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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What's wrong with scaling (and levels, bonuses, advancement, etc)?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ultimatecalibur" data-source="post: 5696883" data-attributes="member: 59539"><p>I'm talking more about player psychology than statistics.</p><p></p><p>In 4e due to the way attack rolls and defenses are set up, hits and misses are based around a number on a d20. In most classes this reference number is ~11, though there are a few classes(Rogue) that this number gets to around 6. When you face an equal level opponent, a hit or miss is roughly determined by whether the number you rolled is higher or lower than the reference number. This can make it seem like characters do not improve their ability to hit as they increase in level.</p><p></p><p>Damage on the other hand is a visibly increasing total. A hit for 10 damage is "bigger" than a hit for 4 damage even when the hit for 10 takes away only 2% from a monsters full hp total and the 4 damage hit took away 10% of another monsters hp total.</p><p></p><p>Another bit of player psychology has a monster that takes more hits to kill is tougher, and players like taking out tougher opponents.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Its not the variation of the numbers that is the problem, the problem is how visible the effects of that variation are.</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p>My comment wasn't pertaining to the tactical details of combat, but to monster design space. In 4e the monster defenses are determined by a formula similar to this:</p><p></p><p>Defense = 10 + (monster type bonus) + (1/2 Level) + (Level/5 rounded up to a whole number)</p><p></p><p>A PCs attack bonus is determined by a formula similar to this one:</p><p></p><p>Attack bonus = 10.5(aka d20) + (weapon proficiency bonus) + (1/2 Level) + (Level/5 rounded up to the nearest whole number)</p><p></p><p>If you plot these two formulas on a graph you end up with a pair of narrow bands that stay parallel even when they jump after every 5th level.</p><p></p><p>The graph itself is a representation of the available design space, and the band are how much of that design space is taken up by 4e. If you remove the "(Level/5 rounded up to the nearest whole number)" portion of the formulas and then plot them again you will find that the band take up the exact same amounts of design space meaning that the (Level/5 rounded up to the nearest whole number) portion is meaningless from a design space use perspective.</p><p></p><p>I don't like when something is meaningless when it could actually be used to expand how design space is used.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So your answer for having to much design space is to get rid of the excess?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>You can call a rabbit a shmerp, but that doesn't make it any less of a rabbit.</p><p></p><p></p><p>All they are doing is hiding the symptoms of the problem and not actually solving the problem.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The level 17 character still has a better than even chance to win.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ultimatecalibur, post: 5696883, member: 59539"] I'm talking more about player psychology than statistics. In 4e due to the way attack rolls and defenses are set up, hits and misses are based around a number on a d20. In most classes this reference number is ~11, though there are a few classes(Rogue) that this number gets to around 6. When you face an equal level opponent, a hit or miss is roughly determined by whether the number you rolled is higher or lower than the reference number. This can make it seem like characters do not improve their ability to hit as they increase in level. Damage on the other hand is a visibly increasing total. A hit for 10 damage is "bigger" than a hit for 4 damage even when the hit for 10 takes away only 2% from a monsters full hp total and the 4 damage hit took away 10% of another monsters hp total. Another bit of player psychology has a monster that takes more hits to kill is tougher, and players like taking out tougher opponents. Its not the variation of the numbers that is the problem, the problem is how visible the effects of that variation are. My comment wasn't pertaining to the tactical details of combat, but to monster design space. In 4e the monster defenses are determined by a formula similar to this: Defense = 10 + (monster type bonus) + (1/2 Level) + (Level/5 rounded up to a whole number) A PCs attack bonus is determined by a formula similar to this one: Attack bonus = 10.5(aka d20) + (weapon proficiency bonus) + (1/2 Level) + (Level/5 rounded up to the nearest whole number) If you plot these two formulas on a graph you end up with a pair of narrow bands that stay parallel even when they jump after every 5th level. The graph itself is a representation of the available design space, and the band are how much of that design space is taken up by 4e. If you remove the "(Level/5 rounded up to the nearest whole number)" portion of the formulas and then plot them again you will find that the band take up the exact same amounts of design space meaning that the (Level/5 rounded up to the nearest whole number) portion is meaningless from a design space use perspective. I don't like when something is meaningless when it could actually be used to expand how design space is used. So your answer for having to much design space is to get rid of the excess? You can call a rabbit a shmerp, but that doesn't make it any less of a rabbit. All they are doing is hiding the symptoms of the problem and not actually solving the problem. The level 17 character still has a better than even chance to win. [/QUOTE]
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What's wrong with scaling (and levels, bonuses, advancement, etc)?
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