dnd
Fresh From Postbox: Harn Kingdoms, and Heart of St. Bathus
Heart of St. Bathus and Encounters in the Under Realms:
I'm really looking forward to Heart of St. Bathus because it's been authored by W.D.B. Kenower, who also wrote The Lost City of Barakus and The Vault of Larin Karr. Both of those are great sandboxes with ton of stuff to do. Bathus seems to be the same, but for higher levels and with plenty of Underdark stuff as well. At cursory glance, FGG did a horrible job with editing, layout, and visual direction, but I will endure.
#Postbox #Harn #DnD #OSR #OSE #FGG
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D&D: Odds for Xd6 Roll Under Ability Score Checks
Ability score checks seem to be of those things people either love or hate. I personally avoid them as much as possible. As long as player characters have enough time and appropriate resources, they can make it. And even when there is something to roll, I first look to saves or some other existing resolution systems. Then, and only then I'd consider rolling an ability score check using the Judges Guild system (d00 roll under, doubles result in injury).
Whichever game I play or run, I like to know (or have a feeling for) the odds. This enables me to make educated decisions about the risk, which in turn helps me decide what to do (or how to adjust difficulty if I'm the Judge). With d20 and d00 it is quite easy: a pip is either 5% or 1%. +/-1 then is either +/-5% or +/-1%. But the moment we introduce dice pools, the uniform distribution is gone and we get normal distribution instead. What are the odds then?
With that being said, Xd6 systems have been present since the beginning (e.g. loyalty and morale check). Robert Fisher house rule was inspired by The Fantasy Trip's system which basically adds or removes dice based on how challenging something is.
Here are the odds of rolling ability score or less on Xd6 (rounded to two decimals):
| ABILITY SCORE | 1d6 | 2d6 | 3d6 | 4d6 | 5d6 | 6d6 | 7d6 | 8d6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 50.00% | 8.32% | 0.46% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 4 | 66.68% | 16.65% | 1.85% | 0.08% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 5 | 83.35% | 27.76% | 4.63% | 0.39% | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 6 | 100.00% | 41.64% | 9.26% | 1.16% | 0.08% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 7 | 100.00% | 58.30% | 16.20% | 2.70% | 0.27% | 0.02% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 8 | 100.00% | 72.18% | 25.93% | 5.40% | 0.72% | 0.06% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 9 | 100.00% | 83.29% | 37.50% | 9.72% | 1.62% | 0.18% | 0.01% | 0.00% |
| 10 | 100.00% | 91.62% | 50.00% | 15.90% | 3.24% | 0.45% | 0.04% | 0.00% |
| 11 | 100.00% | 97.17% | 62.50% | 23.92% | 5.88% | 0.99% | 0.12% | 0.01% |
| 12 | 100.00% | 99.94% | 74.07% | 33.56% | 9.80% | 1.97% | 0.28% | 0.03% |
| 13 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 83.80% | 44.37% | 15.20% | 3.59% | 0.61% | 0.08% |
| 14 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 90.74% | 55.63% | 22.15% | 6.08% | 1.21% | 0.18% |
| 15 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 95.37% | 66.44% | 30.52% | 9.65% | 2.21% | 0.38% |
| 16 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 98.15% | 76.08% | 39.97% | 14.46% | 3.79% | 0.74% |
| 17 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 99.54% | 84.10% | 50.00% | 20.58% | 6.12% | 1.37% |
| 18 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 90.28% | 60.03% | 27.94% | 9.39% | 2.37% |
Now, let's narrow it to four categories suggested by Robert (rounded):
| ABILITY SCORE | EASY 2d6 |
MODERATE 3d6 |
HARD 4d6 |
VERY HARD 5d6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 4 | 17% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
| 5 | 28% | 5% | 0% | 0% |
| 6 | 42% | 9% | 1% | 0% |
| 7 | 58% | 16% | 3% | 0% |
| 8 | 72% | 26% | 5% | 1% |
| 9 | 83% | 38% | 10% | 2% |
| 10 | 92% | 50% | 16% | 3% |
| 11 | 97% | 63% | 24% | 6% |
| 12 | 100% | 74% | 34% | 10% |
| 13 | 100% | 84% | 44% | 15% |
| 14 | 100% | 91% | 56% | 22% |
| 15 | 100% | 95% | 66% | 31% |
| 16 | 100% | 98% | 76% | 40% |
| 17 | 100% | 100% | 84% | 50% |
| 18 | 100% | 100% | 90% | 60% |
If I were to use the above, I'd probably include the table in the house rules document so players can make an informed decision. And for me as well, so I can gauge difficulty. Although there is some allure for the notion of “simply” adding d6 dice for how challenging something is, I think I'll stick to my approach of first hearing out how players want to do something, and then picking the most appropriate resolution mechanism.
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Fresh From Postbox: Harn Kingdoms, Tome of Adventure Design and Riddle Register
Hârn kingdoms of Kaldor, Melderyn, Rethem, and Orbaal:
HârnWorld 40th anniversary hardback is being crowdfunded at the moment.
Riddle Register: The Ultimate Book of Riddles:
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Fresh From Postbox: Judges Guild Deluxe Collector's Editions
Finally unpacked these bad boys. Goodman Games did a great job.
Judges Guild Deluxe Collector's Edition Vol I:
Judges Guild Deluxe Collector's Edition Vol II:
Judges Guild reprints by Goodman Games:
Tegel Manor, The Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor, Citadel of Fire, The Caverns of Thracia, Dark Tower, and The Book of Treasure Maps.
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Fresh From Postbox: Art & Arcana and dice tray
Fresh From Postbox: Axian Library and Designers & Dragons
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