Games with opposed dice rolls - are they better, worse or no different?

[Jhaelen]

Speaking from a D&D-tainted viewpoint I'm fine with opposed rolls if that enables you to get rid of another roll you'd normally make. E.g. directly derive the amount of damage you do by comparing the results of an attack and a parry roll.

If it causes an additional roll, I'd rather pass.

 

[lejanius]

The new version of HackMaster uses opposed rolls for everything. The game is designed for this mechanic and saves, feats of strength, combat, etc. all use opposed d20 rolls.

It doesn't slow down the game that much (in my opinion)

I have gamed 25 years now and played every version of D&D and HackMaster is quicker than 4E and 3E in regards to combat.

This is mostly due to a variety of factors but rolling extra dice doesn't really impact overall game length in my opinion.

 

[Jhaelen]

This is mostly due to a variety of factors but rolling extra dice doesn't really impact overall game length in my opinion.

It does, if its in addition to everything else, e.g. the plethora of tactical options that 4e offers:

E.g. once every attack roll must hit and then the opponent must also fail to parry and/or dodge, it means that more daily and encounter attack powers will fail. And this means that less damage is dealt overall, resulting in longer combats.

Of course, if 4e had been designed to take that opposed roll into account, they might have increased the average chance for an attack to hit to take that into account.

I've also been playing various roleplaying games for 25+ years and in general systems using multiple rolls to determine the result of an attack take longer (DSA, Earthdawn, Runequest, ...) unless the system's equivalent of hit points is a very small number (i.e. the system is pretty lethal since a single attack that actually connects and penetrates armor can result in death).

 

[lejanius]

Might just be how you handle it. In my HackMaster campaign since it's opposed we roll at the same time, keeps everyone involved but doesn't really slow things down much.

If however, you have to check results, then do more rolling, I can see it adding to the game time.

It does, if its in addition to everything else, e.g. the plethora of tactical options that 4e offers:

E.g. once every attack roll must hit and then the opponent must also fail to parry and/or dodge, it means that more daily and encounter attack powers will fail. And this means that less damage is dealt overall, resulting in longer combats.

Of course, if 4e had been designed to take that opposed roll into account, they might have increased the average chance for an attack to hit to take that into account.

I've also been playing various roleplaying games for 25+ years and in general systems using multiple rolls to determine the result of an attack take longer (DSA, Earthdawn, Runequest, ...) unless the system's equivalent of hit points is a very small number (i.e. the system is pretty lethal since a single attack that actually connects and penetrates armor can result in death).