D&D General Why do we Round Down???

[billd91]

I guess it just ensures we everybody is doing the same thing.

Ultimately, I'm sure this is why. 2e was a weird hodgepodge of round ups and round downs. Going with just one method simplifies things.

 

[Bolares]

You're right, for me, it's still below half of the time I've been playing D&D, so it qualifies as "rather new", but I can see your point and it makes it probably even harder to admit.

... I've just turned 30. That's more than half my life

 

[77IM]

Ultimately, I'm sure this is why. 2e was a weird hodgepodge of round ups and round downs. Going with just one method simplifies things.

...Or we could just not mention it and round everything the way normal humans round in their everyday lives?

 

[Xetheral]

What's the point? Why not "always round the way your 3rd-grade math teacher taught you?"

There are many different ways to round. For a fun chart showing ten of those methods, check out this Wikipedia page. The method taught to children might be standard in U.S. grade schools (although it's definitely not standard in various professional fields, even within the U.S.), but it would not surprise me if different cultures taught different rounding systems in their schools.

Given the potential disagreements among readers regarding what the "default" method of rounding might be, it makes sense to specify a uniform method in the PHB.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I learned the hard way why you round down instead of up: not everything is 1/2. If you start getting 1/4 or 1/6, you're looking at massive jumps.

 

[J.Quondam]

I prefer squaring my HP rather than rounding them. Makes for a bit more staying power, I've noticed.

 

[Lanefan]

I learned the hard way why you round down instead of up: not everything is 1/2. If you start getting 1/4 or 1/6, you're looking at massive jumps.

1/4 or 1/6 you'd normally always round down; just like you'd always round up 3/4 or 5/6. It's only at 1/2 that the question arises as to which way to round it.

 

[aco175]

My daughter recently told me that 48 (my age) is like 50 if we are rounding. Then she told me that 50 rounds to 100, so I'm old. That's why we round down.

 

[embee]

I have now decided to play D&D at my next Seder. And this will be one of the Four Questions.

"In math class, we may round up or round down, depending on the dividend. Why in this edition do we only round down?"

 

[embee]

... I've just turned 30. That's more than half my life

I think you mean that that is more than half as long as you have been living.

If 20 years is more than half of your life, then you will be dead within 10 years.