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How to Make D&D Accessible to the Non-Mathematically Inclined?
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<blockquote data-quote="Kae'Yoss" data-source="post: 3412121" data-attributes="member: 4134"><p>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. </p><p></p><p>In those cases, I sometimes feel miffed: The guy wants to play, but seemingly doesn't want to make any effort. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I second that!</p><p></p><p>And if you don't reinvent it, restructure it. Make sure that the hard work is done. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>I do something similar with skills.</p><p></p><p>If you leave some more space, you can even write down temporary stuff and calculate it quickly (or let it be calculated quickly):</p><p></p><p>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).</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kae'Yoss, post: 3412121, member: 4134"] 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. 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. 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. [/QUOTE]
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