Convert AD&D 2nd to used 3d6 rolls

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Folks;
I have been playing AD&D 2nd ed for some time now; however, my group and I want to try something new. We want to use 3d6 rolls to change it up and give something new to our game. Has anyone attempted to convert all the modifies to run with 3d6 or offer any suggestions for a 3d6 conversion? I understand the average dice roll on 3d6 is roughtly 10/11 (10.5), so that would be a roll of 11+ or 10- depending on if the roll is an attack or attribute save.

I did notice that there is a 3d6 for the D20 rules; however, I am not a fan of anything great then 2nd edition (keep it TSR...baby!!!).


Thanks.

 

[Cadence]

I think a lot of the analysis of the basic idea from the 3.5 d20 srd using it should still apply to 2e in terms of combat.

I was kind of amazed that given how many links for 3d6 versus d20 showed up on google I'd never had a group try it before.
A nice article on the history of using 3d6 for some rolls is at: http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2013/09/3d6-stat-checks.html
A really nice general discussion (it really isn't about 4e in spite of that being how the quesiton is phrased) is at: http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questi...s-the-effect-of-a-different-probability-curve It also talks about the option of using the middle die from 3d20.

I'm interested to hear what you find if you try it.

 

[billd91]

Consider using 2d10 instead of 3d6. The analysis is a little easier.

 

[Starfox]

Consider using 2d10 instead of 3d6. The analysis is a little easier.

This. Easier math, less extreme results.

For 3E, I'd suggest using d20 + defense value (AC) instead of 10 + defense value for difficulties, with some work that can be applied to 2E too.

 

[amerigoV]

For what it is worth - Dragon Age feels very 2e-ish to me and it had done all the work for you (including using d6s for damage). If nothing else, it might help you balance it all out.

 

[N'raac]

You might check the Hero Games discussion boards - there have been several discussions comparing d20 to 3d6 over the years, as 3d6 is the Hero system model. The bell curve makes rolls much less swingy (for good or ill).

 

[Libramarian]

I don't think this would work well. The important difference between d20 and 3d6 is that it's less likely to hit the highest and lowest numbers with 3d6. In AD&D you tend to hit less often at low levels and more often at high levels compared with later editions and this change would exacerbate that. You can easily be fighting monsters that only hit you on a 17+. With d20 that's 20% chance to hit, with 3d6 it's 2%. You could use 3d6 for ability score checks but I wouldn't mess with attack rolls, or saving throws.

 

[Starfox]

You could use 3d6 for ability score checks but I wouldn't mess with attack rolls, or saving throws.

This was a regular part of the game back in the day. I recently looked back over some 1E and 2E adventures, and they often used checks like 3d6 vs Int or 4d6 vs Dex.

In The Fantasy Trip, all difficulties were like this - roll a variable number of d6s and roll under your own ability score. Mmm... nostalgia.

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We just wanted to try something else; however, I suspect the results would derail the system, and require additional resources to balance the game if converted to use 3d6. As for using 2d10, I am not sure how that works, but will investigate.

 

[N'raac]

Well, the example of needing a 17 to it changing from 20% to 2% was noted above. The odds of 17+ on 2d10 is 10%.

The further we get from average, the less likely multiple dice are to generate that result. More dice steepens the bell curve. Let's think about criticals - 5% chance to roll a 20 (or a 1) on 1d20. 1% chance to roll a 20 (or 2) on 2d10. Less than 0.5% to roll an 18 (or a 3) on 3d6.

Odds of a 9-12 result on a d20 is 20%. With 2d10, it's 36%. With 3d6, it's 48.15%.

Less swinginess, for better or worse.