How to Make D&D Accessible to the Non-Mathematically Inclined?

[Particle_Man]

I have a simple idea - ignore the math.

His to hit roll vs. *all* armor classes will be that he hits on an unmodified d20 roll of 11 or higher. If he gets multiple attacks, they each hit on an unmodified roll of 11 or higher (these are not iterative attacks, so don't worry about the +11/+6/+1 stuff, just make it all "11 to hit/11 to hit/11 to hit"). If he rolls a natural 20, then he gets an additional attack (instead of a critical hit - don't confuse him).

His damage roll is an unmodified roll of the appropriate type (d8 for a longsword). If he is at all buffed, give him a bigger die to roll. If he is *really* buffed, give him a d20 to roll for damage. Or, if he is able to, perhaps let him roll 2d8 instead of 1d8, and add the two dice results together, for damage. If he is in a super-high level campaign and buffed to god-like proportions, let him roll % dice. For for example, let him roll a d12 for damage normally, and a d20 after appropriate regular party buffs, for damage.

His saving throws are that he needs an unmodified 11 or higher to save.

His skill rolls are that he needs an unmodified 11 or higher to succeed. If it is an opposed skill roll, then it is a "roll off" of him vs. the other, with the higher unmodified roll succeeding.

KISS.

 

[Numion]

I actually agree with Paticle_man.

How important is it to have exact math in the game?

Personally I just went the way of only correcting players in the worse direction. If they call a result, and have forgotten to add bonuses, the result sticks. If they've forgotten negative modifiers, I correct them. Just a little incentive to get it right.

Quite often one player is so excited about rolling a good 'to-hit' roll that he forgets to add damage modifiers to the subsequent damage roll. That's brutal when his dwarf would deal like 1d12+12 damage, but it becomes 1d12 when he forgets.

 

[Ry]

If they cannot add simple two digit numbers together......they probably cant role play either.

Why on earth did you post this?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Why on earth did you post this?

I sometimes feel the same: People can't seem to do the simplest of summations. In the cases I saw this, I didn't feel that it was because they were too stupid/mathematically inept for this. They were just lazy, or didn't bother.

In those cases, I sometimes feel miffed: The guy wants to play, but seemingly doesn't want to make any effort.

Reinvent the character sheet.

See http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060929a

I second that!

And if you don't reinvent it, restructure it. Make sure that the hard work is done.

For example, my character sheets allow detailed listings for all bonuses to attack and damage rolls, but have one field where it is all written down, completely added up. If someone's not keen on numbers, he can have someone else fill it out for him. That will mean that during combat, he just has to look at the bonus, add his d20 roll to it, and there he goes.

I also have something like 6 lines for weapons. Few characters have that many weapons, so there's plenty of room to write down several regular variations: Divine Power, Righteous Might, and both together for Clerics; Different Power Attack Strengths for Fighters; and so on.

I do something similar with skills.

If you leave some more space, you can even write down temporary stuff and calculate it quickly (or let it be calculated quickly):

So the priest casts greater magic weapon on you and your weapon bonus goes from +1 to +4? Just put it down on another weapons line, say something like "as Weapon Line 1, but with magic weapon", and recalculate. This is easy: The detailed description shows you that the weapon contributes +1 to the roll, the new is +4, so the attacks go up by 3. No need to repeat all the mods, just write down the new totals (and maybe new weapon bonus).


I think that even those with mathephobia will be able to enjoy the game once they see that there are no on-the-spot calculations needed, and I think a decent gaming group will always help with the initial calculations.

I have a simple idea - ignore the math.

His to hit roll vs. *all* armor classes will be that he hits on an unmodified d20 roll of 11 or higher....

(SNIP)

This way he'll play a different game than the rest, challenges will differ for him: Getting 50% to hit or save in all things is unfair - sometimes to him, sometimes to the rest.

They fight a heavily armoured enemy where they have to roll high to hit? Well, not our special player, who still hits 50% of the time. But when they fight some critter with a crappy AC but many hit points, the disadvantage is his: while others virtually always hit, even with their weakest attacks, he still only gets to hit 50% of the time. Plus, his damage rating stinks.

I would really hate running two games rolled into one like this. I'd rather make things easier for the guy: Rebuild the character sheet so the calculations are already done, the difficult stuff is hidden (feats being written down somewhere else) and only the relevant options are on the cover sheet, and so on; give him stuff that doesn't overload him with options, but simply gives flat bonuses that can be added to his stats and pre-calculated.

 

[charlesatan]

Actually the correct term would be to re-design the character sheet but Kae'Yoss gets what I mean.

The current character sheet (back of the PHB) is optimized to be "filled out". The new NPC stat block for me is optimized to "read what the creature does quickly" (which is what the GM needs to do) although theoretically it could still be improved for player usage. I think the latter should be the direction where character sheet design should be going although obviously if you're levelling up in between games, it's not the best format.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

We've got a couple people in our Saturday game who are like this - they're casual players with little grasp of the rules.

I recommend statting out the major things they'll do - and designing a character cheat sheet that has those things in big bold letters - to hits modified as Pielorinho suggests for the most common situations, or primary skills highlighted, etc.

I agree that fighters are no longer the easiest class to run (though this depends on feat choice); sorcerors might actually be easier - they do spells, but only a few, and they don't have to worry about spellbooks or preparation. Barbarians are also pretty simple to run.

Also, try to anticipate results - lots of times I'll look and see what the dice roll is, and knowing roughly what their bonuses are, I can just say whether they succeed or fail without them having to do the math. In my case, I have a really good memeory for my players skill totals and attack bonuses so this is very easy for me to do, but some DM's might not be as strong in this regard.

 

[Festivus]

In my game room I have some low hanging beams (well, they are 7' up, but within reach), that cross my game table. We wrote modifiers up on 3x5 note cards and taped them along the beam. Everyone knew what was going on for modifiers, it was nice.

Perhaps the bad math guy could get a notepad in front of him and add all the modifiers up on that ahead of time, that way he just has to add two numbers together.

Another thought is if your GM allows a laptop or PDA, you could get a spreadsheet going for this person so that they don't have to even do math at all. Just plug in the numbers.

 

[Steel_Wind]

There is no mathematics in D&D.

Some times, the game calls for some simple arithmetic. But if the player is not capable of low digit addition and subtraction, they need to be somewhere other than gaming.

Like... grade 1, say.

 

[GlassJaw]

It's amazing that some people can even function in the world.

I'm with Steel on this one. The only "math" required in D&D is adding. Everyone can add unless you are 3 or have the IQ of melon.

Now what is more difficult in D&D is remembering and keeping track of all the modifiers. Not knowing the rules doesn't mean you can't add. It means you won't necessarily what to add to what or will forget to add certain things.

The difficulty of D&D is the bookkeeping, not the math.

 

[monboesen]

Make sure that the player don't choose situational feats, but sticks to constant bonus ones.

For instance - Dont take Power attack, take Weapon focus instead.


Steer the player away from a casting class, and if he/she insists, make sure its a spontaneous caster.


Remove buffing spells/effects from your campaign or alternately allow it for other players and make the new players character more powerful in general, but unable to benefit from buffs.


Start at low level and keep it low level for a good long time. Avoids multiple attacks with variable modifiers and limits options.


Make sure the player understand the basic rule: Roll d20, add relevant modifier (noted on sheet) and call out number.