Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do Random Tables Reduce Player Agency?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9126324" data-attributes="member: 6684958"><p>Of course, dice, math, probabilities and more are a whole can of worms. And it's really one few people understand.</p><p></p><p>If a DC is 17, and you roll a straight d20 it "feels hard" as you have to roll only a few numbers out of the 20 on the dice. It "feels" like it is harder to roll a 17-20. But that is not how it works. The chance of you rolling Any number on a D20, is exactly the same every time you roll. </p><p></p><p>And so a "safe path" is not as safe as players might think. If the encounter chance is 1 in 6, there is still a chance a "1'' will be rolled. </p><p></p><p>And anyone who has played dice games know....well dice are fun. Sure it "feels" like the "safe path" should have "fewer" encounters. Except a 1d6 is rolled each time. And it's possible to get a one every time the "safe path" is taken. Because random dice are random. It "feels" like that should not happen....but dice have no feelings and it sure can.</p><p></p><p>Play enough games and you will see some amazing dice rolls. The chance is 2%, and they roll a 01 on the d100. The chance is 99% and they roll 100. They need a 20 to hit and save the day...and they roll a 20. The dragon does a full attack and rolls five natural 20s. </p><p></p><p>Also note encounter tables too and how they are made. A lot of games and GMs use the soft tables that contain some "interesting" encounters, but they will all be simple, easy and balanced. So sure if the worst encounter on the Safe Road Table is "a gray cloud covers the sun and makes your character sad" then sure nothing much will happen to the characters.</p><p></p><p>As the other way to do it is the hard tables with a chance of easy, medium, hard, and impossible encounters. Maybe even when you roll a "19" it will say "roll on the hard monster table" or something like that. So yes, it's possible, say on a roll of 20, for even 1st level characters to encounter The Dragon of Doom. </p><p></p><p>And this goes right back to the point: Players pick the "safe path" with the false assumption that nothing will happen to their characters. Then the DM rolls on some random tables...and some vampires pop out to drain and rip the characters apart. The players complain "but it was the safe path". Ok, but, sure, the DM rolled five "20" s in a row....and got slaughtering vampires. </p><p></p><p>You can go on forever and ever about how "rare" this event was or would be. Or how it won't happen all the time. Or really say anything else. The bottom line is: when the dice are rolled anything can happen.....</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="bloodtide, post: 9126324, member: 6684958"] Of course, dice, math, probabilities and more are a whole can of worms. And it's really one few people understand. If a DC is 17, and you roll a straight d20 it "feels hard" as you have to roll only a few numbers out of the 20 on the dice. It "feels" like it is harder to roll a 17-20. But that is not how it works. The chance of you rolling Any number on a D20, is exactly the same every time you roll. And so a "safe path" is not as safe as players might think. If the encounter chance is 1 in 6, there is still a chance a "1'' will be rolled. And anyone who has played dice games know....well dice are fun. Sure it "feels" like the "safe path" should have "fewer" encounters. Except a 1d6 is rolled each time. And it's possible to get a one every time the "safe path" is taken. Because random dice are random. It "feels" like that should not happen....but dice have no feelings and it sure can. Play enough games and you will see some amazing dice rolls. The chance is 2%, and they roll a 01 on the d100. The chance is 99% and they roll 100. They need a 20 to hit and save the day...and they roll a 20. The dragon does a full attack and rolls five natural 20s. Also note encounter tables too and how they are made. A lot of games and GMs use the soft tables that contain some "interesting" encounters, but they will all be simple, easy and balanced. So sure if the worst encounter on the Safe Road Table is "a gray cloud covers the sun and makes your character sad" then sure nothing much will happen to the characters. As the other way to do it is the hard tables with a chance of easy, medium, hard, and impossible encounters. Maybe even when you roll a "19" it will say "roll on the hard monster table" or something like that. So yes, it's possible, say on a roll of 20, for even 1st level characters to encounter The Dragon of Doom. And this goes right back to the point: Players pick the "safe path" with the false assumption that nothing will happen to their characters. Then the DM rolls on some random tables...and some vampires pop out to drain and rip the characters apart. The players complain "but it was the safe path". Ok, but, sure, the DM rolled five "20" s in a row....and got slaughtering vampires. You can go on forever and ever about how "rare" this event was or would be. Or how it won't happen all the time. Or really say anything else. The bottom line is: when the dice are rolled anything can happen..... [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Do Random Tables Reduce Player Agency?
Top