D&D 5E Would you be happy with fixed damage?

[Oofta]

1) Yep, the industry is there to make money. It is not a charity event.
2) Really? That is a lot of work... 20 lines multiplied by the number of attacks... plus possible bonuses from spells... and what about enlarge? Nope, it is easier to just calculate as you go along. Plus, it is very good for mental calculus!

For #2 - yeah, it seemed like overkill to me as well. But the guy just had a lot of difficulty. Nice guy, otherwise intelligent and fun, but mental math was just tough for him. Definitely an extreme case but it worked for him.

I've thought about trying a session with everyone using averages, may try it when we're back to playing in person. For now, most people are using Beyond20 since with use Roll20 and I have a shared account with DndBeyond.

 

[Helldritch]

I tried to DM in roll 20... Never got the hang of it and prep was about 1hour prep for 1 hour of game time. Too much work for me.

 

[Oofta]

I tried to DM in roll 20... Never got the hang of it and prep was about 1hour prep for 1 hour of game time. Too much work for me.

My trick with Roll20 was to ignore most of the bells and whistles and be happy with simple maps. I still greatly prefer in-person games unfortunately it's not an option right now.

But that's another thread.

 

[cmad1977]

I tried to DM in roll 20... Never got the hang of it and prep was about 1hour prep for 1 hour of game time. Too much work for me.

Doing something wrong.

 

[Helldritch]

Sure, or I am just very bad using Paint like programs (and probably lack the patience too).

 

[LordEntrails]

Now? I've passed through a couple of times and set my limit to $1 and see a show. But games of pure chance? Whether gambling or not, I just don't win.

Not pure chance, or at least to me that implies even odds. The 'games' in Vegas are not even odds, they favor the house. Its what pays for those big buildings, flashy lights, and all the people working those big buildings.

 

[Campbell]

I play a lot of games with fixed damage values, but they also tend to have degrees of success on the attack roll influence how much damage is done. I am running Lancer right now which uses fixed damage for antagonists but not for PCs.

I am mostly fine with fixed damage. Combat just needs to feel dynamic enough.

 

[Stormdale]

5e is already is already D&D on easy mode so I'm not a fan of average dice, I like randomness in my game

- nothing like the cheers at
the table when a fireball does 38 pts of damage (which is about our highest iirc in our games) or groans when it fizzes and the party realises the fight just got harder.

I'm tempted to try all damage is max damage and see how that changes the pcs approach to combat!

 

[CubicsRube]

One thing I see numerous times in this thread is "Average damage saves me having to roll lots of dice on [some big blast effect]".

But isn't that the fun part? Counting out that big mittful of dice, gleefully shaking them, and rolling them all over the table?

I'd never want to lose that, either as DM or player!

Fair response, and I guess what I wanted to see out of the thread.

Personally I don't get an innate sense of fun from rolling damage, but I know some do, so it's good to see varying perspectives.

 

[CubicsRube]

5e is already is already D&D on easy mode so I'm not a fan of average dice, I like randomness in my game

- nothing like the cheers at
the table when a fireball does 38 pts of damage (which is about our highest iirc in our games) or groans when it fizzes and the party realises the fight just got harder.

I'm tempted to try all damage is max damage and see how that changes the pcs approach to combat!

I'm in a campaign which is now running high level and the DM has switched to max damage for enemies to ramp up the challenge. It certainly keeps us on our toes!