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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 2093071" data-attributes="member: 463"><p>d20 gives sufficient (but not excessive) granularity, and for most purposes - combat rolls, saving throws, most skill checks - it's a good die to use.&nbsp; However as a 'unified mechanic' it kinda sucks.&nbsp; There are times when you want more granularity because of the large number of factors &amp; the importance of the single roll - a good example is the BXD&amp;D War Machine rules, which use 2 d% rolls to resolve a single battle.&nbsp; It could be done with d20 but d% allows a far larger number of modifiers to be applied.&nbsp; There are times when a linear roll vs a static DC just doesn't feel right - one example I've noticed is Morale rolls.&nbsp; Morale rules model group psychology and the 'cascade point' where a group of soldiers go from determinedly resisting to retreating running away.&nbsp; Will saves I find don't model this at all well (for one thing the Will save was never intended to represent bravery - compare avg Wizard to avg Fighter!).&nbsp; I use the BXD&amp;D 2d6 roll vs a morale score of 2-12, I find this works very well (I never used 1e AD&amp;D's d% morale rules, they never felt right), though 2e's 2d10 system works ok also.&nbsp; For monster tables I find d% a bit clunky &amp; hard to set up, later 2e's d8+d12, or any multiple dice bell curve, allows monsters to be easily plugged in at desired points on the curve.&nbsp; Finally, there are times when d20 just gives too much randomness compared to the underlying modifiers - STR check to open doors is an obvious one.&nbsp; This is an area dice pool systems inherently handle better, but just rolling a smaller die helps a lot, especially if you add the result to the _full_ stat - so full STR score + d6 to open door gives far more believable results than STR mod + d20.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 2093071, member: 463"] d20 gives sufficient (but not excessive) granularity, and for most purposes - combat rolls, saving throws, most skill checks - it's a good die to use. However as a 'unified mechanic' it kinda sucks. There are times when you want more granularity because of the large number of factors & the importance of the single roll - a good example is the BXD&D War Machine rules, which use 2 d% rolls to resolve a single battle. It could be done with d20 but d% allows a far larger number of modifiers to be applied. There are times when a linear roll vs a static DC just doesn't feel right - one example I've noticed is Morale rolls. Morale rules model group psychology and the 'cascade point' where a group of soldiers go from determinedly resisting to retreating running away. Will saves I find don't model this at all well (for one thing the Will save was never intended to represent bravery - compare avg Wizard to avg Fighter!). I use the BXD&D 2d6 roll vs a morale score of 2-12, I find this works very well (I never used 1e AD&D's d% morale rules, they never felt right), though 2e's 2d10 system works ok also. For monster tables I find d% a bit clunky & hard to set up, later 2e's d8+d12, or any multiple dice bell curve, allows monsters to be easily plugged in at desired points on the curve. Finally, there are times when d20 just gives too much randomness compared to the underlying modifiers - STR check to open doors is an obvious one. This is an area dice pool systems inherently handle better, but just rolling a smaller die helps a lot, especially if you add the result to the _full_ stat - so full STR score + d6 to open door gives far more believable results than STR mod + d20. [/QUOTE]

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