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<blockquote data-quote="Deset Gled" data-source="post: 8794744" data-attributes="member: 7808">I guess I'm joining this conversation late, but the first thing that struck me in the OP's analysis was this:This change in standard deviation is played off like its no big deal.&nbsp; But to me, it's jaw dropping.&nbsp; Putting in into decimal, standard deviation of a d20 is ~5.766.&nbsp; Standard deviation of 3d6 is ~2.958.&nbsp; That not trivial, that's huge!&nbsp; Insanely huge, IMNSHO, considering the numbers we see in D&amp;D.&nbsp; I don't know how you can simply handwave that difference away.The second (and very closely related) issue is that changing to 3d6 makes bonuses all sorts of wonky.&nbsp; In standard d20 gaming, a mod of +/- 1 means changing the odds by 5%.&nbsp; It's flat across the board; you know what your bonus is getting you.&nbsp; In a 3d6 world, that +/- 1 will mean a change of &lt;0.5% if you're near the limits of what is possible.&nbsp; Or it will be a change of &gt;12% if you're right near the average.&nbsp; You have to know the target DC exactly (and all modifiers) to know if a +1 bonus is game changing or meaningless.&nbsp; And, frankly, that seems terrible to me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Deset Gled, post: 8794744, member: 7808"] I guess I'm joining this conversation late, but the first thing that struck me in the OP's analysis was this: This change in standard deviation is played off like its no big deal. But to me, it's jaw dropping. Putting in into decimal, standard deviation of a d20 is ~5.766. Standard deviation of 3d6 is ~2.958. That not trivial, that's huge! Insanely huge, IMNSHO, considering the numbers we see in D&D. I don't know how you can simply handwave that difference away. The second (and very closely related) issue is that changing to 3d6 makes bonuses all sorts of wonky. In standard d20 gaming, a mod of +/- 1 means changing the odds by 5%. It's flat across the board; you know what your bonus is getting you. In a 3d6 world, that +/- 1 will mean a change of <0.5% if you're near the limits of what is possible. Or it will be a change of >12% if you're right near the average. You have to know the target DC exactly (and all modifiers) to know if a +1 bonus is game changing or meaningless. And, frankly, that seems terrible to me. [/QUOTE]

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