I am reading about the advantage/disadvantage dice mechanic in D&D 5.

I don't get it. I mean "I get it" as far as it speeds up play and smooths over aspects of the game, I suppose.

But I don't understand the mad fuss. It allows DMs handwavium over negative or positive modifiers? It forces players to take either a good roll or a bad roll, regardless of all other circumstances?

To me it seems like as case of: "I can't be fucking assed to work out how much of a positive or negative modifier there should be, so roll two dice and I will make you choose the one I want. Oh, it says disadvantage so you HAVE to take the sucky die".

I know that they can cancel each other out, not stack, and on (I read chapter 7 of the Basic) but it just doesn't look to be that "nuanced" or reflective of the many aspects tied into any situation.

And this is coming from someone who never played 3.PF or 4E.

There we go, one dissenting view. Flame on, people!

But you're a KENDER.... covered in BUTTER.

What? You want a serious reply?  I'll leave the actual cooking to the guys given I'm a nice girl despite what CR says.

If you set the DC's right in the first place, all those old +X and -Y's are covered already. No sense double dipping here.

Old method: You want to climb a slanted wall, its easy DC 10, oh but its raining so +3 and someone buttered it, so +2, and well there is a strong wind so +5

New Method: Raining, buttered, wind chased wall. DC 20.

And +2 if you have some cute guys helping you....(DC 20 isn't a cakewalk in 5e for anybody that isn't a bard or rogue).

I maintain that rolling two dice is twice as fun as rolling one. The internet loves to talk about excess dice-rolling "slowing down gameplay" and other made-up theorywank horseshit that I don't buy. A 3-man Taco Bell run slows down a game; a few extra die rolls doesn't effect anyone on a perceptible level, except for the poor wretched assholes who read your whiny RPGnet thread afterwards.

Advantage/disadvantage turns the old staid +/- penalty into a real-world mechanic that translates directly into dice in hand, which is exciting on the player side. Instead of tossing a die and doing  1st grade math, you're tossing TWO dice and eff the math!

I like rolling dice and I think the vast majority of roleplayers do as well. As such I support even more such mechanics, including rerolls, rolling lesser dice and adding, etc.

Just one man's opinion.

Quote from: Raven;771433I maintain that rolling two dice is twice as fun as rolling one. The internet loves to talk about excess dice-rolling "slowing down gameplay" and other made-up theorywank horseshit that I don't buy. A 3-man Taco Bell run slows down a game; a few extra die rolls doesn't effect anyone on a perceptible level, except for the poor wretched assholes who read your whiny RPGnet thread afterwards.

Advantage/disadvantage turns the old staid +/- penalty into a real-world mechanic that translates directly into dice in hand, which is exciting on the player side. Instead of tossing a die and doing  1st grade math, you're tossing TWO dice and eff the math!

I like rolling dice and I think the vast majority of roleplayers do as well. As such I support even more such mechanics, including rerolls, rolling lesser dice and adding, etc.

Just one man's opinion.

And one girl's.

I love rerolls and Wild Magic/Chaos Sorcerers and TWO D20 die....lavender and blue for me.

I also like that advantage/disadvantage also doesn't change the range of your roll. No inflation of numbers.

It's 2K1 (roll 2 keep 1) and its been a staple mechanic in several RPGs, most particularly AEG's system.

It's also used in Mazes & Minotaurs, Crimson Cutlass and the RPGs found in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer such as Battle Born. I am pretty sure I've seen the concept elsewhere, but just can't remember at the moment.

It's a quick and dirty mechanic that does a good job. Also, rolling two dice and picking one and adding modifiers is probably less than a second longer than rolling one die.

I'm not a 5e fan, but Adv/Dis is a solid addition to D&D.

Speed, economy, doesn't fuck with range of numbers and cause power inflation, and it's being promoted by the 800 lb gorilla of the industry.

Those are winners in my book.

Yes, it's not a completely new mechanic, but then there almost never is -- execution matters FAR more than originality.

Quote from: Marleycat;771429And +2 if you have some cute guys helping you....(DC 20 isn't a cakewalk in 5e for anybody that isn't a bard or rogue).

Indeed.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;771440I also like that advantage/disadvantage also doesn't change the range of your roll. No inflation of numbers.

You are wise in what you like.

It is a quick way to give a solid boost to a character when their chances of success should increase significantly (ir significantly fall). It also makes the whole pricess simple, which is great for those of us who do not use use a frid and good for new GMs and players. I feel like it takes attention away from tallying numbers and puts more emphasis on what is going on in the game world. So all for this one. It isn't super complex or brilliant but it is an effective and simple solution, and I believe that is a good thing in game design.

Quote from: Raven;771433I maintain that rolling two dice is twice as fun as rolling one. The internet loves to talk about excess dice-rolling "slowing down gameplay" and other made-up theorywank horseshit that I don't buy. A 3-man Taco Bell run slows down a game; a few extra die rolls doesn't effect anyone on a perceptible level, except for the poor wretched assholes who read your whiny RPGnet thread afterwards.

Advantage/disadvantage turns the old staid +/- penalty into a real-world mechanic that translates directly into dice in hand, which is exciting on the player side. Instead of tossing a die and doing  1st grade math, you're tossing TWO dice and eff the math!

I like rolling dice and I think the vast majority of roleplayers do as well. As such I support even more such mechanics, including rerolls, rolling lesser dice and adding, etc.

Just one man's opinion.

Yeah it isn't the tossing of the dice that slows down play it's the calculation of too many fiddly modifiers. Rolling two dice at once is just as fast as rolling one.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;771440I also like that advantage/disadvantage also doesn't change the range of your roll. No inflation of numbers.

Also great. A way to up the odds without pushing the upper range into the stratosphere. A target number of 40+ on a 20 sided die is ri-gawd damned-diculous.

Another reason I like it:

You can pretend your life or death combat is a tennis match.

Quote from: Will;771447Speed, economy, doesn't fuck with range of numbers and cause power inflation, and it's being promoted by the 800 lb gorilla of the industry.

Those are winners in my book.

.

Mine too.  I like fast combat.  It makes combat faster.

It's a shit mechanic.  For instance, a while back in my 1e game, the pcs fought an ogre who had coerced a trribe of kobolds into sending him 100 warriors.  How the hell do I run that if they have advantage or disadvantage?  I can't just roll a handful of dice using the ADHD mechanic.