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Post by kesher on Jul 15, 2011 9:01:47 GMT -6
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Post by cooper on Jul 16, 2011 11:33:19 GMT -6
Very cool, I've been looking at them, but I can't figure out what it is that is so surprising to people. What am I missing?
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Matthew
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Master of the Silver Blade
Posts: 254
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Post by Matthew on Jul 17, 2011 19:12:16 GMT -6
I have been thinking the same thing; my guess, is that a lot of people are unfamiliar with the properties of a 2d6 versus 1d20 distribution.  |
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Post by talysman on Jul 17, 2011 20:13:30 GMT -6
I think the actual surprise is that the chances for some things (but not all) are lower than the alternative combat system. If you are a Hero, it's actually more advantageous to use the alternative system when attacking anything other than another Hero, a wight, or a ghoul; when attacking those, Chainmail is more advantageous. If you are a Superhero, it's also more advantageous to use Chainmail when attacking a lycanthrope, a troll, or an ogre. This is because the alternative system only considers attacker's hit dice/level and defender's AC, while Chainmail considers other, more intangible qualities.
For example, a Hero treats an ogre or a wight as identical when attacking either under the alternative system, but treats ogres as slightly harder to hit and wights as much easier to hit under Chainmail. That clearly has nothing to do with the properties of a 2d6 distribution; it's a conscious decision to make them different.
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Matthew
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Master of the Silver Blade
Posts: 254
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Post by Matthew on Jul 17, 2011 20:29:02 GMT -6
Well, what I mean is that I think if it is taking Rient's chart to demonstrate that, then the people being surprised are not familiar with what the significance is of numbers in those distributions. Because the Chain Mail does not use probabilities of "hitting"but probabilities of "killing", the numbers are so completely different when you start dealing with the Chain Mail and Alternative Combat Systems. Also, of course, OD&D starts to differentiate between previously undifferentiated monsters, for example: "Trolls (and Ogres)" and "Wights (and Ghouls)", clearly there is an imaginative leap that cannot be bridged by comparing the combat systems.
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Post by Mushgnome on Jul 17, 2011 21:31:12 GMT -6
Also it should go without saying that the monster will have a different chance to kill the hero in Chainmail vs. to hit the hero in D&D. You'd have to compare both sides of the battle to get the full analysis...
Another consideration is that non-magical armor offers no protection vs. fantastical creatures in Chainmail.
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