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I hate the d4, and i feel sorry for the d12.

Started by Razor 007, April 29, 2019, 06:08:59 AM

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Spinachcat

#15
April 29, 2019, 08:23:53 PM
EDIT: scooped by Finarvyn!

My D4s don't suck because they are D12s with 3 sets of 1-4 on them.

So worth the purchase to leave behind those damn caltrops.

Kael

#16
April 30, 2019, 12:50:52 AM
I give d12's more love by using them for initiative rolls. This works with any D&D-based game.

Omega

#17
April 30, 2019, 04:14:35 AM
Quote from: Toadmaster;1085147Is the d12 really less common than d4?

No.

The d4 is currently the least used of the polyhedrals. The d8 is oddly the most used outside RPGs. I have a couple that use the d8. I can not think of a single board game that uses a d4. And aside from maybee Ironclaw I am not sure hardly any RPGs other than D&D and GammaWorld use a d4. Call of Cthulhu?

nDervish

#18
April 30, 2019, 06:35:14 AM
Quote from: GameDaddy;1085079..or you could use your d12, and using your head, simply divide the result shows up by three rounded up to get your 1d4 result. d12 roll, 1 to 3=1, 4 to 6=2, 7 to 9=3, and 10 to12=4. So simple and elegant.

For whatever reason, I've always tended to use modulo rather than division for this sort of die-reduction.  So I would read 1-4 as-is, then 5-8 as 1-4 again, and 9-12 as the third set of 1-4.  (1, 5, 9 = 1; 2, 6, 10 = 2; 3, 7, 11 = 3; 4, 8, 12 = 4)

While I really like the idea of the d12s numbered 1-4 three times in principle, I would expect them to create confusion in games which use both d4 and d12 because you would have to look at the print on the die to know which one you're rolling instead of being able to go solely on its shape.  (I'm generally not a fan of dedicated decile dice (a d10 numbered 10, 20, 30... instead of 1, 2, 3...) for the same reason.)

ffilz

#19
April 30, 2019, 01:31:06 PM
Quote from: nDervish;1085269For whatever reason, I've always tended to use modulo rather than division for this sort of die-reduction.  So I would read 1-4 as-is, then 5-8 as 1-4 again, and 9-12 as the third set of 1-4.  (1, 5, 9 = 1; 2, 6, 10 = 2; 3, 7, 11 = 3; 4, 8, 12 = 4)

While I really like the idea of the d12s numbered 1-4 three times in principle, I would expect them to create confusion in games which use both d4 and d12 because you would have to look at the print on the die to know which one you're rolling instead of being able to go solely on its shape.  (I'm generally not a fan of dedicated decile dice (a d10 numbered 10, 20, 30... instead of 1, 2, 3...) for the same reason.)

That's why I like the Gamescience 8-sided d4, they use a color palette that is unusual, so I can easily pick them out from the d8. Also the truncated point helps distinguish them from d8s.

I remember one guy who used to miss a lot in a game that used roll high percentile dice (actually not percentile... really the first two decimal places in a random number between 0 and 1...). He kept rolling a d20 and reading 11-19 as 1 rather than as 1-9...

Others have not realized they were rolling a 20-sided d10 and not the d20 and thus kept missing (never rolling an 11-20...).

Frank

SavageSchemer

#20
April 30, 2019, 04:26:02 PM
Quote from: Omega;1085251No.

The d4 is currently the least used of the polyhedrals. The d8 is oddly the most used outside RPGs. I have a couple that use the d8. I can not think of a single board game that uses a d4. And aside from maybee Ironclaw I am not sure hardly any RPGs other than D&D and GammaWorld use a d4. Call of Cthulhu?

That's oddly unintuitive. I'd have thought that the D6 still reigned supreme outside of rpgs.
The more clichéd my group plays their characters, the better. I don't want Deep Drama™ and Real Acting™ in the precious few hours away from my family and job. I want cheap thrills, constant action, involved-but-not-super-complex plots, and cheesy but lovable characters.
From "Play worlds, not rules"

Razor 007

#21
April 30, 2019, 08:12:55 PM
Quote from: SavageSchemer;1085349That's oddly unintuitive. I'd have thought that the D6 still reigned supreme outside of rpgs.


Me too.
I need you to roll a perception check.....

Armchair Gamer

#22
April 30, 2019, 09:33:35 PM
Quote from: SavageSchemer;1085349That's oddly unintuitive. I'd have thought that the D6 still reigned supreme outside of rpgs.

I think Omega was excluding the d6 from the list.

Armchair Gamer

#23
April 30, 2019, 09:34:32 PM
Quote from: Omega;1085251And aside from maybee Ironclaw I am not sure hardly any RPGs other than D&D and GammaWorld use a d4. Call of Cthulhu?

Savage Worlds uses it.

Thondor

#24
April 30, 2019, 09:42:14 PM
I sometimes use d12s instead of d6s in Simple Superheroes, since the probabilities are basically the same (slightly less advantageous for defense Talents, since defenders win on ties). I do this more when we play planetary or cosmic games, seems to make it feel more epic.

I've been playtesting a fantasy hack of SS that uses all d12s.

Thondor

#25
April 30, 2019, 09:44:38 PM
Quote from: SavageSchemer;1085349That's oddly unintuitive. I'd have thought that the D6 still reigned supreme outside of rpgs.

I expect the comments about d8s are meant as "other than d6s, you see a surprising number of d8s, but not really any other polyhedrals in boardgames."
Risk 2210 and Battlestar Galactica both use d8s. I think these were relatively early games to use d8s (and popular).

Theory of Games

#26
April 30, 2019, 10:15:56 PM
Wait --- we're disclaiming the value of having a weapon as a gaming tool? Oh, the disadulation :(

When I roll a 1 on a d4, I can't complain. Spread's too close. It's almost a win because there's no 0 on the die. Give me a d6, d8 or better and when I roll a 1 --- AYFKKM?!?!?! It's Frodo getting stung & webbed up by Shelob: I don't want to talk to anybody at the table for 5-10 minutes.

But, my dice no longer perform as such. After many years as a (somewhat) decent GM, I've assembled the Illuminati Dicebag, to the point that I roll out in the open for everything because --- YES! (followed by much lamentation)
TTRPGs are just games. Friends are forever.

Omega

#27
May 01, 2019, 04:21:01 AM Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 04:28:33 AM by Omega
Quote from: SavageSchemer;1085349That's oddly unintuitive. I'd have thought that the D6 still reigned supreme outside of rpgs.

The d6 sees a ton of use. But over the decades various publishers have gone with the d8. Not many used the d10 though outside RPGs. Its less used than the d12 for board games. I am not sure why the d8 became so popular.

Omega

#28
May 01, 2019, 04:23:52 AM Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 04:50:50 AM by Omega
Quote from: Thondor;1085410I expect the comments about d8s are meant as "other than d6s, you see a surprising number of d8s, but not really any other polyhedrals in boardgames."
Risk 2210 and Battlestar Galactica both use d8s. I think these were relatively early games to use d8s (and popular).

Theres older games from the 80s that did. Not sure if any pre-80s use a d8 though. I'd have to look around.

Jumanji from 95 uses d8s.


But the first I ever got with a d8 was Shadowlord in 83

As does Dune from 84 (same designer.)

And Cloak and Dagger from 84 was the board game was thinking of that used a d12.

Omega

#29
May 01, 2019, 05:48:36 AM Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 05:55:27 AM by Omega
Dark World from 91 is one board game I recall using a d10 by the way. Fortress America from 89 used a d10 too and a d8.

And Football Fever from around 81 used all sorts of polyhedrals. Football shaped d4!


Global Pursuit from I believe 87 used an oddly large d12. Globetrotters from 84 is another that used a d12.
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