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Someone decent at statistics needed -- help debunk Lhynn's claim

Shevek

Arcane
Joined
Sep 20, 2003
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1,570
If you want interesting chance based elements, bring in cool stuff like Ravenloft like campaign creation with a Tarokka deck. Plus, considering you play by rolling 4d6's and dropping one while ignoring all ones, you dont exactly play a game of chance by stacking the dice.
 

Lhynn

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I dont use that houserule. its 4d6 with me, but i do grant max hp to both the players and the enemies.
 

Lhynn

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I just believe hp rolls add nothing to the game, it only makes players dread level ups, which should be a time of pure joy, because i do not give that much exp.

Im not full of it when i have sensible reasoning behind each and every desicion i take.
 

Night Goat

The Immovable Autism
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HP rolls are bad, which is why hit points after first level should be averaged. D&D combat takes way too long to begin with, maximized HP would make it worse.
 

Lhynn

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You must be joking, the amount of damage you can do in second, and especially in third edition makes HP a binary variable already, or even a complete non factor in a lot of cases.
On 5th i can see some fights taking too long tho, so maybe ill reimplement it here, but i normally dont like to involve myself with the leveling process, its something the player has earned, unless they want to do something crazy with it id rather steer clear. This also means players dont bother me with NPCs and their stats, so its less stuff to deal with for me both ways.
 

Daemongar

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HP rolls are bad, which is why hit points after first level should be averaged. D&D combat takes way too long to begin with, maximized HP would make it worse.
Barbarians were always good on paper, but rolling a D12 and getting a 1, 2, or 3 for HP's was just too brutal. They should have made it 3d4's or 2d6's even, but consistent crap D12 rolls were what doomed the class for me. On the other hand, I did like playing a weak barbarian that tried to hide behind the MU when outnumbered. His cowardice made the game memorable, where an average or good barbarian would have been lost in the mists of time...
 

Lhynn

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HP rolls are bad, which is why hit points after first level should be averaged. D&D combat takes way too long to begin with, maximized HP would make it worse.
Barbarians were always good on paper, but rolling a D12 and getting a 1, 2, or 3 for HP's was just too brutal. They should have made it 3d4's or 2d6's even, but consistent crap D12 rolls were what doomed the class for me. On the other hand, I did like playing a weak barbarian that tried to hide behind the MU when outnumbered. His cowardice made the game memorable, where an average or good barbarian would have been lost in the mists of time...
A true barbarian learns to love his d12, and in turn his d12 will love him back.
 

Daemongar

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Not everyone can roll 10 12's in a row like you. Some people roll average. Also, 95% of the games I played, I played Cleric or a healing class. You never had to fight it out with someone for who gets to be "that class" and d8's were always a lot more lenient to me. Also, it was easier to paint the 3 on the D8 to look like an 8.
 

Lhynn

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Na, i meant d12 for weapon damage of the great axe, d12 for hp, etc. I did play a barbarian once. My attribute rolls were below average and my hp ones were a bit above average.

Ephraim, conqueror of the tribes of the north, he was actually a warblade that learned from the tribes in the area he was sent to take, as a captain of the kingdom.
 
Last edited:

nikolokolus

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May 8, 2013
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4,090
Rolled stats are too easily cheated, and are inherently unfair because some players will get better rolls than others*. Point-buy has its own flaws, but it's the lesser evil.

*I've seen suggested a system where everyone rolls up an array, then each player gets to choose from any of the arrays rolled. This seems like a much better way to do rolled stats, but I've never heard of anyone actually doing it.
I've had players roll on a 6x6 matrix, using 3d6. The player then selects a set they like but these rolls represent their next 14 characters. Mileage may vary by game, but this worked well for DCC RPG.

Im sure I used to really worry about this kind of shit, but anymore I just can't be bothered to care how players roll up their characters - one of a dozen rolling methods or point-buy - as long as you aren't texting or playing candy crush during the game or arguing rules with me, be as much of a candy-ass munchkin as you like, just don't mind me silently judging you.
 

Immortal

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Good, the game is suposed to be unfair, you may lose an arm, or a leg, or your eyes along the way. you may gain powerful special habilities, strong magical items, you may end up commanding an army, or living as a beggar, robbing travellers to feed yourself.
As for cheating, i always have my players control eachother if im in a hurry, if not i supervise the rolls myself, i know the temptation to cheat is strong, to start with an edge, to improve your chances, but at the end of the day it just makes playing the game pointless.

Play smart, good rolls wont save you, learn to let go, a character dies and you gotta roll another, learn that your character is in fact disposable until proven otherwise. Especially in a PnP environment. Be brave, playing it safe makes for your characters living longer, but will leave you with no stories to tell. Any player in their right mind would have retreated from that castle when they saw a fucking god being reborn, no one would have taken the chances i did, but honestly i was tired of being pushed back, that particular campaign was fairly ruthless and i just had enough, My character wasnt going to lose his friends over that, so he decided to make a stand.
Learn that no matter how high your stats are, in the bigger picture you are still part of a weak mortal race, and what you have means nothing.

Point buy is shit, it takes away a lot of charm from character creation, and its only suitable in a video game.

This is why I only PnP Intoxicated / slightly inebriated. It's way more fun going big or going bust and seeing the whackey character builds people come up with (if they survive). I've never been in a hardcore PnP session where people actually hardcore stayed in character and would be really butt hurt if they died though.. but it doesn't sound that fun.

You can't take yourself so seriously.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
You guys are too judgmental. I think it is really sweet that Lhynn's big brother plays D&D with him. Not everyone would buy their handicapped sibling a set of loaded dice.
 

Lhynn

Arcane
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Aug 28, 2013
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Dont get whats the big deal of having lucky rolls on character creation, or why it would warrant any form of attention other than the passing "hey, thats cool". I can tell you however that im not lying, and that i do have tons of fun remembering stories from my PnP days as a player, so keep the thread alive if you want to, maybe some other stories will come up.
 

Ellef

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Lhynn you need to hand in your PnP licence for not punching your DM and yourself in the face after getting an M6 in the forgotten realms. Not even 10 year olds would play like this. Everything is fucked up, including bumping this shit.
 

Lhynn

Arcane
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I never played in the forgotten realms. Also the planescape rulebook p. much allows for anything, including phasers and lightsabers, so i dont even know where that comes from.
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
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TDIL lots of people apparently think computers play the best DnD. Seriously, nobody else played with things like custom magic items or settings? And you're complaining about someone being a munchkin while arguing that a solar should have burned a wish to kill a single mundane fighter instead of just crushing him in melee?

The probability thing isn't even an issue. One in two million chance divided by dozens of characters each for hundreds or thousands of people on the dex? Not a big deal. Would be weirder if among all the people on this forum nobody had any good stories of extreme luck to tell.
 

DavidBVal

4 Dimension Games
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Just bumpin' to mention, a small sample of random numbers will often look not random. When you see a nice number distribution that "looks random", chances are it is actually made up by a human trying to come up with random numbers. "Oddities", like rolling the same number several times in a row, are very common.

And I remember a friend, which always had about 5+ stats at 96+ in Rolemaster (1-100). Happened several times and I saw it with my eyes, I was the DM.

Also, Lhynn is probably a lying bastard anyways, but it's part of his charm. Maybe he even used loaded dice.
 

Severian Silk

Guest
What is the statistical chance that Crispy will get laid sometime this year? How many 20s would he need to roll?
 

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