d20 vs. 3d6 in HeroQuest?

[RaconteurX]

Bah, I'll fight him for precedence!  I'll take ye all on!  *self-medicates heavily*

Oh, you unequivocably hold precedence... never fear. And pass some of that medication over this way, my sciatica is acting up. :)

Don't you get a rather odd-looking ability progression using d12s and no other mods, though?

Well, the range of ability ratings changes along with the die type, so you would progress from 12 to 1W. You critical on a roll of 1, as before, and fumble on a roll of 12.

[Peter Nordstrand]

Well, the range of ability ratings changes along with the die type, so you would progress from 12 to 1W. You critical on a roll of 1, as before, and fumble on a roll of 12.

One d12 variant that I have seen, but never used, is to progress from 10 to 1W, with 11 always a fumble and 12 always a crit. :-0

Cheers,

/Peter N

[Lxndr]

In that version, is "1" also always a crit?  'Cause I can see it going either way, but I suspect "1" is removed from crit status (which I like muchly, 'cause it puts both the exremes OUTSIDE the 1-10).  Hmm.  I'm sorely tempted to try out that alternative, now that it's been mentioned.

[Peter Nordstrand]

In that version, is "1" also always a crit?

No. :-)

Cheers,

/Peter N

[Alai]

One d12 variant that I have seen, but never used, is to progress from 10 to 1W, with 11 always a fumble and 12 always a crit. :-0

I think that's Mikael Raaterova's variant on my variant, to give bla-- errr, credit, where due. With 11 and 12 reversed, to boot. ;-)

This seems (to my warped tastes) somewhat cleaner than the one Michael S. mentions, since "base 10" strikes me as more natural than "base 12" (or indeed base 20...), and it gets rid of the "hiccup" in going up a mastery in HQ (and the other d12 variant).  Obviously both make crits and fumbles more common, unlike my own.

Cheers,
A.

[lightcastle]

reading old posts and such, I'll stick my big nose in. :)

I have to admit I like the 1d12 thing with 1-10 normal and 11 and 12 as the crit and fumble in theory for th elegance of removing the hiccup that happens at 20 and 1 because they overlap the crits and fumbles.  But doesn't making the progression from 1-10 drastically screw with the odds? You have a much narrower range within the same mastery, and as discussed above, a mastery advantage is huge.  Also, crits and fumble happen a lot more often (1 in 12 for each instead of 1 in 20).

Mind you, I suppose you could just roll 2 dice, one the normal 1d20 and the other JUST to determine crit or fumble (1 or 20 only). Still puts the crit and fumble outside the range in a way, but doesn't touch anything else. Although that seems a little cumbersome to have a die just for that.

[Alai]

I have to admit I like the 1d12 thing with 1-10 normal and 11 and 12 as the crit and fumble in theory for th elegance of removing the hiccup that happens at 20 and 1 because they overlap the crits and fumbles.  But doesn't making the progression from 1-10 drastically screw with the odds? You have a much narrower range within the same mastery, and as discussed above, a mastery advantage is huge.

What do you mean by the odds?  Just to be clear, I interpret 10W2 in "d20 HQ" as being equivalent to 5W2 in "d12 HQ" -- not to 10W4, or whatever it'd be! (So, there are indeed knock-on consequences as regards advancement.)

Also, crits and fumble happen a lot more often (1 in 12 for each instead of 1 in 20).

In my variant, 11 means "roll again and bump up", so in that case, no. (In Mikael's, it does, and that's the way he likes it, depraved person that he is!)

[Peter Nordstrand]

Hi lightcastle,

May I suggest that you try out the HeroQuest rules as written before changing them? :-) They are actually a fairly smooth machinery as is, but it may take you a few sessions to get used to. So, try it out before you discard or replace it, is my humble suggestion.

All the best,

/Peter N

[lightcastle]

May I suggest that you try out the HeroQuest rules as written before changing them? :-) They are actually a fairly smooth machinery as is, but it may take you a few sessions to get used to. So, try it out before you discard or replace it, is my humble suggestion.

LOL!!!

But of course. It's just that one of the first things I noticed was that odd bump at 20/1W, so I just HAD to comment when I saw it had come up.

I'm like that when my brain wanders. :)

I have NO intention of tweaking anything until I've had a chance to run it and shake out my brian kinks on it.  Hell, I'm excited to run it and as soon as I can rope my players (stupid people having LIVES *grin*) I intend to.

I'm far more concerned with figuring out how I'll actually decide the many, many judgment calls inherent in the system. Hence, the brain-picking I've been doing. (It's nice to hear people who've already wrestled with some of these things tell you how they went about it.)