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*Dungeons & Dragons
Unearthed Arcana Revisits Psionics
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<blockquote data-quote="ccooke" data-source="post: 7966620" data-attributes="member: 6695890"><p>So, I just went and did some simulations.</p><p>[SPOILER="Here's the code, in case anyone cares"]</p><p>require 'securerandom'</p><p></p><p>def d n</p><p> SecureRandom.random_number<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt="(n)" title="Thumbs down (n)" data-smilie="23"data-shortname="(n)" />+1</p><p>end</p><p></p><p>def sim rounds=40, restores=0</p><p> die_current = die_max = 6</p><p> rounds.times do |i|</p><p> r = d(die_current)</p><p> if r == die_current and die_current == 4</p><p> if restores > 0</p><p> die_current = die_max</p><p> restores -= 1</p><p> else</p><p> return i</p><p> end</p><p> elsif r == die_current</p><p> die_current -= 2</p><p> elsif r == 1 and die_current != die_max</p><p> die_current += 2</p><p> end</p><p> end</p><p> return rounds</p><p>end</p><p></p><p>rounds = (ARGV[0]||40).to_i</p><p>restores = (ARGV[1]||1).to_i</p><p></p><p>sims = 100000.times.map do |r|</p><p> sim rounds, restores</p><p>end; nil</p><p></p><p>puts "Can use the talent die every round in #{((sims.count { |x| x == rounds }).to_f) * 100 / 100000}% days"</p><p>puts "Average uses per day: #{sims.sum / 100000}. Median uses per day: #{sims.sort[sims.count/2]}"</p><p>[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>Let's work on some assumptions. The Psi Knight is the subclass who has the greatest opportunity to use their die - up to twice per round, if they use the damage bonus and the reaction. I'm also assuming the 6-8 encounter day, with around 5 rounds per encounter and two encounters per short rest. So, 40 rounds of combat. That's a fair estimate based on a few games I've run, played in and observed - it won't be correct for everyone, but I hope it will do.</p><p></p><p>So. With a d6 talent die, how many rounds can a Psi Knight expect to be able to use their power? 27. About one day in four, the power will last through the entire day. Comparing that to a battlemaster... A battlemaster gets four superiority dice every short rest, so will expect to have 16 uses of superiority dice through the day. However, the superiority die is usually going to be adding d8 damage, while the talent die adds either d4 or d6. Going with a simple assumption that all the uses <em>are </em>for damage as a guideline (this obviously won't be perfect, but it's to get a feel for the expected balance of the two subclasses), 16 uses of a d8 will be around 72 extra damage. Half the time the talent die will be a d6 and half a d4. Assuming 14 d6 and 13d4, we get 81.5 damage.</p><p></p><p>... Actually, I just spotted something. With the 6-8 encounter day, the battlemaster gets basically 2 uses of dice per combat. If you keep your usage of the talent die to three uses per encounter, then you end up with 24 uses per day. If you do <em>that... </em>then your median uses per day is 24. You end up not running out on 57% of days. And if you again assume that of those 24 rounds, half of the time you have a d6 and half a d4... then your expected additional damage works out to exactly 72. The same as the battlemaster.</p><p></p><p>So looking at that... It's probably going to work out about the same as a battlemaster, but you can try to push things more at the risk of running out. The Psi Knight is more long-rest based, so encounter numbers will affect the power levels. The battlemaster will be more dependable when you have more encounters, and the Psi Knight can nova better when you have few.</p><p></p><p>Obviously there are a lot of assumptions in the above, and this sort of theorycraft doesn't always actually work out in play. I've done some limited playtesting with these builds in a fairly artificial way and I like the feel, but it's going to need real play to be sure.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ccooke, post: 7966620, member: 6695890"] So, I just went and did some simulations. [SPOILER="Here's the code, in case anyone cares"] require 'securerandom' def d n SecureRandom.random_number(n)+1 end def sim rounds=40, restores=0 die_current = die_max = 6 rounds.times do |i| r = d(die_current) if r == die_current and die_current == 4 if restores > 0 die_current = die_max restores -= 1 else return i end elsif r == die_current die_current -= 2 elsif r == 1 and die_current != die_max die_current += 2 end end return rounds end rounds = (ARGV[0]||40).to_i restores = (ARGV[1]||1).to_i sims = 100000.times.map do |r| sim rounds, restores end; nil puts "Can use the talent die every round in #{((sims.count { |x| x == rounds }).to_f) * 100 / 100000}% days" puts "Average uses per day: #{sims.sum / 100000}. Median uses per day: #{sims.sort[sims.count/2]}" [/SPOILER] Let's work on some assumptions. The Psi Knight is the subclass who has the greatest opportunity to use their die - up to twice per round, if they use the damage bonus and the reaction. I'm also assuming the 6-8 encounter day, with around 5 rounds per encounter and two encounters per short rest. So, 40 rounds of combat. That's a fair estimate based on a few games I've run, played in and observed - it won't be correct for everyone, but I hope it will do. So. With a d6 talent die, how many rounds can a Psi Knight expect to be able to use their power? 27. About one day in four, the power will last through the entire day. Comparing that to a battlemaster... A battlemaster gets four superiority dice every short rest, so will expect to have 16 uses of superiority dice through the day. However, the superiority die is usually going to be adding d8 damage, while the talent die adds either d4 or d6. Going with a simple assumption that all the uses [I]are [/I]for damage as a guideline (this obviously won't be perfect, but it's to get a feel for the expected balance of the two subclasses), 16 uses of a d8 will be around 72 extra damage. Half the time the talent die will be a d6 and half a d4. Assuming 14 d6 and 13d4, we get 81.5 damage. ... Actually, I just spotted something. With the 6-8 encounter day, the battlemaster gets basically 2 uses of dice per combat. If you keep your usage of the talent die to three uses per encounter, then you end up with 24 uses per day. If you do [I]that... [/I]then your median uses per day is 24. You end up not running out on 57% of days. And if you again assume that of those 24 rounds, half of the time you have a d6 and half a d4... then your expected additional damage works out to exactly 72. The same as the battlemaster. So looking at that... It's probably going to work out about the same as a battlemaster, but you can try to push things more at the risk of running out. The Psi Knight is more long-rest based, so encounter numbers will affect the power levels. The battlemaster will be more dependable when you have more encounters, and the Psi Knight can nova better when you have few. Obviously there are a lot of assumptions in the above, and this sort of theorycraft doesn't always actually work out in play. I've done some limited playtesting with these builds in a fairly artificial way and I like the feel, but it's going to need real play to be sure. [/QUOTE]
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