D&D General What did you think of the Stranger Things D&D game?

[jgsugden]

Playing in the 80's, we would frequently use a d10 coupled with a d4 or a d6 as a substitute for a d20. If you rolled a 4-6 on the d6 or a 3-4 on the d4, you would add 10 to the result of your d10 roll. I'm pretty sure that was a thing back then. If they were rolling for damage at the same time, it would explain the use of those dice.

I have never heard this before, and would be intrigued if someone could supply the origin...

 

[Stormonu]

I’m just glad we’ve reached a point that when the die lands on “20”, we don’t need a long-winded explanation of what it means. Just the rejoicing.

I think the D&D scenes were fine. At our table with my group in ‘86, we were also having the jock vs. nerd issues - I had a player who was on the baseball team and I remember several “you’re going to miss the game for what?” “Don’t tell the guys I play…” conversations back then.

Sadly, that individual & friend has passed away just a few weeks ago.

 

[GuyBoy]

I have never heard this before, and would be intrigued if someone could supply the origin...

As I remember it was down to scarcity of polyhedral dice combined with the hobby's origins in wargaming; d6s are ubiquitous and % dice were fairly common in many wargames, so we had plenty of d6s and plenty of pairs of d10.
Hence d6 roll of 1-3 determines a d10 roll as being 1-9, whereas a 4-6 determines the d10 as 11-20.

 

[GuyBoy]

I’m just glad we’ve reached a point that when the die lands on “20”, we don’t need a long-winded explanation of what it means. Just the rejoicing.

I think the D&D scenes were fine. At our table with my group in ‘86, we were also having the jock vs. nerd issues - I had a player who was on the baseball team and I remember several “you’re going to miss the game for what?” “Don’t tell the guys I play…” conversations back then.

Sadly, that individual & friend has passed away just a few weeks ago.

Juggling D&D, school rugby matches/training and girls/parties was a never-ending challenge as a teenager; if only life were that easy now!

 

[Stormonu]

As I remember it was down to scarcity of polyhedral dice combined with the hobby's origins in wargaming; d6s are ubiquitous and % dice were fairly common in many wargames, so we had plenty of d6s and plenty of pairs of d10.
Hence d6 roll of 1-3 determines a d10 roll as being 1-9, whereas a 4-6 determines the d10 as 11-20.

1E DMG, p 10.

The d4 can be used to generate 25% incremental probabilities, random numbers from 1 to 4, with + 1 it generates a linear 2-5, etc. It can be used to get 1 or 2 (1 or 2 = 1,3 or 4 = 2) or in conjunction with any other dice to get linear or bell-shaped probability curves. For example, 2d4 = 2-8, 3d4 = 3-12, d4 + d6 = 2-10, d4 + d20 (as d10) = 2-14. When rolled in conjunction with another die, the d4 can be used to determine linear number ranges twice that shown on the other die, thus: d4 reading 1 or 2 means that whatever is read on the other die is the number shown; but if the d4 reads 3 or 4, add the highest number on the second die to the number shown - so if d8 is the second die 1 to 16 can be generated, if a d12 is used 1 to 24 can be generated. If a d20 is used either 1-20 (assuming the use of a standard d20 which is numbered 0-9 twice without coloring one set of faces to indicate that those faces have 10 added to the number appearing) or 1-40 (assuming that one set of faces is colored) can be gotten by adding 0 if 1 or 2 is rolled on the d4 and 10 or 20 (depending on die type) if a 3 or 4 is rolled.

PS: My first d20, back in ‘80 had 0-9 on it twice - once in red, one set in blue ink.

 

[jgsugden]

As I remember it was down to scarcity of polyhedral dice combined with the hobby's origins in wargaming; d6s are ubiquitous and % dice were fairly common in many wargames, so we had plenty of d6s and plenty of pairs of d10.
Hence d6 roll of 1-3 determines a d10 roll as being 1-9, whereas a 4-6 determines the d10 as 11-20.

I'm not following. I was not aware of an era of scarcity of polhedral dice - especially one that impacted d20 more than d10 or d4.

 

[GuyBoy]

I'm not following. I was not aware of an era of scarcity of polhedral dice - especially one that impacted d20 more than d10 or d4.

Not sure it was an era exactly, just that it was harder to get all the D&D "stuff" in the UK in the mid/late 1970s. Games Workshop was in someone's back garden on the Shepherd's Bush Road.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm not following. I was not aware of an era of scarcity of polhedral dice - especially one that impacted d20 more than d10 or d4.

As I recall, certain copies of the Holmes basic set came with a voucher for dice instead of the dice themselves due to production short runs. Getting polyhedral dice back in the early, early ‘80 was challenge, as I recall - very few places sold them.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

There was also what I assume to be a Dragon magazine on the table during the season 4 game, with an advertisement for I6 Ravenloft visible.

The Random House deal, before the "Bank of Random House" abuse became rampant, enabled TSR to reach out to markets even in small towns just like the fictional Hawkins.

There is a setup for them using critical hits in their D&D campaign. In S3, when Will is in Castle Byers there is a copy of the Best of Dragon V which had an article of critical hits and fumbles tables.
I enjoyed the scene. I thought there were a few inaccuracies and anachronisms, but it got the feel of a campaign-ending game across well.

I am very glad I have a rock-solid marriage to my wife, whom I love very much. Otherwise, I'm not sure our marriage could have survived hearing her pronounce the villain's name "Ves-na" the other day.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I have never heard this before, and would be intrigued if someone could supply the origin...

Let me Google that for you.

Identifying the Dice of the 1970s

How can you recognize a polyhedral gaming die made in the 1970s? The video above gives my tips for collectors and researchers who want ...

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