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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tuft" data-source="post: 6341077" data-attributes="member: 60045">This is where the die roll comes in - it shows whether there really was an opening or not. As you'r skill, strength or agility does not vary over time, the die roll is there to simulate all the factors you do not have control over - is the arms, legs, etc in the right place, is the target off-balance or not, at that particular moment you look for an opening. A failed roll might as well represent that there was no opening to exploit.In Computer Science, there is a concept called "Lazy Evaluation" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_evaluation" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy_evaluation</a>), which basically means "dont calculate it unless you need it" - for example, when you simulate a scene using computer graphics, you can get a pretty good approximation by just calculating the path of the photons that enventually will hit the eyes of the imagined beholder's retina - and approximation called raytracing, as opposed to radiosity - but I digress..In the same matter you can be lazy with the rolls - you don't need to roll for an opening unless someone is looking for an opportunity to trip/grapple/disarm. But I think this can cause a mental disconnect - you can easilly see it as that there *are* no opportunities unless you roll. When I played Shadowrun, there was a fierce table discussion about the fact that in that system you could roll for dodging when someone shot a firearm at you. Took a long time for people to accept the fact that you dodged all the time and you only rolled for it when it mattered. It really helped when finally Lazy Evaluation was brought up - since most of the players had a CS background, that argument finally got acceptance. The thing about using the die roll to simulate the presence of openings and opportunities, is that as you improve in an ability, such as "trip", more and more narrow openings become exploitable, and you get more and more opportunities - as seen in a larger and larger part of the possible die roll results becoming sucesses. Not only are you able to use more narrow openings, but you can create openings when needed...Which brings me to one of the problems I think AEDU has with getting accepted for maneuvers...Why do we collect XP and level up in this game? After all, the XP progression is just a death clock for a (hopefully) beloved character. At a certain XP sum, a certain level, that characters life is over, the campaign ends, and new characters are rolled up.Well, the big draw is supposed to be that the character is supposed to become better as you level up. That is one of the big expectations people have of a level-up system.As in for example, if you see yourself as the great maneuver expert, you do feel better when you get more and more opportunities to use your ability. With AEDU you dont gett any more chances than the number of maneuver ED cards you have, but with a die roll, if you can keep it improving ahead of the curve, you feel you get more and more opportunities.I think that is why people simply want more chances than AEDU limits them to to be able to feel like they are becoming an Expert at something, whether it is trip, or disarm, or throwing big honking blocks of stone...</blockquote>

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