Custom Dice Simulator
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Custom Dice Simulator
 
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DiceView - Dice Probability Viewer
Time to share a game design tool!  This little application (which I have dubbed DiceView) was made as a tool to experiment with different customised dice for the various combat systems that pop into my head. You might know that when you roll 1D6 you have an even chance at rolling the numbers 1-6, but if you roll 2D6 the chances of rolling a 7 is much greater than rolling a 12. The app will display the probabillity curve on a graph and give you a breakdown on some basic stats like the range and expected average roll. Better yet it will currently allow you unlimited customised faces on up to 3 dice!  Want to see the result of a dice with the faces 1,2,2,3,3,4 rolled alongside a dice with the faces 2,2,3,4? Just type those numbers in to the Dice 1 and Dice 2 fields with spaces inbetween, make sure the Dice 3 field is clear, then press 'Run' to update the stats. If you type an 'X' as a dice face it will count it as a 'miss' face which totals the roll of all dice to zero. I find this useful for simulating Descent style dice rolls where the roll of an X on a dice means that you have failed to score any damage. As a little extra you can also roll your new custom dice with the 'Roll' button! (Advanced uses include adding letters instead of numbers to the Dice fields and hitting Roll to generate random names for your games or storylines.) I hope someone finds it useful! DiceView1.0.swf If you need an swf player, you can find them here: http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html |
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This post was updated on .
Glad someone found a use for it!
 I like the idea of tying initiative to a movement roll. Did the probability curves suit the racial traits you wanted to portray? People generally see Dwarves as steady and enduring and elves as more unpredictable. I might exchange the two as they are, but I also think its good to push peoples pre-conceptions. I had thought about adding the capability for more dice perhaps. It would take little tweaking to make quite a useful name generator. If you or others have any ideas/requests for it or any other new pieces of software, then please run them by me. Computers are generally pretty useful as generators of random info.
Hmm that might be nice.. or perhaps a game design/resource/tools type category? |
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Some minor re-structuring of the forum maybe taking place over the next few months, so watch this space ... or rather watch where this space ends up
Well I wasn't trying to change peoples pre-conceptions more rigidity re-enforce them with game mechanics, making each race play differently without unbalancing the game. The idea was initially to give each race a different movement rate (on average). Dwarfs where given 1D12 because although 1D12 has an equal chance of rolling any number (being 1 dice roll) it also means they are the only race that could roll a 1 for movement which brings their over-all average down and means in general Dwarfs will often roll lower and thus move slower. Conversely Elves having 3D4 means the lowest number they could roll would be 3, so over all they would be more likely to roll higher than other races. Humans kept the original 2D6 as in HeroQuest giving them the mid-ground and Halflings were later given D4+D8 which means although the lowest they can is still the same as a human they would roll lower on average. Of course the highest all the Heroes can roll is still 12 meaning no one race out-classes the others. One thing to remember through out, is that a Hero doesn't have to use up all of their Movement Roll if they don't want to. Shortly afterwards came the idea of using the Movement Dice for Initiative Rolls, which in the case of our games means rolling to see what order the players get to place their miniatures on the board and then who goes first. Currently I am working on expanding on the rules further to add a Surprise-Roll mechanic using the Movement Dice for Initiative Rolls, by which when a Hero opens a door to discover a room full of monsters they will roll their Movement Dice (as an initiative test) opposing an Initiative Roll made by the GM for each group of the same monster type in the room. If the Hero rolls higher they continue their turn as usual, but if a group of monsters manages to roll higher they get to interrupt the turn sequence and immediately Move and perform an Action in the same way a Wandering Monster does when drawn while searching. This rule will take a while to be implemented though as it requires me to work out Initiative/Movement Dice for each of the monster races/types. The other thing we also use the movement dice for is Agility Tests. This covers pretty much the same situations similar tests do in most role-play games (Dex tests in D&D, Agility in WFRP, ect). Most commonly in our games this means climbing out of or jumping over Pit Traps or other such obstacles. Basically the GM will work out a number based on the difficulty of the action in question and the Hero has to roll over that number using their Movement Dice. For instance if a Hero wants to jump over a 2” wide pit trap, they might be required to roll over 6. success mean the Hero makes it to the other side, failure they fall. An agile long-legged Elf is almost guaranteed to be able to make this leap, a human nearly as much, but a short-legged and heavily built Dwarf is going to have trouble. Also lets not for get the Halfling, who although also short of leg is a lot lighter and more agile than the Dwarf and thus will find it a little more difficult than a human, but not as hard as the poor Dwarf. I'm sure some of you might be wondering why it's a 6 to jump across a 2” Pit Trap. Well rest assured we didn't just pull this number out of our arses. To work out the difficulty of a jump we take the distance and times by 3 (2” x 3 = 6 so a 6 or higher is required) the GM can of course add further modifiers to cover situations like slippery floors or strong winds. Climbing works in a similar way with bonuses given for using ropes ect. The initial calculations for this are based on the assumed scale of 1” = 5ft and some time Me and Big Cat spent running and jumping about on our driveway with swords and a tape measure. Bloody hell I've rambled on about that for a bit now. One thing I'd quite like is a random dungeon mapper application that generates a basic layout for a GM to flesh out. You can enter the maximum and minimum dimensions and number of rooms, the width you want the corridors ect and the program generates a random layout from the data. There are quite a few programs out there already but the one feature they all lack is the ability to enter the dimensions of your table-top or battlemat so you can guarantee the finished dungeon will be playable in your gaming space. And a much more ambitious project that I attempted my self a few years back and later abandoned due to me wanting to have a life was a 3D map of the HeroQuest board which could be viewed from 1st person perspective by players and 3rd person by a GM and played over a network as a board-less version of the game. kinda like the SpaceHulk game on the Playstation and PC but with a human GM and turn based movement and combat. D&D 4th edition apparently came with software which did pretty much the same thing for D&D so I don't expect anyone to really want to pick up this project ever.
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~The ravings of a single mad Goblin is bad enough, but such a power-hungry, malice-filled creature as Mortis can never hope to be understood~ |
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Bloody fantastic ramble Mort
And I thought that I was the only one leaping about on my driveway with swords and a tape measure  I find the idea of linking initiative to a movement roll a very interesting mechanic. Many games I know of have a fixed initiative (like HeroQuest), which can be very restrictive. Others let players decide amongst themselves, which can be unrealistic. Some (like the Hasbro 'D&D the board-game') draw lots periodically, which is fiddley and time-consuming. Linking movement and initiative is a very elegant solution to these problems. As for the dungeon generator.. I've thought about this myself in the past. There are many variables associated with dungeon creation. If you put up some sketches of the type of dungeon you like to play on then I can get an idea of how to create similar ones. Its not a fast project however, and would take a little while to create, but it seems like a fun project. The 3D HeroQuest board is a great idea. The main problem here is not so much the coding as the art creation. If D&D 4th has done this then it's probably best left alone. On the other hand it could be a good source for artwork? 
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That's great! Justifies the effort  If you're into 3D game-boards check out this Home-made 3D dungeon. It's made with extruded polystyrene I believe and seems quite hassle free. Are there any particular features/options other than board-dimension that you definitely would want? eg: dead-ends, how linear, dungeon density. Are the embellishments such as theme/entrances and exits important to you in a generator? or do you add those yourself? ps- Work has started on this project. I'll start a new thread once there is something worth reviewing. (might be a while) |
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Actually... rereading the thread, I'm asking myself why I misunderstood...  I see it was quite obvious! Sorry for the OT! Here a new (this time coherent) answer: I saw a project of an HeroQuest online few times ago, I never try it, but the graphic is quite nice! HeroQuest Online
+ Other planes lie beyond the reach Of normal sense and common roads But they are no less real Than what we see or touch or feel. +
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