Are Dice Pools Good, Actually?

[Wulffolk]

A d20 or d100 system is easier for players to understand, but usually terrible for simulating actions and results realistically.

Dice pools can be much better at simulating actions and results, but are more complicated for a player to calculate precise odds.

In a d20 or 100 system the success or failure of an action is usually binary, yes or no. In a dice pool system the success or failure of something is usually variable, different levels of success or failure based on the roll or the skill of the character.

I very much prefer the dice pool approach for almost everything.

 

[Beleriphon]

That is a lotta d20's. Yikes. Cool though.

My comments above notwithstanding, I actually really detest pools of d4's. Yuck. D6's are my favorites.

There's a reason that SAGA generally used something like 4d10x2 or 5d10x5 (or in some case 10d10x10 for some Star Destroyer shenanigans).

I have a general principle I live by as a GM, which is: characters don't need to roll to make coffee, unless they are being shot at or brewing a cup for royalty.

Unless you're playing Roll for Shoes. At which point the game requires that character to both roll for, and fail at, making coffee to advance.

 

[3catcircus]

A d20 or d100 system is easier for players to understand, but usually terrible for simulating actions and results realistically.

Dice pools can be much better at simulating actions and results, but are more complicated for a player to calculate precise odds.

In a d20 or 100 system the success or failure of an action is usually binary, yes or no. In a dice pool system the success or failure of something is usually variable, different levels of success or failure based on the roll or the skill of the character.

I very much prefer the dice pool approach for almost everything.

You absolutely can use dice pools with d20s. D100s is a bit more difficult. Unless using a large matched set of dice (all of the same two colors).

 

[Fenris-77]

Of course you can use pools of d20s. I don't like it, it rubs my rhubarb the wrong way, but it is definitely possible. Pools of d100, while technically possible, seem like way to much fiddling with dice to not be a huge drag at the table.

 

[prabe]

I think if you're looking at pools of d100s, you're probably also looking at a dice roller on a phone/computer, which is deeply different.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Unless you're playing Roll for Shoes. At which point the game requires that character to both roll for, and fail at, making coffee to advance.

This is true, and the guiding philosophy of my next RPG, Barista Odyssey: Roasting of the Bean

 

[Wulffolk]

You absolutely can use dice pools with d20s.

When I referred to a d20 or d100 system I was referring to systems like D&D's d20 system. I was not saying that d20's could not be used in a dice pool.

However, I do believe that there is almost no need to use d20's or d100's in any dice pool. Use of dice pools is much better when the results are easy to read. That means smaller dice sizes are better, with d6 being the easiest with it's upward facing results and familiar shape.

 

[3catcircus]

When I referred to a d20 or d100 system I was referring to systems like D&D's d20 system. I was not saying that d20's could not be used in a dice pool.

However, I do believe that there is almost no need to use d20's or d100's in any dice pool. Use of dice pools is much better when the results are easy to read. That means smaller dice sizes are better, with d6 being the easiest with it's upward facing results and familiar shape.

It depends upon what you are rolling against. In a system where you are rolling low against your character's attributes (say, a Dex score to determine if you hit someone with a bow and arrow) the dice should be large enough to cover the attribute's normal range. In D&D, the normal range goes up to 18 before bonuses, so if you were to use a dice pool system in a game with a similar range for attributes, a d20 is necessary.

 

[Bilharzia]

A d20 or d100 system is easier for players to understand, but usually terrible for simulating actions and results realistically.

What makes you say this? Why are dice pools better?

 

[Bacon Bits]

What makes you say this? Why are dice pools better?

An extreme value is as likely as an average value in single die resolution. A larger die pool means when you fail you're likely to almost succeed or partially succeed, and total failure or extraordinary success are quite rare, which feels very natural. If you roll 20d6, you're almost guaranteed to roll between 57 and 83 (~93%) even though that's only a quarter of the possible results (26 outcomes of 100 possible ranging from 20 to 120). Adding dice makes the outcomes more consistent, but it still has the requisite equitable uncertainty.

Yes, you can mitigate the single die problem by making a table of results for a d%, for example, but then it's difficult to get the same system to work with a target number system, too.

I don't think dice pools are better or worse than single dice. But they do have different properties.