Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Wow, do I hate rolling for stats!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 5394150" data-attributes="member: 19675"><p>I'm unswayed by the fairness argument you're proposing because there is more than one kind of fairness, such as fairness of opportunity. </p><p></p><p>D&D stat rolls are fair by definition because each player has the same chance of the same low or high rolls. This kind of fairness has been a key factor in the design of countless boardgames. Is Monopoly unfair? An exceptional sequence of rolls can let a player essentially lock up victory as early as the first circuit of the board. The rest of the game is merely details.</p><p></p><p>Or looking at other RPGs like the original Stormbringer game: you rolled for race. This is because the game was trying to accurately reflect the variations between the races in Moorcock's setting...and there was no way the game would be marketable if certain races like Melniboneans, Pan Tangeans and others were not available for PCs. Yet those races vary GREATLY in power, both in the setting and the game. Each player had a 1% chance of playing a Melnibonean, and a 2% chance of a Pan Tangian, for instance. And if one was in your party, you could see his impact immediately and in all aspects of the game. In a game in an RPG club, we had a party that included 2 Melniboneans and a Pan Tangian- the party was virtually unstoppable.</p><p></p><p>But the same odds applied to the least desirable races- the party could have included just as many sub-humans as supermen.</p><p></p><p>Fair? Again, yes- because each player had the same <em>opportunity.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 5394150, member: 19675"] I'm unswayed by the fairness argument you're proposing because there is more than one kind of fairness, such as fairness of opportunity. D&D stat rolls are fair by definition because each player has the same chance of the same low or high rolls. This kind of fairness has been a key factor in the design of countless boardgames. Is Monopoly unfair? An exceptional sequence of rolls can let a player essentially lock up victory as early as the first circuit of the board. The rest of the game is merely details. Or looking at other RPGs like the original Stormbringer game: you rolled for race. This is because the game was trying to accurately reflect the variations between the races in Moorcock's setting...and there was no way the game would be marketable if certain races like Melniboneans, Pan Tangeans and others were not available for PCs. Yet those races vary GREATLY in power, both in the setting and the game. Each player had a 1% chance of playing a Melnibonean, and a 2% chance of a Pan Tangian, for instance. And if one was in your party, you could see his impact immediately and in all aspects of the game. In a game in an RPG club, we had a party that included 2 Melniboneans and a Pan Tangian- the party was virtually unstoppable. But the same odds applied to the least desirable races- the party could have included just as many sub-humans as supermen. Fair? Again, yes- because each player had the same [I]opportunity.[/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Wow, do I hate rolling for stats!
Top