What's wrong with dice pools?

RNGm · January 16, 2024, 12:07:17 PM

Ditto. I was fine with custom dice in Xwing but I've never been a fan of custom symbols that need to be deciphered in an rpg. At that point, you might as well save yourself some money and just use chicken bones and tea leaves left over from dinner.

Valatar · January 16, 2024, 02:32:53 PM

I've never had any difficulty tallying up the Star Wars die symbols at a glance, but for people for whom that causes difficulty there are dice apps out there that will just display the final result immediately, or of course most VTTs also summarize the rolls, I know for sure that Fantasy Grounds and Foundry do. That said, if you need a program to do your dice rolling for you, the system's probably a poor fit.

pawsplay · January 16, 2024, 03:08:36 PM

I don't see the appeal of a dice system that requires that much dice reading, and then gives you a result that is mostly narrative anyway.

Steven Mitchell · January 16, 2024, 05:34:34 PM

Quote from: Valatar on January 16, 2024, 02:32:53 PM
I've never had any difficulty tallying up the Star Wars die symbols at a glance, but for people for whom that causes difficulty there are dice apps out there that will just display the final result immediately, or of course most VTTs also summarize the rolls, I know for sure that Fantasy Grounds and Foundry do. That said, if you need a program to do your dice rolling for you, the system's probably a poor fit.

Even if you don't need a program to do your dice rolling, enjoying the feel of the dice in your hands is a thing. Of course, enjoying that feel is what causes some people to decide that more is better, and leads to bigger pools.

Chris24601 · January 16, 2024, 06:58:40 PM

Quote from: RNGm on January 16, 2024, 10:18:58 AM
I'm repeated surprised that some folks have such an intense dislike of dice pools and I never know if it's just a vocal minority that despise them or if I'm the weirdo.

To be fair, I don't hate dice pools, but they're damnably inconvenient for the way my groups tend to play these days with the extremely limited table space that the tv dinner stands next to or in front of or beside sofas, love seats and recliners have.

Anything bigger than about four dice is inevitably going to find half the pool on the floor at least once or twice a session.

As such, I've grown to like the fixed target number dice pools with the odds for each die right around 50% because you can sub in half the pool + 4dF (Fudge dice; equal shot at -1, 0, or +1 result) will have almost the same distributions but not go flying off the tables nearly as often.

BadApple · January 16, 2024, 07:15:42 PM

Quote from: Chris24601 on January 16, 2024, 06:58:40 PM
Quote from: RNGm on January 16, 2024, 10:18:58 AM
I'm repeated surprised that some folks have such an intense dislike of dice pools and I never know if it's just a vocal minority that despise them or if I'm the weirdo.
To be fair, I don't hate dice pools, but they're damnably inconvenient for the way my groups tend to play these days with the extremely limited table space that the tv dinner stands next to or in front of or beside sofas, love seats and recliners have.

Anything bigger than about four dice is inevitably going to find half the pool on the floor at least once or twice a session.

As such, I've grown to like the fixed target number dice pools with the odds for each die right around 50% because you can sub in half the pool + 4dF (Fudge dice; equal shot at -1, 0, or +1 result) will have almost the same distributions but not go flying off the tables nearly as often.

You, sir, need a dice tray. I have a nice one I got on Amazon for less than $20. It looks nice on the table and it keeps those pesky pieces of plastic off the floor.

I have no personal issue with dice pools but I avoid them at the table because it slows the game down when I have a math challenged friend trying to figure out his results. Hell, I got a set of polyhedrals where each size is a different color so I can give them to noobs and kids and tell them what one to roll by the color.

Domina · January 16, 2024, 11:19:50 PM

Surely you guys understand that you don't need to own as many dice as you have in your pool right?

Tod13 · January 17, 2024, 08:26:01 AM

Quote from: Domina on January 16, 2024, 11:19:50 PM
Surely you guys understand that you don't need to own as many dice as you have in your pool right?

That sounds like it would make an already slow process, counting/figuring results, even slower. And add in that I'll forget the current count when I reroll.

Ratman_tf · January 17, 2024, 11:51:47 AM

Quote from: Domina on January 16, 2024, 11:19:50 PM
Surely you guys understand that you don't need to own as many dice as you have in your pool right?

I bought a huge bag of d6's because I want to have enough dice for any single roll at a time, for WEG D6.
I also got a neat Star Wars dice bag because I like to have stuff.

pawsplay · January 17, 2024, 01:01:24 PM

Quote from: Domina on January 16, 2024, 11:19:50 PM
Surely you guys understand that you don't need to own as many dice as you have in your pool right?

Look, I don't need this kind of negativity in my life.

Grognard GM · January 17, 2024, 01:05:16 PM

Are there freaks out there that haven't casually gathered together a big ol' bag of dice over the decades just by existing and gaming? I have dice I bought, dice I was gifted, and dice from various boardgames over the years.

pawsplay · January 17, 2024, 01:14:35 PM

Quote from: Grognard GM on January 17, 2024, 01:05:16 PM
Are there freaks out there that haven't casually gathered together a big ol' bag of dice over the decades just by existing and gaming? I have dice I bought, dice I was gifted, and dice from various boardgames over the years.

Exactly. I have a an old checkbook box full of "other dice" I set on the table whenever there's a new player.

Tod13 · January 17, 2024, 03:55:36 PM

Quote from: Grognard GM on January 17, 2024, 01:05:16 PM
Are there freaks out there that haven't casually gathered together a big ol' bag of dice over the decades just by existing and gaming? I have dice I bought, dice I was gifted, and dice from various boardgames over the years.

My wife has all sorts of dice. Especially d6s.

Fheredin · January 17, 2024, 04:04:03 PM

Quote from: Ratman_tf on January 16, 2024, 11:07:21 AM

Anytime you have a dice result called "Despair", you should reconsider your system.

Not a bad point. While I don't despise Genesys, I also am not a huge fan. I probably won't ever run the game again, but I don't mind the thought of reading the book for parts or inspiration. The problem is basically that everyone understands numbers pretty easily, but Genesys uses a Byzantine set of hieroglyphic symbols. The process of learning the system is atrocious, because it requires rote memorization, and by and large Forged in the Dark games provide most of the same narrative game experience at a fraction of the effort.

Trond · January 17, 2024, 05:18:38 PM

Quote from: RNGm on January 16, 2024, 12:07:17 PM
Ditto. I was fine with custom dice in Xwing but I've never been a fan of custom symbols that need to be deciphered in an rpg. At that point, you might as well save yourself some money and just use chicken bones and tea leaves left over from dinner.

It also works fine in the One Ring, though it's just a couple of symbols added in that one (and very familiar ones to people who are into Tolkien)