Inspired by this thread: http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-ho...zombies-series-contrived-fights-now-orcs.html and just because I could . . .
The basic idea is to figure out what a "daily challenge" might look like, and how different player choices affect it.
It's very early days yet. Probably the numbers coming out don't say a lot about real games, but I'm posting this to get basic feedback.
The software simulates a very simple "adventure". A character (the dwarf build from the linked thread) must travel through tunnels which are guarded at points by hobgoblins. The dwarf can decide at any point to give up (by default losing the adventure) or to keep on going to try and get to the end.
To determine a fair challenge, a first wave of 1000 "timid" dwarves are sent into an open-ended version of the adventure, to see how far they get before they want to take an extended rest (or if they die, assuming they would have turned back after the previous encounter). This sets the number of encounters suitable for those characters.
Then to test the adventure, we send three lots of 1000 dwarves which are "timid", "brave" or "foolhardy" and see how the adventure pans out. The point is that these personalities represent player choice in the adventure (it's boring, but hey it's not a railroad!) Players can choose to play it safe, or risk all death-or-glory.
What I am interested in is how this very simple player choice affects the different outcomes, and whether it is possible to build an adventuring day's worth of encounters (for DMs like me that like to set up a "roll game" and play it how it the dice fall). The toolkit it also suitable for exploring all sorts of "what if" tweaks to the game (e.g. "What if xp values were halved? What if monster hit points were doubled?")
The different dwarf types are:
Adventure: Hobgoblin Gauntlet. A series of encounters with individual hobgoblins.
Setting number of encounters, (based on 1000 timid dwarves): 6
Adventure results for 1000 timid dwarves:
The basic idea is to figure out what a "daily challenge" might look like, and how different player choices affect it.
It's very early days yet. Probably the numbers coming out don't say a lot about real games, but I'm posting this to get basic feedback.
The software simulates a very simple "adventure". A character (the dwarf build from the linked thread) must travel through tunnels which are guarded at points by hobgoblins. The dwarf can decide at any point to give up (by default losing the adventure) or to keep on going to try and get to the end.
To determine a fair challenge, a first wave of 1000 "timid" dwarves are sent into an open-ended version of the adventure, to see how far they get before they want to take an extended rest (or if they die, assuming they would have turned back after the previous encounter). This sets the number of encounters suitable for those characters.
Then to test the adventure, we send three lots of 1000 dwarves which are "timid", "brave" or "foolhardy" and see how the adventure pans out. The point is that these personalities represent player choice in the adventure (it's boring, but hey it's not a railroad!) Players can choose to play it safe, or risk all death-or-glory.
What I am interested in is how this very simple player choice affects the different outcomes, and whether it is possible to build an adventuring day's worth of encounters (for DMs like me that like to set up a "roll game" and play it how it the dice fall). The toolkit it also suitable for exploring all sorts of "what if" tweaks to the game (e.g. "What if xp values were halved? What if monster hit points were doubled?")
The different dwarf types are:
- timid uses hit dice when only slightly injured (below 13hp for 1st-level). Gives up when has no hit dice left (even if at full hit points0
- brave uses hit dice when at half or less hit points (below 10hp for 1st level). Gives up when has no hit dice left and at or below half hit points
- foolhardy uses hit dice when injured and there is no chance of wasting a high roll. Never gives up - death or glory!
Adventure: Hobgoblin Gauntlet. A series of encounters with individual hobgoblins.
Setting number of encounters, (based on 1000 timid dwarves): 6
Adventure results for 1000 timid dwarves:
Died: 107
Ran away: 468
Completed adventure: 425
Adventure results for 1000 brave dwarves:Ran away: 468
Completed adventure: 425
Died: 122
Ran away: 198
Completed adventure: 680
Adventure results for 1000 foolhardy dwarves:Ran away: 198
Completed adventure: 680
Died: 178
Ran away: 0
Completed adventure: 822
I have more stats (such as state of health of the dwarves that completed the adventure). But initially I'd just like feedback on whether this is comprehensible or would be at all useful - assuming it could be expanded to more meaningful size of party and encounters.Ran away: 0
Completed adventure: 822
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