Sunday 16 April 2023

Fistful of Dice Mechanics

Are you a fistful of dice type wargamer or do you prefer single-opposed dice rolls for determining the outcome of a melee? In some forums, this subject seems to divide the opinion of wargamers and the games they choose to play. I on the other hand don't care what dice mechanic is used, so long as it works, is simple to understand, and is easy to remember.

2 comments:

  1. Lee, you are not controversial at all. The dice, no matter the mechanisms used, are a means of interjecting some randomness into the game. Single, opposed, handfuls, or even cards or coin flips can be used effectively if the combat model is built appropriately and thoughtfully. Now, for some real controversy, discuss the marginal effects of modifiers upon a 2D6 Gaussian curve distribution...

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  2. ALl sorts of dice mechanics are ok, as long as you don't start to use hybrids. E.g. you can vary in number of dice rolled, die roll modifiers (or target numbers), die types (D4, D6, D8 ...). But mixing these mechanics together quickly becomes a mess. I'm all in favour of clean mechanics that use a single type of modifier, and not "Roll 2D6, but when X add a D10, when Y add a +2, and when Z, take the minimum number rolled, else the middle.". Something like that. The horror!

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