisfaction at losing the lottery, even though they expect to. Hedging your bets to improve your odds often takes away some of the excitement of winning and it's often the case that generating advantage and still failing is worse still than chancing your arm and getting the same failure.

Succeed with Advantage: Expected. Satisfying
Succeed without Advantage: Exciting.
Succeed with Disadvantage: Beat the odds. Very Exciting

Fail with Disadvantage: Expected. Not disappointing.
Fail without Advantage: A little disappointing.
Fail with Advantage. Feel cheated. Frustrating.

[Rafaelfras]

House rule on my table 2 nat 20 on advantage, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING HAPPENS. Your target dies, no matter how many hp it has, you will accomplish what you are trying to do, no matter how out there it is. Everything.
A double 1 on disadvantage is a disaster. It never happened though.
But 3 PCs and a Vilain met their fates because of a double 20

[Leon]

Rolling well with Disadvantage

[Chronos]

A double 1 on disadvantage is a disaster. It never happened though.
I remember at least once in my group. We were fighting some sort of boss monster, and had cast some sort of spell that required a saving throw. The DM rolled and said "Now remember, this thing has spell resistance", and then lifted up the DM screen to reveal a pair of d20s both showing 1s.

[Kane0]

Just a general question:

What would you say is more satisfying? Rolling two natural 20s when you have disadvantage or rolling a 1 followed by a natural 20 when you have advantage?

And have you ever experienced one of them in-game?

The former, and i've seen it happen only twice with real dice.