Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Rolls

[prestidigitator]

I often have a problem with larger attacks having a reduced standard deviation (a narrower distribution). I have thought of this optional method for producing (almost) the same distribution for all damage and effect rolls.

 

Instead of rolling the number of dice indicated by the size of the attack or other Power, roll a set number of dice, and consider each of them to be multiple rolls. This fixed number may be chosen once per campaign, the GM may allow each player to choose, or it could be chosen differently for different types of attacks (e.g. 2 dice for effect rolls, 3 dice for Normal Attacks and most Killing Attacks, and 1 die for firearms).

 

I will use X to denote this fixed number of dice throughout the rest of this post, and N to be the size of the attack (the number of dice you would normally roll if not using this method). All of my actual examples will use X=3 actual dice, because I favor this number, but you could use 2 dice, 4 dice, or even the trivial 1 die (which will result in a completely flat distribution).

 

• If N is evenly divisible by X, simply have each actual rolled die count for N/X rolls.
  
  Example: If you have a 12d6 attack and you roll 3 dice which result in rolls of {2, 4, 5}, simply treat this as {2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5}, as if each die result had come up 4 times.

  
  

• If N is not evenly divisible by X, take the next number smaller than N that is--call it M--and have each actual rolled die count for M/X rolls. For the remainder N-M rolls, you have two choices:
  
  1. Take the average of all the dice and use this result for all remaining N-M rolls. This has the advantages of preserving the shape of the distribution and not requiring unique dice. The disadvantage is that it requires some math to compute the average (and possibly a rounding choice).
     
     Example: If you have a 10.5d6 attack and you roll 3 dice which result in rolls of {1, 4, 3}, simply treat this as {1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3}, plus an averaged d6 roll of (1+4+3)/3~=3 for the extra 1.5d6: {3, 3/2=2}.

     
     

  2. Assign a priority to each die, and assign extra results to them in order; so die #1 gets the first extra roll, die #2 gets the second, etc. Any extra half-d6 should be assigned last. This has the advantages of requiring less math and requiring fewer dice for very small attacks (N less than X), but it changes (flattens) the shape of the distribution and requires unique dice unless you decide on another means of assigning priority (closest to the player, lowest/highest roll first, etc.); requiring unique dice may not be much of a disadvantage because the number of dice is set (probably at a low number such as 3, as I am using).
     
     Example: If you have a 10.5d6 attack and you roll 3 dice which result in rolls of {1, 4, 3}, simply treat this as {1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4/2=2, 3, 3, 3}.

  This choice may be made independently when N is less than X and when N is greater than X but is not a multiple.

One down side to doing this may be loss of granularity in rolls, which will always be multiples of N/X when there aren't left over rolls to assign to the dice (this could be especially apparent for the Normal Body Count).

 

What are your thoughts? Feedback, suggestions for modification, and additional options are all appreciated.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Rolls

 

I've always had the problem that if I was rolling 12D6 that my damage rarely varied less than 35 or greater than 49. I wanted access to the 12 to 72 range.

 

I've toyed with a few systems of tying in damage to dice rolls so that if you hit well below the required number you do more damage and if you hit close to the required roll you do less. That has an advantage in character design as a fast agile martial artist doesn't need scads of dice to damage a slow moving brick - he'll be doing maximum damage each time while the brick, if he lands a punch will likely only be doing glancing damage. The archetypes are truer.

 

On the negative side you stop rolling scads of dice which is always nice as you charge up your fist with the 24D6 pushed haymaker that you've manouevered your opponent into having to take on the chin....

 

Doc

[Silbeg]

Re: Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Ro

 

I ahve always thought that standard attacks were more balanced and reliable than KAs (with their fewer dice and "Stun Lottery"). I actually like the fact that a 10d6 punch usually does right around 35 STUN, 10 BODY. This is good, in my eyes... you should be able to count it it doing a nearly average amount of damage.

 

Yes, it is fun to roll the whopper, getting 50 STUN, 15 BODY on 10d6, but that would be balanced by the law of averages by the horrendous 20 STUN, 5 BODY attack. In the normal course of events, that would be a rarety, and should be!

 

That brings up a little anecdote (though from the dreaded D&D game... )

 

My Dwarf Evoker, Sparky, had finally gotten the Fireball spell. We were beset by a horde of goblins, plus some ogres. All excited to try out his new toy, Sparky let fly with his might Fireball! The dice clanked, coming up 1-1-1-1-2... after their saves, etc., even the goblins were still standing, in as much disbelief as Sparky!

 

Of course, the law of averages balances out over the years... last week, while playing Champions... An alien hover-sled fired upon Mechanon (was a three-way battle) with its anti-vehicular laser (4d6 RKA, -1 STUN Multiplier), and the dice came up 5-6-6-6 w/ 6 on the STUN die... for an amazing 23 BODY, 92 STUN (would have taken old Mechy out, had it not been for the reduced STUN on this weapon!)

[zornwil]

Re: Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Ro

 

And you called me a loon, Prestidigitator..

 

Good stuff. But I think this gets nasty if your campaign scales up. Maybe it's something where you have a constriction such as, no less than X dice per Y points, such as no less than 4 dice per 100 points or the like, so that you don't end up with too wide a distribution and have de facto lotteries such as complained about with Killing Attacks (which I'm fine with, btw).

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Ro

 

I finally took the time to read this over carefully, and I have to say that's a neat little system. I'm probably too much of a purist to ever utilize dice-affecting formulae of this nature, but interesting, nonetheless.

 

And stun lottery? No need for that. Hit Locations are the coolest.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Ro

 

And you called me a loon' date=' Prestidigitator.. [/quote']

Yeah, well, I never said I'm not a loon.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Set Distribution by Rolling 3d6 (or 1d6, 2d6, 4d6, etc.) for All Damage/Effect Ro

 

Yeah, I'm not sure whether I will actually use it either. It struck me as kind of a nice little simplification (for lack of a better word), though. One of those things I might do if I find I have only 3 dice within arm's reach and I'm feeling too lazy to keep rolling.... Heh.

 

EDIT: And now that I have come up with a simple way of overcoming the discrepencies of effect roll distributions, I feel less need to actually mess with them.