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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Flatus Maximus" data-source="post: 5801708" data-attributes="member: 55114">The d20 mechanic boils down to: 1d20+M >= TN, where TN = target number (e.g., AC, save DC) and M = total modifier relevant to the task. Equivalently, 1d20 >= TN-M.Note that TN-M < 1 is the condition for auto-success, while TN-M > 20 is the condition for auto-fail; in other words, if the outcome is to have any uncertainty, then we must have 1 <= TN-M <= 20. For rolls that are to happen with any regularity, it would seem most fun if TN-M stays within this range.Also note that TN needs to be relatively large, since otherwise PCs are “good” at the task even with no modifier – players might not feel all that heroic if the task is something that commoners can routinely do. This, in turn, forces M to be relatively large, since otherwise TN-M falls out of the range 1-20.On a psychological note, the smaller the modifier relative to the size of the die, the less the player may feel that the PC has any impact on the determination of the outcome. (I call this the “heft” of the modifier.) For example, for some (most?) people, rolling 1d20+2 probably doesn’t feel all that different from rolling 1d20, and these folks may not feel that their PC has much influence on the outcome, even when TN-M is very small (that is, even when they are very likely to succeed anyway).So, for the d20 mechanic, it seems necessary that target numbers must be relatively large, so that PCs, and not just commoners, are required to do the job; as well as modifiers, so that PCs have a chance to succeed with larger target numbers and players feel that they have a noticeable effect on the outcomes of the mechanic.If the designers of D&Dn are serious about wanting to keep bonuses relatively small, then it would seem that they can’t just reduce the size of the target numbers. The only other parameter remaining that we can tweak is the size of the die. For example, if we replace the d20 with the d10, then target numbers can be considerably smaller, which we have seen, means that bonuses can be considerably smaller. What’s more, the +2 in a 1d10+2 roll is likely to feel more “hefty,” so that the player feels that their PC has more of a significant effect on determining the outcome of the roll. Edit: As a side benefit, the arithmetic is likely to involve only single-digits.Quite naturally, TN and M should grow with level. However, with 20-30 levels, even with modest growth per level, the difference between low levels and higher levels will be great. With fewer levels and a smaller starting point for TN and M, combined with modest growth, will result in characters that are not so far apart at the extremes of the range of levels. Of course, players expect that the higher level PCs will be clearly superior to the lower level PCs, but perhaps by tweaking these parameters, these two groups of PCs can still campaign together.OK, getting kinda long so I'll stop there. Not sure what else I had to say anyway.</blockquote>

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