What is this die for? (Proficiency dice discussion)

[Xeviat]

I have a few new players joining my D&D group. New as in not just new to me, but new to the game. They've always wanted to play, just never got the chance. One came to me with their brand new dice set and asked me "what are all these dice for?"

When I told her the d20 was used for task resolution and all the other dice were primarily used for determining damage and healing, she kind of pouted. And that got me thinking back to the proficiency die feature they tried out during the playtest.

Has anyone played this? I'm sitting here thinking of switching ability score modifiers and proficiency to dice whenever it is an active roll (still fixed numbers for DCs).

10-11 would be nil. 12-13 would be d2. 14-15 would be d4. +2 proficiency would be d4.

This would result in an average increase of +1 to many rolls, but that might help balance the added uncertainty.

Would you give it a shot? The adding at the table might allow things down at first, but I've seen players have a hard time adding +5 to things so it might be the same.

 

[Xeviat]

Heck, now I'm thinking about having ability checks use 1d(ability modifier-10), except that d(odd #s) aren't in standard sets. Suddenly odd ability scores matter!

 

[Daern]

I use a variable bonus for fighter attacks in my home brew. Stole it from DCC rpg. Love it.

 

[5ekyu]

I have a few new players joining my D&D group. New as in not just new to me, but new to the game. They've always wanted to play, just never got the chance. One came to me with their brand new dice set and asked me "what are all these dice for?"

When I told her the d20 was used for task resolution and all the other dice were primarily used for determining damage and healing, she kind of pouted. And that got me thinking back to the proficiency die feature they tried out during the playtest.

Has anyone played this? I'm sitting here thinking of switching ability score modifiers and proficiency to dice whenever it is an active roll (still fixed numbers for DCs).

10-11 would be nil. 12-13 would be d2. 14-15 would be d4. +2 proficiency would be d4.

This would result in an average increase of +1 to many rolls, but that might help balance the added uncertainty.

Would you give it a shot? The adding at the table might allow things down at first, but I've seen players have a hard time adding +5 to things so it might be the same.

I used it for an 18 month campaign and liked it. Its especially good for gsmes whre you use alt abilities.

 

[ccs]

So does 16-17=d6, 18-19=d8, 20=d10?
What's Prof. bonus +3 - +6 equal?

How's the dice from the mod + the dice from Prof. combine? I'm assuming you also roll a d20 in there?

In the end I think you'll do a whole bunch of fiddling with the system for not enough gain + confusing the crap out of brand new players. Is that worth it?

 

[5ekyu]

So does 16-17=d6, 18-19=d8, 20=d10?
What's Prof. bonus +3 - +6 equal?

How's the dice from the mod + the dice from Prof. combine? I'm assuming you also roll a d20 in there?

In the end I think you'll do a whole bunch of fiddling with the system for not enough gain + confusing the crap out of brand new players. Is that worth it?

+2 = d4
+3 = d6
+4 = d8

When you have a check without proficiency, d20 plus ability mod.
When proficiency applies, grab that other die and roll it too.

If that's too confusing... this may not be the game for them regardless of the die vs mod for prof.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=57494]Xeviat[/MENTION]: The proficiency dice were fun. They’re in the DMG as an optional variant.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I suspect once she starts rolling all the other dice for damage over and over, her pouting will end. Once you've rolled that funky d12 for the third time, the novelty wears off.

But if she really wants to roll all the different dice... your easiest method for her to do so is to just have her play an evoker wizard and have her select one boom spell for each die size. Magic Missile for the d4, Burning Hands for the d6, Sleep for the d8, and the Firebolt and Poison Spray cantrips for the d10 and d12. That'll be much easier for you and everyone to deal with than the Proficiency die Variant rules.

 

[TallIan]

. Once you've rolled that funky d12 for the third time, the novelty wears off.

This is lie if you stop enjoying rolling a d12 you might as well shred all you RPG books.

On a more serious note to the OP how do you deal with negative modifiers? Your idea is something I’ve thought about but never really liked for this reason? Subtracting a die roll seems to rub me the wrong way.

 

[Xeviat]

So does 16-17=d6, 18-19=d8, 20=d10?
What's Prof. bonus +3 - +6 equal?

How's the dice from the mod + the dice from Prof. combine? I'm assuming you also roll a d20 in there?

In the end I think you'll do a whole bunch of fiddling with the system for not enough gain + confusing the crap out of brand new players. Is that worth it?

The difference between ability scores and ability modifiers confuse enough people that I'm not too worried about another entry on the character sheet.

Others answered what the dice would be for other stats. 9 and lower stats would have negative dice.