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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 7891822" data-attributes="member: 72555">Well, rather that when people describe why they want to use 3d6, they actually don't describe that.&nbsp; Often they talk about liking the &quot;bell curve&quot;.Almost all of the effect of 3d6 using is equivalent to a re-scaling of bonuses/DCs and using a d20. With the addendum that things in the top 5%/bottom 5% (corresponding to natural 20s and natural 1s, which often is played as auto-hit auto-miss even when D&amp;D doesn't say so) aren't as well captured.If people where rolling 3d6 with the intention of &quot;making modifiers twice as important&quot; and viewed the cost of adding up 3 dice each roll as being acceptable for that, more power to them.&nbsp; But when I people talk about 3d6 that, in my experience isn't how they frame it.&nbsp; Which leads me to suspect they actually think it is doing something else other than what it does.Now, sometimes slowing down gameplay with &quot;busywork&quot; is worthwhile; D&amp;D with combat reduced to a single weighted coin flip wouldn't be as fun.&nbsp; Rolling 3d6 for skill checks, when skill checks tend to be high impact, might be worth it for that reason.But I still hold my position that if you want to do something like that, you should make it more interesting; a minigame.&nbsp; You roll 3d6 for a skill check.&nbsp; If the result is under the DC, the DM produces a malus (a cost), and you can say what else you are doing to try to succeed.&nbsp; When you do that, you get to pick up once of your 3d6 and reroll it.So if you are sneaking into a castle, you roll 3d6+9 against a 20 DC.&nbsp; You roll a 1, 3, 5 and get a total of 18.&nbsp; The DM says as you cross a courtyard, a guard yells out &quot;who goes there&quot; (malus: castle alert level just went up).You use your mimicry ability to make the sound of a cat yowl.&nbsp; The DM lets you reroll your 1 -- you get a 3.&nbsp; 3+3+5+9=20, so now you have successfully snuck into the castle.&nbsp; Except some of the guards are on a bit higher alert, so after you convince the princess to leave with you it will be a bit harder, which could lead to you having a 10 minute head start instead of a 4 hour one.But that isn't central to my thesis here.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 7891822, member: 72555"] Well, rather that when people [I]describe why[/I] they want to use 3d6, they actually don't describe that. Often they talk about liking the "bell curve". [I]Almost[/I] all of the effect of 3d6 using is equivalent to a re-scaling of bonuses/DCs and using a d20. With the addendum that things in the top 5%/bottom 5% (corresponding to natural 20s and natural 1s, which often is played as auto-hit auto-miss even when D&D doesn't say so) aren't as well captured. If people where rolling 3d6 with the intention of "making modifiers twice as important" and viewed the cost of adding up 3 dice each roll as being acceptable for that, more power to them. But when I people talk about 3d6 that, in my experience isn't how they frame it. Which leads me to suspect they actually think it is doing something else other than what it does. Now, sometimes slowing down gameplay with "busywork" is worthwhile; D&D with combat reduced to a single weighted coin flip wouldn't be as fun. Rolling 3d6 for skill checks, when skill checks tend to be high impact, might be worth it for that reason. But I still hold my position that if you want to do something like that, you should make it more interesting; a minigame. You roll 3d6 for a skill check. If the result is under the DC, the DM produces a malus (a cost), and you can say what else you are doing to try to succeed. When you do that, you get to pick up once of your 3d6 and reroll it. So if you are sneaking into a castle, you roll 3d6+9 against a 20 DC. You roll a 1, 3, 5 and get a total of 18. The DM says as you cross a courtyard, a guard yells out "who goes there" (malus: castle alert level just went up). You use your mimicry ability to make the sound of a cat yowl. The DM lets you reroll your 1 -- you get a 3. 3+3+5+9=20, so now you have successfully snuck into the castle. Except some of the guards are on a bit higher alert, so after you convince the princess to leave with you it will be a bit harder, which could lead to you having a 10 minute head start instead of a 4 hour one. But that isn't central to my thesis here. [/QUOTE]

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