Monster Power Recharge

Dausuul · May 20, 2008

drjones said:
I believe the mechanic is designed to be easily scannable. As in you begin the round, throw a d6 or two and glance at the paper to see if anything matches your roll which is why is displayed rather than . I am sure a lot of folks would not find this necessary but it doesn't cause any problems either and is a reminder that you need to check for recharge.

I agree. Readability is probably the main concern. However, this does offer the bonus that the designers can later experiment with different recharge schemes. For example, there might be one ability that recharges on :2:

and another that recharges on :4:

, which would mean the monster usually recharges one of its abilities but seldom recharges both at once.

Mort_Q · May 20, 2008

Belphanior said:
is easy to do with 11+
approximates to 13+
approximates to 18+
Not a very elegant progression, eh?

You could just pick more elegant numbers. It's not like the exact percentage is that important to game balance.

Sir Brennen · May 20, 2008

Mort_Q said:
You could just pick more elegant numbers. It's not like the exact percentage is that important to game balance.

I think the rest of his post is more to the point. Having the roll be d20 would probably lead to the creation of unbalanced powers of a creatures level, supposedly "balanced" by having them recharge only on a 20. Nitpickiness over how a recharge 14 is balanced against a recharge 15.

Also, the d6 recharge icon and the physical die itself is easier to read for me than just another number mixed in the stat block and the smaller digits on the d20. And generally d6's stop rolling sooner.

Lastly, like the unwritten rule of percentages in 3E, having a different die lets the gamers know that this isn't a d20 roll which can be modified like attack and defense rolls. It's flat, unchanging.