Hi, this isn't very PF specific, I just collect opinions and ideas.
What can you use to generate a probability in RPG's besides dice?
What is your favorite option (dice included)?
Only rule, it should be generally easy to get.
My ideas:
Flip a coin
Playing cards
Tarot cards
Dominos
From a theoretical point of view I'm aware that there are but two degrees of freedom, either you can't get the result from before (cards for example), and/or the order in which you get results matters.
Thanks for contributing and commenting.
p.s. ideas that would include the skill of the thrower are acceptable, as long as the "throwing/laying" doesn't take too long.
You can use a watch:
Divide the seconds by 3, that gives you 1d20 (60/3).
Ex: 26 = 8
thanks, tough I don't really need to emulate dice.
I'm pondering about a homebrew thing, no d20 necessary.
watch doesn't really generate a probability, but it is something I haven't tought of
thanks.
Fun ones that I've played under before:
1) Drawing from a bag of different-colored stones that reflect different outcomes. You can even make some stones replaceable and others not.
2) You and the GM each reveal a number of fingers at the same time, add them and then mod 10 (or 5, or 12, etc). Randomness without any dice at all.
Well there is also the classic rock/paper/scissors, which is used in some RPG games or in LARP...
Some ideas
-Rune stones or tiles, drawn from a bag
-Spinner like used in the board game "Life"
-Customizable Lego Dice, they are blank d6 that you can customize with tons of different tiles
-Different dice with symbols instead of numbers like those found in the new warhammer fantasy game
Thats all I got.
I played Serenity with a gentleman who was blind. He had found dice that had raised pips on them, but for whatever reason, they were cumbersome. I suggested the random function in Excel, because he always had his laptop with him so he could read his character sheet. It seemed to work out pretty good.
Hi, this isn't very PF specific, I just collect opinions and ideas.
What can you use to generate a probability in RPG's besides dice?
What is your favorite option (dice included)?
Only rule, it should be generally easy to get.
Playing cards (and by extension tarot cards) are a GREAT way to mix random element with strategy. For one thing, a typical deck of cards support a lot more "information" than dice and work very well with more tactical games.
Not only does the card has a value (1-13), but it also has a color and a suit. The value of cards is also easier to manipulate. For example, the value can range form 1-10, with jack-queen-king either removed or worth "10", therefore tipping probabilities in the upper scale. In case of ties, a suit might be considered superior or trumping another. The Ace can have a value of 1 but beat the king etc.
That's with a single cards, but when multiples are drawn, pairing and other "poker hands" can lead to tactical choices between one superior actions (a pair) or two lesser, individual actions for example.
I remember some sort of Superhero system back in the late 90's that was based on cards, and a slightly more complex version of the same system was used for Dragonlance 5th age or something (never tried that one). We had a cartoonish game (based on Disney's Gargoyles TV show) using cards as the main "randomizer" and it worked surprisingly well.
I also made a homebrew system for a one-shot game of Labyrinth RPG (as the Jim Henson movie with David Bowie) using a coloured spinner like in the Game of Life.
Basically, all stats were negative (weakness, clumsiness, stupidity etc) and it was assumed that you would succeed in everything unless you fail the test (well, confirmed the failure test really). It was based on the colour wheel, with mitigated success when the resulting colour was "close" to yours.
For example, if your CLUMSINESS colours where red and orange, you would confirm clumsiness on a result of "red" and "orange" and get a partial failure on a "purple" and "yellow". What fun!
'findel
Also, my homebrew system uses tarot cards to generate characters of the Elven traditions (Elves and the human tribes who where taught by elves) and drawing runes for character of Dwarvish traditions (Dwarves and human tribes who were taught by Dwarves).
'findel
p.s. ideas that would include the skill of the thrower are acceptable, as long as the "throwing/laying" doesn't take too long.
[houserule]
From now on, all combats are performed with NinjaGo Lego spinners, with minifigs of size proportional to the character's or creature's stat block
[/houserules]
I've enjoyed a game of Dread using a Jenga tower. It's not probability, but a pretty neat game mechanic.
In my LARP, we use bead picks for random effects. A bag with so many beads (white and black) are brought forth. Depending on what you are doing, you either draw once and a black bead is bad and a white bead is good. It can also be used to determine how well you did at something by drawing until you got a black bead.