Timeline for Would it be fair to use 1d30 (instead of rolling 2d20 and taking the higher die) for advantage rolls?
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| May 19, 2019 at 8:55 | comment | added | Ruther Rendommeleigh | The two concepts are closely related. If the added risk and reward balance out, it's balanced. If they don't, it isn't. However, I agree with your edit and in light of the question's recent edit, the rest is moot now. | |
| May 17, 2019 at 18:47 | history | edited | Quadratic Wizard | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| May 17, 2019 at 17:53 | comment | added | Quadratic Wizard | @RutherRendommeleigh The question is asking if d30 is fair and balanced (which, as per my answer, it is neither), not if it's actually high-risk high-reward (which, as per Gregor's answer, it is not either). | |
| May 17, 2019 at 11:40 | comment | added | Ruther Rendommeleigh | @Quadratic Wizard Bardic Inspiration is also more reliable and has no downsides (the d30 does in most situations), which seems in line with OP's "high risk, high reward" criterion. But my point is that 5th ed already lets you stack bonuses way past the DC 25 mark. You state that "D&D 5e's rules assume you aren't supposed to roll that high, and it will create unbalance as a result" - could you back that up with an example? Because I can't really think of one. | |
| May 17, 2019 at 11:24 | comment | added | Quadratic Wizard | @RutherRendommeleigh Advantage on a d30 is way more powerful than Bardic Inspiration and far easier to acquire. Bardic Inspiration is a primary class ability, with a daily use limit, which doesn't give a potential bonus of +10 until 10th level. Advantage can trigger from level 1, any character can do it, it can occur several times in each combat in a variety of ways, and Advantage stacks with Bardic Inspiration. | |
| May 16, 2019 at 15:25 | comment | added | Ruther Rendommeleigh | Could you provide an example where a high roll actually unbalances the game (and, for bonus points, how adding dice from Bardic Inspiration is any different)? | |
| May 15, 2019 at 23:26 | comment | added | Mark | You could "clip" the d30 so that any roll greater than a 20 is treated as a 20, but that still breaks things: you're four times more likely to roll a "natural" 20 with a d30 than with the higher of 2d20. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 17:51 | comment | added | NotArch | Heh, true. But there are a reasonable amount of monsters with greater than 20AC as well. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 17:48 | comment | added | Quadratic Wizard | @NautArch Indeed, though I'm thinking of monster ACs (which rarely exceed 20), since the question mentions offering this ability to players. If monsters also have the ability to roll d30, PCs in full plate have much to fear. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 15:59 | comment | added | NotArch | @QuadraticWizard With magic items, etc. it's not that hard to get above AC20 - at least at the tables I've payed with.Even a simple mundane Plate wearing, shield wielding creature now has 20. And that's without spell buffs or magic items. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 15:29 | comment | added | nitsua60 | I see what you're saying about high ACs, thanks for explaining your thinking. I think in my head notions of bounded accuracy and likelihoods were sort of trampling over each other. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 14:51 | comment | added | Quadratic Wizard | @nitsua60 I use skills rather than attack rolls as an example because AC above 20 is really rare in D&D 5e, so it's rare that rolling a natural 29 to hit is any better than rolling a 19. DMG 237 does describe some actions as literally impossible (e.g. shooting the moon). However, skill tasks of DC30 are merely "nearly impossible" (DMG 238), attainable only by extremely high-level characters on very good rolls. Using a d30 makes such tasks possible for characters that previously would have considered them impossible. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 13:43 | comment | added | nitsua60 | Since your example is of an ability check, do you have thoughts on whether DMG237 (IIRC) which instructs a GM to decide, before asking for a check, whether the thing is even possible mitigates your concern? (I agree with a concern about bounded accuracy, by the way and I think you could make an even more forceful point w.r.t. attack rolls.) | |
| May 15, 2019 at 13:21 | history | answered | Quadratic Wizard | CC BY-SA 4.0 |