Advantages / Disadvantages

[Morrus]

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

He means that a bonus enables you to effectively roll above 20, whreas a reroll does not. Therefore (ignoring other modifiers) with a +2 bonus you can achieve a DC 22 task, but with a reroll you can still only achieve a DC 20 task.

Additionally, with the contest rules, it's not a binary resolution system. Opposed rolls care about your compared totals, not just a binary success/failure.

I totally agree with you that having both is just too fiddly for words. Some things giving +2 and others giving advantage is a mess. Of the two, I prefer advantage because I find it a pain tracking itty-bitty fiddly modifiers.

I wish there was a Higher Ground advantage. I'll probably houserule that. I always loved the idea of characters jockeying for position and maneuvering to get advantageous positions, and higher ground should be a big part of that. In the past its given a +1 bonus or so, which has never been enough that anybody cared; but advantage would open up more tactical movement.

 

[justinhalliday]

He means that a bonus enables you to effectively roll above 20, whreas a reroll does not. Therefore (ignoring other modifiers) with a +2 bonus you can achieve a DC 22 task, but with a reroll you can still only achieve a DC 20 task.

Additionally, with the contest rules, it's not a binary resolution system. Opposed rolls care about your compared totals, not just a binary success/failure.

Fair enough.

I think that in isolation it's a cool mechanic, but in the D&D ruleset, it's redundant and confusing.

 

[justinhalliday]

I wish there was a Higher Ground advantage. I'll probably houserule that. I always loved the idea of characters jockeying for position and maneuvering to get advantageous positions, and higher ground should be a big part of that. In the past its given a +1 bonus or so, which has never been enough that anybody cared; but advantage would open up more tactical movement.

+1, wow that's stingy. I don't get up in the morning for less than +2! In <i>Heroes Against Darkness</i> I give +2 for mounted attacks, and I think that higher ground would be the same.

 

[IronWolf]

IMHO rolling two dice is preferable to keeping track of fiddly bonuses. Plus theres the thrill of getting combat advantage and rolling a 2

Agreed. I think I like this mechanic.

 

[herrozerro]

With Advantage and Disadvantage, I want to know how the 20/1 Adv or 1/20 Dav rolls work.

My first instinct is to make that roll an always success roll for attacks, neither botch or crit. Or splitting the difference and make it a 10 or 11.

Or just let it be handled the normal way, im not sure. It just seems cruel to have a crit be totally negated.

 

[IronWolf]

With Advantage and Disadvantage, I want to know how the 20/1 Adv or 1/20 Dav rolls work.

For an advantage roll you would take the highest roll and apply the results, so you succeed. On a disadvantage roll you take the lowest roll so you failed.

 

[herrozerro]

For an advantage roll you would take the highest roll and apply the results, so you succeed. On a disadvantage roll you take the lowest roll so you failed.

I understand that, but what I mean is in play how is a player going to like that 1/20 Disadvantage roll.

 

[Traken]

I understand that, but what I mean is in play how is a player going to like that 1/20 Disadvantage roll.

My players would eat that up. Knowing that they had a 50% chance of getting a crit, yet they were at a disadvantage so they completely blew it. Just think of the tension that creates.

Much better than trying to add up all your modifiers trying to find an additional +1 to put your over the limit.

 

[IronWolf]

I understand that, but what I mean is in play how is a player going to like that 1/20 Disadvantage roll.

Same as when they roll a 1 or 20 during single dice rolls. A big groan or loud exclamation at their unbelievable luck (good or bad). Sometimes that is just how the dice roll...

 

[Transformer]

I don't see how it interrupts game flow or is more technical than little stacking bonuses. I don't think it takes any longer to roll two dice and take the higher or lower result than it does to do the extra math of adding up all your +1s and +2s, and I don't even know what's meant by technical.

The whole argument seems to be that adding a dice trick like this violates the simplicity and purity of the D&D basic mechanic "roll a d20 and add linear modifiers, then compare that to a DC that's also adjusted by linear modifiers." But that's exactly what's great about it. By not adding to the "add up tiny modifiers to everything" machine, I predict it will make things simpler in practice. When your character sheet says you get a +6 to attack, holy crap, you actually get exactly +6 to attack! You aren't constantly adjusting that +6 by 1's and 2's during combat, thus slowing things down. It's probably just +6, except in rare cases perhaps, and all you have to remember otherwise is whether you have advantage or disadvantage.