Sunday, November 14, 2010

The Damned d12

I want to give the d12 some function in the game. It can't be too important a function as to really screw around with the basics, but it needs something to do.

I have some ideas, but chances are I'd do better to steal one of yours instead. So give me ideas to steal.

28 comments:

  1. Things a D12 can be rolled for: Grenade-like missile bounce chart, incoming random encounter direction, astrological sign, initiative, anything a d6 can be rolled for with more fiddle-factor, Monster HD, big weapon damage, hit locations (if one wants to deal with such things).

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  2. more 1d12 : really bad saving throws, really bad attack rolls.

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  3. Make the d12 the exclusive die of random tables. Need something random to happen? Have a dozen different options. Make sure you have random events, outcomes, etc. that Player Characters get to roll for too so the players can indulge in some d12 love (or fear).

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  4. Yep, random tables. Rumour tables, weather tables, and so on. I like to base encounter tables on the d12, purely in order to use this much-maligned die.

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  5. As much as I love the dice pip graphics in your game I have to admit that d12 is a better, more fine grained basis for skill checks than d6.

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  6. I find the dodecahedron to be the most beautiful of all the Platonic solids.

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  7. Damage die for large monsters with large weapons, like an ogre with a huge club. Size of hordes. Hour of day. Month. Scatter die.

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  8. I think I like Kelvingreens idea the best.

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  9. Be not faint of heart and chuck yon d10 from the game.

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  10. Just got back from the big Father's Day dinner here at the father-in-law's. I was making some d12 random tables (population center features, NPC qualities, random monster stuff). So it looks like I was in line with a bunch of you guyses ("you guys'" HEEEEEEY YOUUUUUUUUU GUUUUUYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSS!)`ideas.

    Having a load of these types of tables might be a good idea...

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  11. In the spirit that a good idea can come from anywhere, I like that undead use D12 for hit dice in 3E, representing their supernatural toughness.

    I also like the idea of using them for big monsters' damage dice, and Joe's idea of using them to completely replace D10s.

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  12. Instead of d100 have table for old timey measure a gross, that is dozen dozen or d144.

    New and improved random wench tables. :P

    Large and giant sized monster attacks like shimrod wrote.

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  13. Hello, James. :)

    As of the NTRPGCon II Pre-Release Special, the final version of Urutsk: World of Mystery uses 2d12 in place of d20, and does in fact throw out the d10 and d20's entirely. It also uses d12's for Encounters Frequency, Intensity, and Proximity. It uses d12s to get a 'clock' placement for location (as in, 'Cover my 6.').
    --There are also times where no average is preferred over a 2d6, but I do not use them much for attacks and such, instead going to 2d6 for the better average.

    Best to you on your subsequent adoption of the d12 in greater frequency. It is the loveliest of the polyhedral solids. :)

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  14. I'm not getting rid of the d10. The point of finding a use for the d10 is so that none of the standard set of 7 dice is wasted... replacing all d10 functions with d10 would mean 2 dice get unused rather than 1...

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  15. Hmm. How about 'use it for the weaker party in contested rolls?' If you're arm wrestling somebody stronger, or trying to keep a door shut, the stronger party rolls a d20 and the weaker a d12. Highest roll wins the contest.

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  16. I believe in random table use as well. Here's one I quickly made up:

    http://attackplanr.blogspot.com/2010/11/d12-random-ive-been-swallowed-whole-by.html

    The idea is to use them on prepared tables that noone would ever believe you have actually prepared.

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  17. on the fly ability scores for NPCs and monsters that are likely to be bad at that thing

    "What's that bard's int?""Uh..7"

    on the fly ability scores for NPCs and monsters that are likely to be good at something--d12+6

    i.e. "What's the wizard's int?" "Uh...14."

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  18. also it's good for when the PCs ask what time it is

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  19. I adapted your D6 Specialist Skills but I don't think that will suit you needs.

    D12 also works for random date generation and as Zak suggested, NPC scores

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  20. using d12 for Turning Undead makes things a little different. Target number 7 goes from 58.38% to 50% flat, TN 9 goes from 27.82% to 33.33%, and TN 11 goes from a scary 8.34% (yikes) to a slightly more reassuring 16.67% - nearly double the chance.

    The overall result is to give clerics a slight boost against tougher monsters - not so much as to de-fang them, I think, but enough to notice. At the same time, a weaker creature (one with HD + special abilities equal to the Cleric's own level) is ever so slightly more resistant to the effect.

    On the traditional table, undead weaker than that are automatic, but with a d12,it might be worth giving them target numbers - 5 and 3 would be reasonable. Such TNs would be nearly pointless with 2d6 - 83.18% and 97.33% respectively, but the flatness of the shining dodecahedron gives us 66.67% and 83.33%.

    Number crunching isn't usually my thing, but I worked this out a while back and kept the page where I could find it readily.

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  21. Make people with six pips in a skill (say, Tinkering) roll a 12 sider instead of two 6 siders. Not sure if that gives more of an advantage or disadvantage...well, maybe a disadvantage. Wouldn't a 12 potentially appear more often on a 12 sider rather than two sixes appear when rolling two 6 siders?

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  22. Moldvay's Reaction table - I use the d12 instead of 2d6 - a roll of 1 means not just instant attack, but the type of death grudge that spans life AND death and can be epic in nature.

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  23. chicagowiz's suggestion is the best so far.

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  24. I like using it for all the d6 roles (find secret doors, etc) doubling the base scores. It allows for a little more granularity than the d6 so I can add some difficulties to things.

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  25. Rather than breath life into that redundant die,why not bury it with the bones of the d4, d8 and d10 then you'd have the devine pairing of the d20 and d6?

    Pure class.

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  26. More spells, spesifically useful ones that use 1d12.

    Maybe a second level one that is like magic missile that does 1d12 damage, sitting nicely in between the weenie spells of first level and the ultramegadeath spells of third like like the classic fireball and lightning bolt.

    More spells where something interesting happens when rolling on table with d12.

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