thread: 2013-10-17 : The Magic Trick: Damage in Dogs in the Vineyard
On 2013-10-18, Gordon wrote:
But ...
One of the traditional "problems" in old-school combat is the 5+% chance for any d20 roll (crit/saving throw/etc.) to yield bad stuff/death (yes, I've got D&D on the brain - sorry).
5d10 = A little better than 8% chance of dying in DitV.
So if you're having problems with the 5% chance in d20, DitV isn't actually a help.
Now, the fact that you're rolling that 5d10 less often than you're rolling the d20 (only at the end of combat, not each time someone swings/uses a "save or die" effect), that matters.
And the way you're more likely to get a "less than max" result that has meaningful impact (not just "HP damage insufficient to kill") is real neat.
But solving the "I don't want you to die here, but I do want you to worry about dying" issue? Not necessarily a big win for DitV vs d20 just from the probabilities.
This makes Andy go "In that case, you're asking for it..."
Because that's a whole lotta fallout. :D
