Advantages / Disadvantages

[ExploderWizard]

But wouldn't that be frustrating?
If logic doesnt fail me, then an advantage, which does not gives you any advantages, is not an advantage.

Yes which is why getting another die rather than your 2 merely becoming a 4 is preferable to me.

 

[MortalPlague]

Personally, I love the advantage / disadvantage system. I'm all for simple ways to offer bonuses rather than more math.

 

[Li Shenron]

It is one of the new rules that intrigues me most... I am eager to see how it works and feels in practice.

Right now, I am trying to understand better when (which rolls) to use it, because I hear some warning rings...

Adv/Disadv changes your probabilities of success, no problem with that, but doesn't change the max DC you can beat.

So for example I may have a wall to climb the DC of which is impossible. Then no matter what the character finds to help, if I only grant advantage (rather than a bonus), he'll never climb that wall. Think the extreme case of the PC finding a ladder, if the DM is stuck using only this rule, clearly it doesn't make sense that the wall is still non-beatable.

 

[Traken]

So for example I may have a wall to climb the DC of which is impossible. Then no matter what the character finds to help, if I only grant advantage (rather than a bonus), he'll never climb that wall. Think the extreme case of the PC finding a ladder, if the DM is stuck using only this rule, clearly it doesn't make sense that the wall is still non-beatable.

Finding a ladder means you aren't climbing a wall anymore, you are climbing a ladder. That should be an automatic success barring anti-ladder walls.

An 'advantage' to climbing a wall would probably be something like spiked boots, chalk for your hands, or getting your Orc friend to throw you half way up the wall.

 

[Viking Bastard]

The Advantage system is something that makes me immediately think "Yoink!" for my 4e game, but we'll see how it's in play after the scheduled playtest session on sunday.

We constantly forget the +2/-2 CA bonuses in 4e. I hate fiddly variables during play.

 

[vagabundo]

God I wish i could get my players to stop rolling dice. They do it at the drop of a hat. I can see that rolling x2 die will be x2 the fun.

 

[Shiv]

Count me in on rolling two dice. It's more dynamic than a +2/-2 and affects the liklihood of rolling crits.

Awesome!

Someone in another thread did a rundown of the stastical changes in rolling two dice. The equivalent bonus/penalty was +/-3.3, if I recall correctly.

 

[justinhalliday]

The advantage/disadvantage mechanic is wholly unnecessary. It does make me wonder whether they'll change the name of the system to dd20 now?

My problem with the advantage/disadvantage mechanic is that D&D already has a bunch of mechanics for bonuses and penalties to attacks and ability tests, so I don't understand why the game needs <i>another</i> way of representing these adjustments, especially a mechanic that only has one magnitude. Also, advantages and disadvantages work alongside bonuses and penalties, so if you're prone you take -2 to attacks, but if you're blinded then you have disadvantage on your attacks (but attackers don't seem to get advantage against you, which is weird).

All it's going to do is introduce question about when you should be using flat penalties/bonuses or advantages/disadvantages. Confusion.

 

[Viking Bastard]

All it's going to do is introduce question about when you should be using flat penalties/bonuses or advantages/disadvantages. Confusion.

Having Advantage makes you more likely to succeed, but doesn't increase the scope of what you can do, since the max DC you can beat is still 20 + Modifier.

How's this:
Higher rate of success --> Advantage
Expand the scope of what you can achieve --> Bonus

 

[justinhalliday]

Having Advantage makes you more likely to succeed, but doesn't increase the scope of what you can do, since the max DC you can beat is still 20 + Modifier.

How's this:
Higher rate of success --> Advantage
Expand the scope of what you can achieve --> Bonus

D&D doesn't care about how much you succeed by, it is a totally binary resolution system.

My point, as you have demonstrated, is that having the two systems working side-by-side is just going to add confusion to running the game.