7/28/2019 JDN Dice and Randomness

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/jdn-dice-and-randomness 1/2

7/28/2019 JDN Dice and Randomness

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/jdn-dice-and-randomness 2/2

and gives others a few percentage points, theslighted entries will not occur very often.

 As a result, the outcomes aren't actually thatrandom. Yes, someone using said table and rolingthe dice and getting an odd result will think, “Thesetables allow anything!” But the majority of users willfind that the tables generate the same thing over andover because they keep getting the entries that are

favored.In order to create truly random tables, a gamer 

has to eliminate bias.

Succeed or Fail Rolls

 Another example of randomness is the die rollused for success or failure checks: hitting a foe incombat, avoiding a trap, etc.

The ratio of success versus failure affectsoutcomes with mathematical monotony. Barringrandom flukes, if a character has a 75% chance of failur (or success) they will fail (or succeed) 75% of the time.

Consider how flat die rolls (such as a d20, d100,or d12) compare to combined die rolls (such as 2d6or 3d6). The following assumes the same basic

number range: i.e. a range of 1 to 20 for 3d6 andd20. The 3d6 range is not in any way adjusted for thepribabilities a 3d6 roll creates; it is a flat 1 to 18.Indeed, the number set used in the game allows theuse of either a d20 or 3d6 roll without and changes.

Neither die roll is perfect; rather they tend tocreate a different flavor of play. Flat die rolls do notfavor any numer (a 1 will occur as often as a 20 on

the d20) and thus instil a bit of randomness, allowingfor a wide range of numbers. Combined die rolls tendto favor the middle numbers and slight the lower andhigher end numbers. This makes them morepredictable; they tend to result in the average quiet abit. Which makes game play more predictable.

Player characters are far more likely to fail or succeed solely due to the die roll when using a d20than with 3d6. On the other hand, a die roll like 3d6 isfar more demanding: the higher the number neededfor success, the lower the chance of acheiving it.Statistics are more forgiving for a d20 than for a 3d6;and more important for a 3d6 than a d20.

Those who prefer randomness will of course picka flat roll like d12, d20, or d100; those who prefer less randomness will pick a die roll like 2d6 or 3d6.

2