Quote from: JMiskimen;1144746I swear, you dumbasses can't read.

Tell us about your last game group.

Quote from: Itachi;1144721This is the Golden Age of the hobby, with new games from all styles being released or kickstarted by the dozens, and old ones getting remakes or re-releases.

Absolutely! DriveThruRPG and Kickstarter are gold mines. We are extremely fortunate, but with so much product, its easy to get jaded and overwhelmed. And of course, there's the 90/10 rule.

Quote from: JMiskimen;1144746I also told you this thread wasn't about what you think it is.
My problem is your presumptions.

Please explain what you mean.

What is this thread about?

What do you want to discuss?

Quote from: trechriron;1144759For example, I'm gearing up to run The Void (horror sci-fi inspired by Cthulhu mythos), and it's deliciously easy to hack.

Have fun! The Void is great stuff. I ran Cthonian Stars when it first came out and I was very happy with how you never feel limited by being in one solar system.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1144766This site is all about the OSR.  Yes other rpgs are talked about here, but the main deal is OSR/OSR similar games.  You just walked into a hornets nest.

I disagree. We are happy to talk about most any actual RPG. It's just we have lots of OSR fans who start threads, but we're about whatever people want to start threads about.

I'd love to see more Palladium threads.

Quote from: kidkaos2;1144781The main reason I don't like d20 games is because the d20 is so swingy.

Use 2D10. I had GMs who felt the same as you back in AD&D. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how to convert Champions to using a D20 because I love the swingy.

Quote from: JMiskimen;1144788I am a troll of the worst order because I called your sacred cow for what it is and that bothers you enough to post in my little experiment to prove me right.

Dude, this is theRPGsite. You're gonna have to troll a lot harder to even join the 3rd worst order.

Quote from: Wiseblood;1144811This is my first post....here.

Welcome aboard Wiseblood!!

Please start a thread that's better than this one!

I am truly and sincerely impressed.  You guys were really nice to an obvious troll that was just trying to start trouble.  Kudos.

Quote from: Wiseblood;1144811... This is my first post....here. I lurked for a time then took a break and returned (took a left turn and) mistook RPG . Net for this place and "I was like WTF? Where is the RPG Pundit? He had some sense." ( I began to question my own sanity. "Is this some Mandella effect shit here? If there is such a thing.")

Obvious Troll here again, just to round off my post count at a nice even deuce and point out that I am NOT a new user ... been here since 2008. Also, calling out certain personas online-  in that, you too, like myself - are NOT who you maintain to be. Believe what you read? Bottom Line. Whatever sells.

I give this thread a 7/10 so far.

Started very promising, then became a bit too confusing with too many side plots to follow.
Also showing a distinct lack of memes.

Quote from: JMiskimen;1144837Obvious Troll here again, just to round off my post count at a nice even deuce and point out that I am NOT a new user ... been here since 2008. Also, calling out certain personas online-  in that, you too, like myself - are NOT who you maintain to be. Believe what you read? Bottom Line. Whatever sells.

What the fuck does this have to do with hating RPGs?

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1144800Hacking a d20 based game to be a 3d6 based one isn't that hard, and then you have both the abundant material and your bell curve mechanic (which I also prefer TBH).

I tried that in 199? for awhile. 3D6 + 2, so you could still get a 20. (a 20 has never been an automatic crit or even an automatic success in Glory Road but it's still nice for it to be possible) It led to a much less swingy game. There were fewer "upsets," the favorite won more often. That mostly benefitted the PCs as they were usually the favorites in a fight.

However, my players universally rejected it after six sessions. They like the "swingy" D20. It was an experiment and we abandoned it. There was nothing terrible about it and no one said that they would have quit playing with us if I had kept it. Another group might like it, that's for sure. I should have put it in as an option in the rules but I wasn't thinking about it then.

I was wrong.

I've never truly liked the swinginess of the d20, TBH. For me it's more a combination of the aesthetic (the feel of the d20 in my hand, the way it looks, the way it rolls when thrown, its deep association with RPGs, etc.) and its expediency and ease of use (you just have to roll ONE die and quickly see the result instead of counting several, its variables line up perfectly to 5% increments, which simplify math, etc.). It just keeps the game moving and handles task resolution faster than other die mechanics.

d6s are my second favorite, but I prefer them for damage rolls rather than task resolution (1d6/level for powers and explosions, etc.; 1d6/2 levels, +2 at odd levels for weapon attacks). Although I do have a soft spot for Shadowrun style dice pool mechanics.

Quote from: WillInNewHaven;1144859I tried that in 199? for awhile. 3D6 + 2, so you could still get a 20. (a 20 has never been an automatic crit or even an automatic success in Glory Road but it's still nice for it to be possible) It led to a much less swingy game. There were fewer "upsets," the favorite won more often. That mostly benefitted the PCs as they were usually the favorites in a fight.

However, my players universally rejected it after six sessions. They like the "swingy" D20. It was an experiment and we abandoned it. There was nothing terrible about it and no one said that they would have quit playing with us if I had kept it. Another group might like it, that's for sure. I should have put it in as an option in the rules but I wasn't thinking about it then.

Swingy feels good in combat; like anything can happen; and as long as combat is not resolved by a single die roll (lacking a death spiral also helps in this regard), multiple rolls over multiple rounds will get you to a bell curve in terms of combat results anyway... i.e. do you win without taking damage (upper end of bell curve), win but take some damage (middle of the bell-curve), lose (lower end of bell curve).

Where the single die causes issues is performing things where single checks are used to resolve them and, even more critically, tasks requiring multiple checks to complete where any failed check leads to disaster (ex. climbing rules in 3e if you can't automatically succeed on the checks).

Mechanics like Take-10, Min-10 (treat roll of 1-9 as 10), advantage, middle roll (roll three dice and use middle result) or just rewriting the mechanics so that single failures with multiple checks needed no longer result in disaster can all help make results more regular.

In my own system mastery of a skill isn't so much a huge bonus, but gaining both a permanent Min-10 and Advantage for the skill which allows for a steady level of top end performance even under harsh conditions. Without those you might get lucky and do as well as a master, but their odds are vastly better of producing top end results.

Quote from: WillInNewHaven;1144859I tried that in 199? for awhile. 3D6 + 2, so you could still get a 20. (a 20 has never been an automatic crit or even an automatic success in Glory Road but it's still nice for it to be possible) It led to a much less swingy game. There were fewer "upsets," the favorite won more often. That mostly benefitted the PCs as they were usually the favorites in a fight.

However, my players universally rejected it after six sessions. They like the "swingy" D20. It was an experiment and we abandoned it. There was nothing terrible about it and no one said that they would have quit playing with us if I had kept it. Another group might like it, that's for sure. I should have put it in as an option in the rules but I wasn't thinking about it then.

3d6+2 that's one I have never seen, I meant straight 3d6 so you get 3-18, the conversion involves reducing the bonuses since in a bell curve those have more impact.

For an example of what I'm talking about you could check microlite 74 3d6 edition

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1144800Hacking a d20 based game to be a 3d6 based one isn't that hard, and then you have both the abundant material and your bell curve mechanic (which I also prefer TBH).

  The easiest way to get a bell curve into d20, or at least reduce swing, may be to adopt the 'roll 3d20, pick middle' hack that I've seen in several places.

Quote from: Aglondir;1144802Welcome to the Site, JMiskimen.

Start some threads on Traveller, you never know who might be interested.

I'd be interested.

Quote from: kidkaos2;1144781The main reason I don't like d20 games is because the d20 is so swingy.  I really prefer a game mechanic that has a bell curve to the results.  

Just a thought, but you could do 3d20, take middle. Same 1-20 output range, same chunky polyhedrons, but with a bell curve.

EDIT: I got scooped by ArmchairGamer.

TBH, one of the main reasons I like d20 mechanics is that I can quickly resolve tasks with a single roll. If I have to roll multiple dice, and use three dice specifically, I'd rather convert to 3d6+Mod, which is not a bad mechanic anyways. But rolling 3d20 and then dropping a natural 20 (potentially to take a very crappy roll) cuz you have to take the middle die sounds sooo anticlimactic.

Quote from: VisionStorm;1144887TBH, one of the main reasons I like d20 mechanics is that I can quickly resolve tasks with a single roll. If I have to roll multiple dice, and use three dice specifically, I'd rather convert to 3d6+Mod, which is not a bad mechanic anyways. But rolling 3d20 and then dropping a natural 20 (potentially to take a very crappy roll) cuz you have to take the middle die sounds sooo anticlimactic.

Yeah. Even though I like a nice bell curve, I think I'd just prefer to stick with the swingy 1D20. The only way I could see around it would be to introduce an advantage/disadvantage hack where, if you have advantage you take the high die; take the low die on disadvantage; take the mid value by default. While that mechanic could be fun, I don't think it has any advantages - other than perhaps granularity - over 3D6 or 4DF or something similar.