2d6 vs d12

[James McMurray]

Don't forget the Sword having a (19-20) x2 crit vs the GreatAxe having only a (20) x3... I prefer 19-20.

Those crit ranges are equal, but I agree that 19-20 is funner. I'd rather crit more than crit harder.

 

[Darklone]

Those crit ranges are equal, but I agree that 19-20 is funner. I'd rather crit more than crit harder.

The guys I know who wanna crit more often go for the falchion.

 

[the Jester]

The guys I know who wanna crit more often go for the falchion.

...and Improved Crit, and (in 3.0) Keen, and Weapon Master...

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Yeah, you could end up with a crit rang of -10 to 20

AR

 

[Storminator]

Those crit ranges are equal, but I agree that 19-20 is funner. I'd rather crit more than crit harder.

I like the big crits.

I don't know that it's more effective, but I don't care!

Tho I nearly destroyed a large party of 4-5th level PCs with some stock orcs, because I got 4 crits in the battle (2 dead PCs, 2 nearly so).

PS

 

[jgsugden]

When comparing d12 to 2d6, you won't notice much of a difference on a per roll basis, but there will be a cumulative effect that may cause problems for your PC. With a d12, you're more likely to run into little spurts of luck where you have a few very high rolls in a row ... or a few very bad rolls in a row. This will result in a few situations where a foe goes down too fast or when a foe goes down too slow.

A foe going down fast is no real problem ... they're intended to die. But, when they go down too slowly, they get too many opportunities to damage the PC and this increases the chance fo a PC death.

If you deal a lot of bonus damage (ie; 2d6 +10), the effect of this difference will be minimal. If you have low bonus damage (ie; 2d6+2), the effect of this difference can be staggering at times. And by staggering I mean that they can bring your PC down to 0 hit points .. or less. If you end up dealing only 5 or so points of damage per attack instead of the expected 8 or 9, some foes can really mess you up quickly.

In other words, you're increasing the effect of luck on the game ... and luck runs hot and cold. Using smaller dice helps keep the PC closer to average ... and average is more likely to keep you alive.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

In some situations d12 would still be advantageous. Frex, a low level grunt would be more likely to roll high damage and get a Cleave against a zombie with a Great Axe. Damage near average for a Greatsword just leaves a lot of zombies around with 1-4 HPs left.

If I were DMing I would allow rolling a d12 instead of 2d6 as long as the player was not switching combat to combat.

 

[Hardhead]

Those crit ranges are equal

Not quite.

Mathematically, they appear so at first. They have the exact same average damage output. But, once you factor in HPs in D&D, they aren't quite equal after all.

Basically, 19-20 x2 is still better, just as we all suspected. With 20 x3, you crit less often and deal more damage. The problem is, this often kills whoever you're fighting, and there's "overflow" damage that brings them below -10, and thus might as well have never happened. With 19-20 x2, you'll still sometimes get overflow damage, but less often. Less of your damage is wasted via 19-20 x2.

For this reason, I'd like to see weapons that deal 1d12 damage (the generally less useful die) have a 12-20 x2 threat range (the generally more useful crit range) and pair 2d6 up with 20 x3, so the more useful dice damage got the generally less useful crit range.

 

[langolas]

The unarmed damage for my monk character is listed as 2d6. I would rather roll 1d12 just because it's less math and I have a Champions inspired hatred of 6 siders.

I realize that it produces a linear distribution rather than a bell curve, but does that really matter in the long run? Also, isn't the average damage of 1d12 half a point less than 2d6? It's a trade off I'm willing to make to avoid those acursed cubes, but I don't want to run into some hidden benefit later that makes me look like a munchkinizer.

Well, you can't roll a 1 on 2 D6. Of course, you can still roll a 2, but that's double of one...blah, I hate math

 

[shilsen]

For this reason, I'd like to see weapons that deal 1d12 damage (the generally less useful die) have a 12-20 x2 threat range (the generally more useful crit range) and pair 2d6 up with 20 x3, so the more useful dice damage got the generally less useful crit range.

Yeah, I've been looking for weapons with a 12-20/x2 threat range too