Hybrid System Question or Opinion.

[ss2020]

Hey,

I am Geni. I am involved in the developelment of a new game system. We are using a hybrid d20 mechanic and we are thinking of converting it from the tradtional d20 to using 2d10.

What is your opinion?

Geni

[nijineko]

do you mean, 2d10 as in 2-20, or 2d10 as in 1-100? if the latter, the main difference is that instead of rolling in units of 5%, one rolls units of 1%. widens the range of variance, especially if you use the defensive ac roll optional rule in addition.

i'd play it either way. the exact mechanic isn't that important to me. just so long as i know what it is. good roleplaying and having fun are the more important things, i think.

edit: seems like this was the level 22 post. ^^

[ss2020]

2d10, (2-20). We really thought we wanted a bell curve, so the special things would be more special not a 1 in 20 chance with every roll. This of crouse scews the the +'s but that is easily dealt with. It also makes those 1st pluses on items valuable. The higher ones are nice too though.

Geni

[Arch Lich Thoth-Amon]

2d10, (2-20). We really thought we wanted a bell curve, so the special things would be more special not a 1 in 20 chance with every roll. This of crouse scews the the +'s but that is easily dealt with. It also makes those 1st pluses on items valuable. The higher ones are nice too though.

Geni

I believe you just sold your own idea, ss2020. Now, that was easy. (;

Thoth-Amon

[DMMike]

2 cents:

2d10 slows the game down by requiring a hair more addition.

The bell curve effectively makes most rolls comparable to taking 10. This limits the likelihood of players to succeed on a "high roll."

[ronpyatt]

I like the 2d10. Here's why. The bell curve means that your ability scores, skill bonuses, magic bonuses, and feat bonuses are going to mean more, as they are most often going to be right around median in rolls. You'll be playing your character at his or her skill level, and the randomness of success is left a little more in control of the character.

It is closer to taking 10, but not nearly as likely. Monsters get the same treatment, so it's pretty much a wash as far as advantages.

It should, however, allow you to build your encounters within a tighter focus, making it easier to judge whether a party will be able to beat said encounters.

[dentarthur]

If you do the math, rolling 2d10 instead of 1d20 turns out to be advantageous for whoever has the higher bonus (e.g. +5 to hit vs. AC 19, it's good for the defender; +9 to hit vs. AC 15, it's good for the attacker). This widens the advantage in any combat, making it easier for the players to crush weaker foes and harder for them to overcome stronger opponents. Whether this is a good or bad thing is left as an exercise for the reader; every gaming group will of course have its own opinion.

[ss2020]

Here is a chart shows # of possible combinations to acchieve the roll, the roll and the % chance. Combo'sPossible Roll %
Combo's
Possible 2D10
1 2 1.00%
2 3 2.00%
3 4 3.00%
4 5 4.00%
5 6 5.00%
6 7 6.00%
7 8 7.00%
8 9 8.00%
9 10 9.00%
10 11 10.00%
9 12 9.00%
8 13 8.00%
7 14 7.00%
6 15 6.00%
5 16 5.00%
4 17 4.00%
3 18 3.00%
2 19 2.00%
1 20 1.00%
Geni

[gdmcbride]

There are several more subtle changes that come from changing to 2d10.

Feats and magic items that affect criticals become less useful. The Improved critical feat loses a lot of its bite.

In 3.5, high critical weapons are disadvantaged (for example scythes).

Any low-level creature who relies on numbers is basically rendered impotent. A kobold who used to hit the fighter on a 19 or 20 goes from a 10% hit rate to a 2% hit rate.

Armor becomes more important. Platemail ups your AC by a monumental +8. That changes a 10 to hit to an 18. A swing of 52%. That's 12% better than the 40% shift using a d20. Effectively, you've made all platemail +2.

Thus any class who doesn't use armor is going to become more disadvantaged compared to their up-armored cousins. How pronounced this is in actual play, I cannot say. This sounds like a good subject for playtesting.

Gary

[ss2020]

gdmcbride is correct and those sublte changes are dealt with in our system. Since it has a point buy element to the defense and attack bonus, each character can adjust as needed.

Geni

[gdmcbride]

gdmcbride is correct and those sublte changes are dealt with in our system. Since it has a point buy element to the defense and attack bonus, each character can adjust as needed.

Geni

Interested in giving any specifics on how you are correcting these problems? Of course, if you don't because you don't want to spoil a project under development, I'll completely understand (I'm under multiple NDAs myself). But it also makes it very hard to critique the system or offer any useful advice.

Gary

[ss2020]

Interested in giving any specifics on how you are correcting these problems? Of course, if you don't because you don't want to spoil a project under development, I'll completely understand (I'm under multiple NDAs myself). But it also makes it very hard to critique the system or offer any useful advice.

Gary

We are in developement and well I can say a little bit about the system. First it is not going to be D20. 2nd it will allow characters to customize all aspects of their character. Your not locked into a class but you can become a class if you want. Also Action Dice help also.
What is most exciting is the dynamic system of magic that is being play tested currently, it is a completely customizable magic system.

Well that is about as much as I can say. The target Release date is 2/13/2009.

Geni