6-sided open-ended die

Saber Cherry · #1 October 29th, 2003, 06:40 PM

Is this a correct description?

"What is a 6-sided open-ended die? Hmm. Good question! I think it is a die with 6 sides, labeled 0 through 5. It is worth the face value if you roll a 0 through 4, but if you roll a 5, it is worth 5 plus the value of the next roll. Fives can be chained forever, but high rolls become inverse-exponentially rarer."

I've always wondered. People talk about rolling sixes, but if the die was labeled 1,2,3,4,5,6 then it would have discontinuities - you could only roll 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9... note that the six is missing. So I assume it is labeled 0,1,2,3,4,5.

-Cherry

Saber Cherry · #2 October 29th, 2003, 07:34 PM

A quick "Yes" or "No, it's like this:" would be helpful, by the way=) I'm sure somebody knows...

-Cherry

Mephisto · #3 October 29th, 2003, 07:41 PM

Don't know it for DomII but in Shadowrun it's 1,2,3,4,5,7,...

atul · #4 October 29th, 2003, 07:42 PM

At least in games I've played (pen&paper rpgs) 'open ended' is the usual dice (in this case, 1-6), with highest result (6) giving you a new throw (add to previous result) and lowest result (1) giving you also a new throw (subtract from previous result). Of course, it has a lot to do with commonness of dices labeled 1-6 and rareness of those with numbers from 0 to 5, so in a computer game it might be done differently.

Which makes me think, is the doms system 'open ended' (meaning, negative results possible also) or just 'high open ended' (only 6s (or 5s) result in an additional throw)? If I remember correctly, all the calculations are for the latter, so I'd guess it would be it.

Saber Cherry · #5 October 29th, 2003, 07:46 PM

Dominions I/II is just "High-end open". But as it is a computer game, unreliant on physical dice, I don't see any reason to include an odd discontinuity like in Shadowrun... and there's no way to test it, since all rolls from which you can see the results are based on 2 dice (e.g. a protection die and a damage die).

atul · #6 October 29th, 2003, 07:56 PM

Weren't most battle dices rolled with 2d6? Like ATT+2d6 vs DEF+2d6? Or does my memory fail me? In that case there wouldn't be any discontinuity regardless of numbers used, just a statistical weight on the middle values. Remember, there is no spoo... er... 'discontinuity in that scenario'.

And such things as neat order and common sense have nothing to say when it comes to the hardened habit of an old rpg'er to use dices with numbers from 1 up. Never have thought there would be anything strange with Shadowrun system, but put it that way... yes, the distinction between 'moderately hard' and 'hard' is irrelevant.