{"id":115,"date":"2015-04-01T09:01:59","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T14:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=115"},"modified":"2015-04-01T15:20:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T20:20:57","slug":"rules-lawyer-the-reroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/rules-lawyer-the-reroll\/","title":{"rendered":"Rules Lawyer- The Reroll"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actually, that rule doesn’t apply because of the sidebar on page 42…Rules Lawyered…<\/em><\/p>\n

Today marks the official launch of d20 Radio’s new Gamer Nation gaming blog! \u00a0\u00a0A few years ago the network made a foray into the world of internet blogging under the guise of the Gamer Security Agency. \u00a0This second dip into the world of game blogging got me thinking about second chances in games. Everyone deserves one. But how often have you tossed a die onto the table and then hung your head in dejected disbelief at the results? If only you could just try again…<\/p>\n

Lucky for you, some\u00a0games allow that very thing. Under certain circumstances many games will give a player a chance to reroll the dice. This ability is usually rare and very limited. Sometimes just a once per game ability.<\/p>\n

Given the rerolls rare and limited nature, just how good is being able to reroll that die? Sure, when you’re at a critical junction in an RPG, you throw out the d20 and it turns up a 1, you’re going to want to try again. But are the useful times as rare as the ability itself?<\/p>\n

It’s a terrible answer, but in the end, it really depends. What die are you using? d20? d6? What are the stakes? How rare is the reroll in your game?<\/p>\n

In my experience, the usefulness of the reroll seems inversely proportional to the rarity. Take for example the X-wing Miniatures game. In that game you have the ability to take a Target Lock every turn. When you do, you can then spend it to reroll as many of your attack dice as you want. And attack dice have a 50% chance of rolling a hit. That’s pretty good odds of turning a miss\u00a0into a hit\u00a0and you can do it all the time.<\/p>\n

Conversely, a defensive reroll is much rarer. Only a few cards or pilot abilities allow it. And the defense die only offer you a 3\/8 chance of yielding\u00a0beneficial\u00a0results. So it’s harder to get a defensive reroll and it’s harder to have it benefit you.<\/p>\n

In RPG’s, the odds look even worse. With a d20 system you have only a 5% chance of rolling any particular number. You also usually don’t know exactly what number you need to roll; you’re just aiming for the higher the better. \u00a0In most of these systems, the reroll is a once per game ability that required a ton of sunk XP to acquire. You get to use it once and if your goal is anything higher than a 10, you have far less odds to achieve a success than in the Xwing example.<\/p>\n

For those games where the reroll is rare, how do you decide when to use it?\u00a0You can sink a lot of XP into earning the chance to make a reroll and then, if you’re like me, never use it. A once per game ability needs to be preserved until the right moment. You don’t want to waste it on a meaningless die roll. Nor do you really want to waste it on a\u00a0roll that could actually turn out worse for you if you reroll. So you end up holding onto your “precious” ability until the session ends and letting it go unused.<\/p>\n

Obviously, don’t be like me. Learn to let it go. Ask yourself a few questions:<\/p>\n