Which dice method is best?

[Crothian]

None are best. I've played dozens of systems with many different methods. I've player diceless, ones that use card, and I even have one that uses a Roulette wheel. The trick is not which is best, but which matches the game it is for. Different ways of doing dice have a different feel and this can really effect the game in ways perople don't always see unless they are watching it.

 

[Bastoche]

Now that I think of it, a very nice alternative to the d20 for each and every d20 system would be simply using 2d10 instead. Never a 1, so we dump automatic miss (and then the combat rolls become consistent with skill checks rather than being exception to the rule) and critical are automatic when the sum of the 2 d10 reach the appointed number (20, 19-20, 18-20 plus keen effects and so on). Than way, on average everyone score around 11 and the probability for a critical hit is strictly 1/100 (or other depending on the weapon type but for one given weapon, the probability is static) instead of ~1/40 that non trivially depends on various factors.

 

[Thanee]

d20 works well... 3d6 works well... I like the Deadlands system quite a bit, personally, or the Shadowrun/World of Darkness system, where you roll multiple dice against a target number and count the successes.

But Deadlands really has one of the best dice systems out there IMHO.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

What Crothian said! I'd agree, different dice systems work better with different types of games. They've all got their up and down side.

Thanee - I was a big fan of Deadlands too - the dice system was pretty good... But the bit that really shone for me was the poker cards. Very likable magic system IMO.

 

[Warehouse23]

Shadowrun 4th Edition is getting a sort of watered down Deadlands style dice mechanic involving a fixed TN of 5 (roll Nd6 where N is skill+attribute). Each die is a lottery ticket for success, with harder actions requiring more successes ("hits"). Some have pointed out that this is basically the WoD mechanic, only with d6's.

I have to come down in favor of WEGs d6 Starwars. Nothing like rolling a fistful of dice and revelling in the total. It's like casting a fireball every action....

 

[diaglo]

3d6 method or other curve method.

 

[Thanee]

Shadowrun 4th Edition is getting a sort of watered down Deadlands style dice mechanic involving a fixed TN of 5 (roll Nd6 where N is skill+attribute). Each die is a lottery ticket for success, with harder actions requiring more successes ("hits"). Some have pointed out that this is basically the WoD mechanic, only with d6's.

Yeah, that's like WoD, but not like Deadlands. Deadlands is like Silhouette just a billion times better.

And I-AL, I totally agree that Deadlands is an overall really cool system.
Only really works with the background (western style), but for that it works!

My own Shadowrun dice system, which I wrote back in the times of 2nd edition, also had a (mostly) fixed TN (of 4 though), while modifiers where applied to the dice number instead (i.e. smartlink gives more dice, wounds reduce dice, etc). Only severe circumstances changed the TN, i.e. being severely wounded gives a +1. Worked extremely well.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Bastoche]

Yesterday, I plotted some curves comparing let's say 1d20, 2d10, 3d6+2 and 4d5 (add the total, add modifier like d20). Basically, the probability to have around 11 is higher as you take more dice. The probability to get a "critical" failure is as low as having a critical sucess. I love that. Now between all these methods, you just have to choose how probable getting a critical result is. I'd like to test each of these rolling methods to see how it works out in practice. I have the feeling that this would be better with defense bonus per level (to keep the net bab about 5-10 lower than the net AC) and much fewer hit points. Hitting would take longer but once you hit, you kill. Opposed rolls might work well too.

The rolls would be much more consistent (as if you were not rolling dice at all) but with some fluctuations now and then.

 

[Ed Cha]

I like mixing up different dice-rolling methods. Sometimes this fixation on the d20 + modifier for D&D these days gets annoying. It's almost like it keeps you from designing any rules that don't follow that paradigm.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Alternity style-- one control die and one variable die based on difficulty and circumstances (which can either add or subtract), to beat a target number.

I'd probably recommend a semi-d20 version, as in Unearthed Arcana: d20 +/- a variable die based on your modifiers, to roll at or over a target number set by difficulty.

Could even go 3d6 with this system, but that could prove more trouble than it's worth. (Especially when the variable die is a -d6.)