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<blockquote data-quote="guachi" data-source="post: 7411631" data-attributes="member: 6785802"><p>I just realized my math was wrong. The calculation is a little more complex because I wasn't comparing damage equally between the two scenarios. The "all attack" scenario was assuming all monsters did the same damage and the "Help" scenario assumed one set of monsters did more damage. Clearly, that's not an equal comparison. One half of the monsters in both scenarios does more damage it's just that in one scenario the higher damage monsters have advantage because of Help.</p><p></p><p>The formula:</p><p></p><p>Where 'X' is the damage the more damaging monster must do for his attack with advantage while being Helped to equal the damage done by having no Help action taken at all.</p><p></p><p>Where 'H' is the Hit Chance</p><p></p><p>X = H/(H-H^2)</p><p></p><p>In our example of hitting 20% of the time the equation is:</p><p>X = .2/(.2-.2^2)</p><p>X = .2/.16</p><p>X = 1.25</p><p></p><p>Here it is in table form. I think you'll notice a pattern.</p><p>"To hit" is the die roll you need to hit</p><p>"Hits" are the fraction of hits you'd have using Help vice not using Help (assuming all monsters have the same hit chance)</p><p>"Damage" is the fraction of damage the Helped creature would have to do compared to the Helping creature to make Help worthwhile</p><p>"%" is the "damage" column as a percentage.</p><p></p><p>[TABLE="width: 500"]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]To hit[/TD]</p><p>[TD]Hits[/TD]</p><p>[TD]Damage[/TD]</p><p>[TD]%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]20[/TD]</p><p>[TD]39/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]20/19[/TD]</p><p>[TD]5.3%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]19[/TD]</p><p>[TD]38/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]40/36[/TD]</p><p>[TD]11.1%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]18[/TD]</p><p>[TD]37/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]60/51[/TD]</p><p>[TD]17.6%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]17[/TD]</p><p>[TD]36/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]80/64[/TD]</p><p>[TD]25.0%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]16[/TD]</p><p>[TD]35/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]100/75[/TD]</p><p>[TD]33.3%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]15[/TD]</p><p>[TD]34/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]120/84[/TD]</p><p>[TD]42.9%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]14[/TD]</p><p>[TD]33/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]140/91[/TD]</p><p>[TD]53.8%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]13[/TD]</p><p>[TD]32/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]160/96[/TD]</p><p>[TD]66.7%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]12[/TD]</p><p>[TD]31/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]180/99[/TD]</p><p>[TD]81.8%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]11[/TD]</p><p>[TD]30/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]200/100[/TD]</p><p>[TD]100.0%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]10[/TD]</p><p>[TD]29/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]220/99[/TD]</p><p>[TD]122.2%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]9[/TD]</p><p>[TD]28/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]240/96[/TD]</p><p>[TD]150.0%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[TR]</p><p>[TD]8[/TD]</p><p>[TD]27/40[/TD]</p><p>[TD]260/91[/TD]</p><p>[TD]185.7%[/TD]</p><p>[/TR]</p><p>[/TABLE]</p><p></p><p>For some monsters, Helping is a good idea basically no matter what. Goblins Helping hobgoblins, for example. Even though a hobgoblin has a lower hit chance by 1 (which I haven't taken into account) it does so much more damage than a goblin, 12.5 vs. 5.5, that you'd have to have a REALLY high hit chance to not have the goblin do something like move, Help, Disengage. And, if necessary, have the hobgoblin Ready his action to Attack after the goblin Helped (if he needed an ally for the bonus damage).</p><p></p><p>I hope this is of value when you want to scare the pants off of your low level PCs by having goblins Help hobgoblins and massacre your players.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="guachi, post: 7411631, member: 6785802"] I just realized my math was wrong. The calculation is a little more complex because I wasn't comparing damage equally between the two scenarios. The "all attack" scenario was assuming all monsters did the same damage and the "Help" scenario assumed one set of monsters did more damage. Clearly, that's not an equal comparison. One half of the monsters in both scenarios does more damage it's just that in one scenario the higher damage monsters have advantage because of Help. The formula: Where 'X' is the damage the more damaging monster must do for his attack with advantage while being Helped to equal the damage done by having no Help action taken at all. Where 'H' is the Hit Chance X = H/(H-H^2) In our example of hitting 20% of the time the equation is: X = .2/(.2-.2^2) X = .2/.16 X = 1.25 Here it is in table form. I think you'll notice a pattern. "To hit" is the die roll you need to hit "Hits" are the fraction of hits you'd have using Help vice not using Help (assuming all monsters have the same hit chance) "Damage" is the fraction of damage the Helped creature would have to do compared to the Helping creature to make Help worthwhile "%" is the "damage" column as a percentage. [TABLE="width: 500"] [TR] [TD]To hit[/TD] [TD]Hits[/TD] [TD]Damage[/TD] [TD]%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]20[/TD] [TD]39/40[/TD] [TD]20/19[/TD] [TD]5.3%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]19[/TD] [TD]38/40[/TD] [TD]40/36[/TD] [TD]11.1%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]18[/TD] [TD]37/40[/TD] [TD]60/51[/TD] [TD]17.6%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]17[/TD] [TD]36/40[/TD] [TD]80/64[/TD] [TD]25.0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]16[/TD] [TD]35/40[/TD] [TD]100/75[/TD] [TD]33.3%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]15[/TD] [TD]34/40[/TD] [TD]120/84[/TD] [TD]42.9%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]14[/TD] [TD]33/40[/TD] [TD]140/91[/TD] [TD]53.8%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]13[/TD] [TD]32/40[/TD] [TD]160/96[/TD] [TD]66.7%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]12[/TD] [TD]31/40[/TD] [TD]180/99[/TD] [TD]81.8%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]11[/TD] [TD]30/40[/TD] [TD]200/100[/TD] [TD]100.0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]10[/TD] [TD]29/40[/TD] [TD]220/99[/TD] [TD]122.2%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]9[/TD] [TD]28/40[/TD] [TD]240/96[/TD] [TD]150.0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]8[/TD] [TD]27/40[/TD] [TD]260/91[/TD] [TD]185.7%[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] For some monsters, Helping is a good idea basically no matter what. Goblins Helping hobgoblins, for example. Even though a hobgoblin has a lower hit chance by 1 (which I haven't taken into account) it does so much more damage than a goblin, 12.5 vs. 5.5, that you'd have to have a REALLY high hit chance to not have the goblin do something like move, Help, Disengage. And, if necessary, have the hobgoblin Ready his action to Attack after the goblin Helped (if he needed an ally for the bonus damage). I hope this is of value when you want to scare the pants off of your low level PCs by having goblins Help hobgoblins and massacre your players. [/QUOTE]
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