Greetings all,
As a dungeon master, I have been struggling with a certain aspect of game mechanics ever since 3rd Edition came out.
The main problem I have with the D20 system is the rule that "1" is ALWAYS a miss or failure and that "20" is ALWAYS a hit or success.
To me that just seems nonsensical (did I spell that right?). Mathematically it means no matter how outrageous the situation, on average 1 out of 20 will succeed. Images it brings to mind:
20 pixies attacking a Terrasque, one will hit it each round?
20 humans try and swim UP a waterfall, one will succeed???
On the other end of the spectrum:
A great Wyrm Red Dragon rolling a "1" cannot hit a stable just sitting there?
The Rogue has plus 38 to his hide check and the 20 guards he is sneaking past have spot at zero. If any of them get a "20" then they spot him no matter what he rolls? or if he was to roll a "1" then ALL of them will spot him??
Etc... As you can see this rule puzzled me greatly.
On the other hand, should you dismiss that rule entirely, then you create other problems:
1) I HATE and refuse to ever say to a player you cannot do that, its not in the rules, or you have no chance of succedding at that (the DC is too high). I like to think there is ALWAYS a chance no matter how slim that something will work (obviously NOT a 1 in 20 chance though that's WAY too high).
2) Mathematically there becomes no point in trying to hit something that has more Ac than 20 plus your modifier, or even more troubling if you have plus 1 to hit, then effectively Ac 22 and Ac 48 are the same for you (not reachable).
So the question becomes how to address this minor inconvenience in an otherwise great system, without having to revamp the whole system.
This is what i've come up with so far:
No automatic anythings. You roll and add modifires and compare to target number. In the case of "20"s, you reroll and add that number to the 20 and then modifiers. As long as you keep rolling "20"s, you keep adding and rerolling. This gives a chance (however slim) that a pixie CAN hit a terrasque (but NOT 1 in 20). And also for a Pc with plus 1 to hit, there is a Difference between Ac 22 and 48 (the chances of rolling the latter are far less than the former, eventhough you have a chance for both (i'm no statistician but i know the chances of keeping rolling "20"s gets slimmer and eventual with enough consecutive "20"s then we're talking miniscule).
Same system for the "1"s. You reroll and SUBTRACT the new mumber from 1 and your modifier and compare to target number. To use above example, Rogues with plus 38 hide rolls a "1", rerolls and gets "12" (his new number is 38-1-12= 25). So now the guards with zero spot still have to roll and get a "20" AND get a 5 on their next roll to spot him (hey plus 38 hide is pretty exceptional).
This sytem adds an extra layer of complexity (and math) but I think enable you to still mathematically be able to do almost anything, Without the 1 in 20 rule.
I was just wondering what you all thought. I would really appreciate some feedback or comments, maybe even suggestions or criticisms. More importantly, how does everyone else out there deal with this issue? or is it even an issue for anyone other than myself?(am I too anal retentive?)LOL.
Please post and let me know.
Thanks and have a great day all.
