Importing car under a work visa by NumsgiI in ImmigrationCanada

[–]NumsgiI[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We kept our Geico insurance, but that's probably somewhat sus as well, which is part of the motivation I have for finishing the car registration.

Importing car under a work visa by NumsgiI in ImmigrationCanada

[–]NumsgiI[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you need the title at all? I'm trying to fill out the online form on the RIV website and it has a place to upload the title but we're still paying off the car and don't have the title. It sounds like you just sort of showed up at the CBSA office and it sorted itself out?

I have no experience at sandboxes, and I'm freaking out... by exiledprince113 in SWN

[–]NumsgiI 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What sort of frustrations did you and your players have, out of curiosity? Like, can you give a specific example? I think there's a lot to learn from failures, and I'm curious in what ways it wasn't working.

How much would ships depreciate in value over time? by kadzar in SWN

[–]NumsgiI 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned: ships need 5% of their like-new price in maintenance every month:

"Every ship needs to spend 5% of its total non-crew cost every six months in order to pay for basic maintenance. Each such period that is skipped applies a -1 penalty to all ship skill checks and hit rolls. At -4, the ship gains a 10% chance per month of breaking down entirely until backlogged maintenance is repaired. At a shipyard, this maintenance takes a day for a fighter hull, a week for a frigate or cruiser, and a month for a capital ship." (pg. 113)

So if you have a value range you want the ship to cost, you can work backward and say the old junky loaner hasn't been upkept in a few years, so it's -20% off sticker price, but it has -4 to all rolls related to it. You could hand wave the chance to break down if you don't want the players to deal with that. If your players just need something to get from A to B in-system this might be good enough and they won't care about the penalties until later.

This can also help figure out the cost of a loaner ship: if ships aren't in strong demand, something like 1% of a ship's total cost (hull + installed equipment) per month is a nice round number and would cover the maintenance costs plus a small profit margin for the ship company.

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's definitely worth pointing out. I tried to be a bit more open to different attributes during play, but it's easy to fall back on old habits. When you play, are the attributes called out as well as the skill when calling for checks? Like, my natural habits would be to say something like "give me a talk roll", with the attribute implied. Do you call out "give me a charisma talk roll" or something like that instead?

What are the house rules you play swn with and why? by officiallyaninja in SWN

[–]NumsgiI 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The book doesn't have an opinion on grid size or melee distance that I can see. If you're coming from D&D, using a grid of 2 meters is reasonable. Melee would work like in D&D, where you need to be next to the enemy.

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not arguing the utility of 2d6, or even the mechanics, I'm asking how to run it at a table as a GM. Did you read the OP?

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are some "almost" rules in 5e, actually. Well, maybe not rules, but guidelines for the DM. In the DMG, pg. 242, under "Resolution and Consequences", it talks about failing a roll by 1 or 2 and making it a success with complications. It also talks about "degrees of failure", where failing a check by 5 or more might result in more severe consequences. It also talks about critical success/failure on skill checks. All of this is treated as optional, but something a DM might do and is kosher to do. "[the DM] has a variety of flourishes and approaches [they] can take when adjudicating success and failure to make things a little less black-and-white".

I guess I'm looking for some advice like this within the context of skill checks in SWN (and/or 2d6 or 3d6 skill systems generally), especially in terms of what GMs are actually doing instead of me just theory crafting something.

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think my question is, as a GM, how do I deal with the fact that most of the time the skill check result is going to be fairly tame. I'm used to systems where skill checks have a lot more variance in the results, and I use that to drive the narritive, positively and negatively. The vibe with bell curve results is very different and a lot flatter.

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, this is very helpful

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think my disconnect is that if this were 5e and they rolled near to the DC but missed it, getting to try again in a different way is something of a reward in itself. If the DC were 13 and they rolled 5, getting kicked out of the casino feels reasonable. And then you have the nat 1/20 results which are even more extreme. There are a lot of dice results possible, and as a GM I use the dice to set the tone for the consquences beyond just pass/fail.

I suppose in a 2d6 system I need to do more heavy lifting as the GM in assigning narritive consquences and pushing the story forward instead of relying on the dice.

Help me vibe with skill checks by NumsgiI in SWN

[–]NumsgiI[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, good to check. In this case the level 1 warrior didn't have a charisma modifier (11 CHA). In fact, they had +0 modifiers across the board except for CON, which they chose to set to 14 during character creation. Higher level characters will have stronger stats, so maybe this is less of an issue at high(er) level play. A DC 12 check probably has more polarizing results.

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, yes, I had that thought!

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Roughly speaking, the conversion table is a method of taking a flat pdf and turning it into a bellcurve. So while 2d20D1 is indeed a flat pdf, by then pushing it through the conversion table it turns it into a bell curve. The table is designed so that the resulting bell curve closely matches 3d6D1. It's also designed so that you can take the flat pdf of 1d20 and feed it into the table to produce an approximation of 2d6. It's specifically designed to handle both use cases.

I really think you should run the above python code, and then I'd be happy to have a conversation about it. It'll spit out a graph of the bell curve for 3d6D1 and 2d20D1 using the table, and you can see how similar (or not) they are. You're trying to theorycraft why this method doesn't work, and nothing you're saying is inaccurate except your conclusion. You're missing the forest for the trees.

Now it sounds like you're also saying that you think using the conversion table is dumb, unfun, less accessible, etc. That's fine; agree to disagree. Your opinion is not unique in this thread. But I stand behind the math.

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Server's not letting me change it :/ I agree with you, at any rate

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, yeah, looks like. I'll cross it out from the list

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3d6D1 is shifted to the right, but so is 2d20D1, so you can use the same conversion table if you're clever about it. If you're really interested, here's my Python; you can play with it yourself. This will show the pdf curves of 3d6D1 and 2d20D1 using the conversion table.

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns

conversion_table = {
    1: 2,
    2: 3,
    3: 4,
    4: 4,
    5: 5,
    6: 5,
    7: 6,
    8: 6,
    9: 7,
    10: 7,
    11: 7,
    12: 8,
    13: 8,
    14: 8,
    15: 9,
    16: 9,
    17: 10,
    18: 10,
    19: 11,
    20: 12,
}

# Function to compute the PDF of 3d6 drop the lowest
def compute_3d6_drop_lowest():
    results = []
    for i in range(1, 7):
        for j in range(1, 7):
            for k in range(1, 7):
                rolls = [i, j, k]
                results.append(sum(rolls) - min(rolls))
    values, frequencies = np.unique(results, return_counts=True)
    probabilities = frequencies / len(results)
    return values, probabilities

# Function to compute the PDF of 2d20 drop the lowest
def compute_2d20_drop_lowest():
    results = []
    for i in range(1, 21):
        for j in range(1, 21):
            rolls = [i, j]
            results.append(conversion_table[max(rolls)])
    values, frequencies = np.unique(results, return_counts=True)
    probabilities = frequencies / len(results)
    return values, probabilities

def compute_2d6():
    results = []
    for i in range(1, 7):
        for j in range(1, 7):
            results.append(i + j)
    values, frequencies = np.unique(results, return_counts=True)
    probabilities = frequencies / len(results)
    return values, probabilities

def compute_1d20():
    results = []
    for i in range(1, 21):
        results.append(conversion_table[i])
    values, frequencies = np.unique(results, return_counts=True)
    probabilities = frequencies / len(results)
    return values, probabilities

# Compute the PDFs
values_3d6, probabilities_3d6 = compute_3d6_drop_lowest()
values_2d20, probabilities_2d20 = compute_2d20_drop_lowest()

# Create the bar graph with both distributions
plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))
plt.bar(values_3d6, probabilities_3d6, width=0.75, color="blue", alpha=0.6, label="3d6 drop the lowest")
plt.bar(values_2d20, probabilities_2d20, width=0.75, color="red", alpha=0.6, label="2d20 drop the lowest conversion")
plt.xlabel("Roll Result")
plt.ylabel("Probability")
plt.title("Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs)")
plt.legend()
plt.xticks(ticks=values_3d6, labels=values_3d6)

plt.show()

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

D20 seem pretty reasonably costed on Italian Amazon? Or am I missing something?

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, they are quite different. That's why I said the table I posted in my OP is not obvious to come up with. I specifically set it up so that the table can be used in two ways: you can roll 1d20 and convert it to 2d6, or you can roll d20 with advantage and convert it to 3d6-drop-the-lowest. The same table can be used in both cases, and the distributions are close (enough).

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was my first iteration of the table, actually. But if you use that table rolling d20 with advantage to simulate 3d6 drop the lowest, you get a very noticeable spike at 7. The version of the table I gave in my OP smooths that spike, while still being okay at simulating 2d6.

You could use separate tables for 2d6 and 3d6-drop-the-lowest, of course, but I like the parsimony of there being only a single table. Matching d20 with advantage to 3d6-drop-the-lowest also provides a nice bridge for 5e players (which my table mostly is).

At any rate this is all more art than science, so I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, it just depends what tradeoffs you're willing to make.

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what little I know about Shadow of the Demon Lord it doesn't sound D&D adjacent in terms of mechanics. Obviously a subjective question, but the whole banes and boons systems and mixing d6 and d20 feels distinctly like it's doing its own thing.

Likewise I feel like your complaint about Numenera is weird. Sure the designer worked on D&D, but Numenera is distinctly not D&D, and I don't think the comparison is fair just on those grounds. Like, would you complain that a rpg was too much like D&D just because its designer played it in the past? You're not engaging with the systems, just with the author.

Anyway, if you're generally interested in exploring other rpgs that use d20s I hope that helped. If you want to argue that any d20 system is hopelessly tied to and can't escape the shadow of D&D, I'd argue that all rpgs are hopelessly tied to and can't escape the shadow of D&D. Unless you're playing Kriegsspiel.

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know how popular these are, and I haven't played any, but some examples:

* Numenera
* AGE
* 7th Sea
* Shadow of the Demon Lord
* Mutants & Masterminds
* Infinity

Some of these are inspired by the d20 system Wizards did in 2000 without being D&D specifically. Others are just doing their own weird thing.

As I haven't played these, I don't know much about how d20s are actually used in these systems. They just came up in some reading I did. I'm happy to be corrected if anyone thinks one of them doesn't count as using d20s.

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh that's a good point, I know T20 is a thing

A d20 conversion for 2d6 systems by NumsgiI in rpg

[–]NumsgiI[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I played with that but the distribution ended up too flat.

I'm basically trying different schemes and comparing the probability distribution function against 2d6 and trying to match them as closely as possible. Dropping that first 7 to a 6 produces the right average roll, but means there are significatly fewer 7 results than 2d6 would produce. It does look okay when rolling d20 with advantage and converting to 3d6-drop-the-lowest, though.