info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Which Game Uses the d34?
106 views
Skip to first unread message
Quadibloc
Dec 27, 2013, 4:06:50 AM12/27/13
to
Recently, I had been searching for information on various unusual shapes of dice.
One of the ones I saw was the d34, currently sold by Chessex.
I wondered what it was for; although many other strange dice with unusual numbers of sides were shown on the dice collector site where I first saw it.
Anyways, I came across a forum post which noted that the rolls of 3d34 range from 3 to 102, and so 3d34-2 creates an approximation to a bell curve that meshes with the rolls of percentile dice... in about the same way that 3d6 works together with d20.
So I understood what it was for. (You could use 9d12 or 11d10 to get 100 possible results, but with more dice, the bell curve is narrower; the likely results would be restricted to the neighborhood of the mean.)
However, one thing I haven't been able to find through a web search: what FRP or other game actually makes use of the d34 in this way. That a d34 could theoretically be useful for something is not, in itself, a reason for Chessex to bother to try making and selling them.
John Savard
One of the ones I saw was the d34, currently sold by Chessex.
I wondered what it was for; although many other strange dice with unusual numbers of sides were shown on the dice collector site where I first saw it.
Anyways, I came across a forum post which noted that the rolls of 3d34 range from 3 to 102, and so 3d34-2 creates an approximation to a bell curve that meshes with the rolls of percentile dice... in about the same way that 3d6 works together with d20.
So I understood what it was for. (You could use 9d12 or 11d10 to get 100 possible results, but with more dice, the bell curve is narrower; the likely results would be restricted to the neighborhood of the mean.)
However, one thing I haven't been able to find through a web search: what FRP or other game actually makes use of the d34 in this way. That a d34 could theoretically be useful for something is not, in itself, a reason for Chessex to bother to try making and selling them.
John Savard
Quadibloc
Dec 27, 2013, 4:21:38 AM12/27/13
to
Searching for 3d34 turned up some results. Apparently the only known real-life use of the d34 is in two games by DIPCo, Chart Wars and Napoleon at Chatanooga - and bell-curve use of 3d34 is confined to experiments by enthusiasts.
John Savard
John Savard
Quadibloc
Dec 27, 2013, 4:36:09 AM12/27/13
to
Still looking, turned up "Realms of Adventure", an RPG on DriveThruGames that uses the d34 as intended. Also, several games (i.e. Boot Hill) use percentile dice to generate character statistics - so 3d34-2 is something players on their own might have decided to use to make the statistics behave more like what they were familiar with from 3d6 in the d20 world.
Quadibloc
Dec 27, 2013, 4:43:47 AM12/27/13
to
Top Secret, along with Boot Hill, uses d100 instead of 3d6 for character attributes - this seems to come from RuneQuest, and so it's probably RuneQuest players who are buying all those d34 dice!
John Savard
Quadibloc
Dec 27, 2013, 4:50:00 AM12/27/13
to
On Friday, December 27, 2013 2:43:47 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc wrote:
> this seems to come from RuneQuest, and so it's probably RuneQuest players who
> are buying all those d34 dice!
While RuneQuest does seem to use the d100 for some things where D&D would use a d20, character attributes are done by 3d6 there, so that isn't it.
> this seems to come from RuneQuest, and so it's probably RuneQuest players who
> are buying all those d34 dice!
John Savard
Quadibloc
Jan 2, 2014, 12:24:08 PM1/2/14
to
I had also been thinking of ways to substitute for a d34.
My first idea was to use 3d12, multiply the result by 3, add the result of a d3, and then subtract 10. A roll of 0 would become 2, and a roll of 101 would become 99, shaping the ends of the bell curve nicely.
But I've thought of something simpler.
Two d6s of different colors can be used like percentile dice to make a d36.
2d36 + d30 - 2 is almost equivalent to 3d34 - 2, although the shape of the bell curve will be slightly distorted towards the triangular.
And, as a plus, it provides a use for the d30.
Alternatively, 3d30 + d12 - 3, while it makes a bell curve with a smaller standard deviation than 3d34 - 2, is nowhere near as different from 3d34 - 2 as, say, 9d12 - 8; and this would be even simpler.
But the range of 3d30 + d12 is from 4 to 102, and so 3d30 + d12 - 3 ranges from 1 to 99 instead of 1 to 100. That could actually be a plus, since now the mean is 50, not halfway between 50 and 51.
John Savard
My first idea was to use 3d12, multiply the result by 3, add the result of a d3, and then subtract 10. A roll of 0 would become 2, and a roll of 101 would become 99, shaping the ends of the bell curve nicely.
But I've thought of something simpler.
Two d6s of different colors can be used like percentile dice to make a d36.
2d36 + d30 - 2 is almost equivalent to 3d34 - 2, although the shape of the bell curve will be slightly distorted towards the triangular.
And, as a plus, it provides a use for the d30.
Alternatively, 3d30 + d12 - 3, while it makes a bell curve with a smaller standard deviation than 3d34 - 2, is nowhere near as different from 3d34 - 2 as, say, 9d12 - 8; and this would be even simpler.
But the range of 3d30 + d12 is from 4 to 102, and so 3d30 + d12 - 3 ranges from 1 to 99 instead of 1 to 100. That could actually be a plus, since now the mean is 50, not halfway between 50 and 51.
John Savard
Quadibloc
Jan 23, 2023, 9:09:56 PM1/23/23
to
On Friday, December 27, 2013 at 2:43:47 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Friday, December 27, 2013 2:36:09 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc wrote:
> > Still looking, turned up "Realms of Adventure", an RPG on DriveThruGames that
> > uses the d34 as intended. Also, several games (i.e. Boot Hill) use percentile
> > dice to generate character statistics - so 3d34-2 is something players on their
> > own might have decided to use to make the statistics behave more like what they
> > were familiar with from 3d6 in the d20 world.
> The name Realms of Adventure has been used for several different things. The game I meant is the one by James Patrick Updike.
Looking into these matters once again, I have found that the web site
> On Friday, December 27, 2013 2:36:09 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc wrote:
> > Still looking, turned up "Realms of Adventure", an RPG on DriveThruGames that
> > uses the d34 as intended. Also, several games (i.e. Boot Hill) use percentile
> > dice to generate character statistics - so 3d34-2 is something players on their
> > own might have decided to use to make the statistics behave more like what they
> > were familiar with from 3d6 in the d20 world.
> The name Realms of Adventure has been used for several different things. The game I meant is the one by James Patrick Updike.
www.realmofdreams.com
no longer exists, this domain being parked.
Copies of the game are still being sold by DriveThruRPG, so I _suppose_ they must know
where to send James Patrick Updike's royalties to...
but does anyone else know what's happened to him?
Of course, I can guess that his game was not successful enough, and so he has...
returned to his day job, as it were, but does he still have a presence somewhere
where he might be reached?
I've finally figured out a reasonable way to play the game if you don't have a d34.
Roll *five* d100s, and take the number on the one in the middle.
John Savard
Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha
Jan 24, 2023, 1:10:00 PM1/24/23
to
Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
news:19db2e4c-4940-4df4...@googlegroups.com:
> On Friday, December 27, 2013 at 2:43:47 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc
> wrote:
Ten year old post, by *you*.
--
Terry Austin
"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek
Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.
news:19db2e4c-4940-4df4...@googlegroups.com:
> On Friday, December 27, 2013 at 2:43:47 AM UTC-7, Quadibloc
> wrote:
--
Terry Austin
"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek
Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.
Quadibloc
Jan 24, 2023, 3:10:06 PM1/24/23
to
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 11:10:00 AM UTC-7, Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha wrote:
> Ten year old post, by *you*.
I had something new to say about Realms of Adventure, so why not
> Ten year old post, by *you*.
make other associated information visible again?
John Savard
Quadibloc
Jan 24, 2023, 3:15:59 PM1/24/23
to
On Monday, January 23, 2023 at 7:09:56 PM UTC-7, Quadibloc wrote:
> Looking into these matters once again, I have found that the web site
>
> www.realmofdreams.com
>
> no longer exists, this domain being parked.
I tried the Wayback Machine, and I ended up finding his personal site,
> Looking into these matters once again, I have found that the web site
>
> www.realmofdreams.com
>
> no longer exists, this domain being parked.
but when I drilled down into the pages about the game, those weren't
archived!
John Savard
Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha
Jan 24, 2023, 6:41:25 PM1/24/23
to
Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
news:3509b7a9-16bd-4f30...@googlegroups.com:
Nobody cared then, and there's even fewer noboies to not care now.
news:3509b7a9-16bd-4f30...@googlegroups.com:
Quadibloc
Jan 25, 2023, 12:22:23 AM1/25/23
to
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 4:41:25 PM UTC-7, Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha wrote:
> Nobody cared then, and there's even fewer noboies to not care now.
Regrettably, I cannot dispute what you intended to say there.
> Nobody cared then, and there's even fewer noboies to not care now.
Of course, if nobody did _not_ care, that would mean that everyone cares!
Which is just backwards phrasing by accident. Obviously not everyone
cares about 3d34. There are even people who don't care about Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, like the leadership of South Africa.
John Savard
kyonshi
Jan 25, 2023, 6:11:48 AM1/25/23
to
some people find reasonable to do. (not me, but it's a sentiment that
exists)
0 new messages