Dice roller request: dice pools

[ffilz]

Could we have some kind of dice pool where we can specify roll N dice and show each one?

It would be nice to have and option of summing them.

One syntax suggestion would be to use {} and <> braces with the current syntax, where {} shows the dice without summing, and <> shows with summing.

Keeping all the current syntax for actual dice would allow using something like <4d6s4> for Burning Wheel to show a 4 dice roll (so we can see the sixes for exploding, but also get the sum of successes). <4d10k3> would be nice for L5R. {3d6} would be nice for Classic Traveller damage (where we often need to see the individual dice, but don't need the sum). Of course {3d6} is just a shortcut for [1d6][1d6][1d6], but considering the length limit on macros that would be handy.

Se could also automate exploding dice easily in some cases by adding an x that can be added that means explode each die that is counted that rolls that high or better. Then an L5R roll could just be [4d10k3x10] though being able to specify <4d10k3x10> to show the work would be nice (in that case, the <> or {} should show the additional dice rolls. And <4d6s4x6> would work for Burning Wheel rolls that are exploding up front.

Frank

[Lance]

We bumped into this with our Vampire game. Just a "die rolls without summing" method would be a great help to us. Maybe implemented as a verbose mode that lists the individual rolls of [6d10v] as it were [1d10][1d10][1d10][1d10][1d10][1d10] (followed by the sum, if necessary). Or would that rub against the max length?

[dmw71]

Anything die-roller related falls into Greg's exclusive territory, so please stand by.

[Valdus]

I could use this also since doubles and triples roll over in T&T

[ToniXX]

This is interesting. Let me noodle this for a bit, along with Valdus' request for exploding die.

The only thing is that I don't want to put a ton of effort into new dice expression syntax that gets used very rarely.

[ffilz]

Just an expression to allow rolling but not summing a bunch of dice would help, then folks can handle any exploding or roll over themselves. I guess it can be useful to still sum while seeing the individual rolls (L5R) but say Burning Wheel doesn't need the summing (since it counts successes). I agree there's a lot of variations on dice mechanics and you don't want to try and code them all...

[ToniXX]

Just an expression to allow rolling but not summing a bunch of dice would help, then folks can handle any exploding or roll over themselves. I guess it can be useful to still sum while seeing the individual rolls (L5R) but say Burning Wheel doesn't need the summing (since it counts successes).

Yeah, this would be pretty easy, I think.

[ToniXX]

I've got this feature working on my development server. I should be able to apply it to unseenservant.com later today or tomorrow.

So far, all it does is show the individual dice rolls in a multi dice expression. The way it is handled is as such:

Code: Select all

[_3d6]

So all you have to do is add the underscore character ( _ ) to the front of the dice expression. The results will then look like this:

dice_pools.JPG (12.19 KiB) Viewed 1882 times

If you leave the underscore out, the result is as it's always been.
I hope this will be helpful to most who have asked for this feature.

My plan is to handle exploding dice with an exclamation point ( ! ) in the same position. But that's not here just yet.

I'll post again here when I've applied the change to the public server.

[Valdus]

At last we can see our dice!!! Summon the trolls!

[ffilz]

Good first step on this.

[ffilz]

In addition to explodes, consider, maybe ^n at the end to indicate n or higher on each die is considered a success.

Then you could implement Burning Wheel as [_!3d6^4] for black dice or [_!3d6^3] for grey dice or [_!3d6^2] for white dice. But that might be a lot...

[ToniXX]

In addition to explodes, consider, maybe ^n at the end to indicate n or higher on each die is considered a success.

There is a success command (s). Check the macro syntax documentation (http://www.unseenservant.com/default.asp?do=help) and see if that works for you

[ffilz]

In addition to explodes, consider, maybe ^n at the end to indicate n or higher on each die is considered a success.

There is a success command (s). Check the macro syntax documentation (http://www.unseenservant.com/default.asp?do=help) and see if that works for you

Ah great, that part's already there then. So the underscore to show the individual dice will work great for Burning Wheel.

[ToniXX]

The feature to show all dice rolls in a multi-dice expression is on the server. Try it out by putting an underscore (_) in front of your dice expressions.
Try some on the fly rolls and let me know how it's working.
But don't go too crazy and slam the random number server with, like, a _100d6 roll

here's one I just rolled:
[_3d6] = (3+4+6)=13

[ffilz]

This looks good: [_6d6] = (6+4+2+1+1+1)=15

But this isn't right (only shows 4 dice): [_6d6s4] = (4, 6, 4, 4)=4 or a repeat shows only 2 dice: [_6d6s4] = (4, 5)=2. Oh, it's only showing the dice that succeed. Which is almost good enough for Burning Wheel (sometimes in Burning Wheel you ALSO need to know if any/how many dice rolled 1s as well as 6s for possible exploding).

[ToniXX]

I can make the s command show all dice in the results just for reference, and still show the number of dice that succeeded as it is done now. Would that be better?

[ffilz]

I can make the s command show all dice in the results just for reference, and still show the number of dice that succeeded as it is done now. Would that be better?

Yes, if the underscore is used to show the individual dice, it should show all dice. Can you highlight the successes in green?

[ffilz]

Next someone's going to want the shown dice to be sorted...

[ToniXX]

Yes, if the underscore is used to show the individual dice, it should show all dice. Can you highlight the successes in green?

Next someone's going to want the shown dice to be sorted...

I've made the following changes to the 's' command:

• All dice in the pool are shown
• The pool is sorted from lowest to highest (this is easy)
• The successful dice are shown in green
• The total number of successes is shown
• As before, the pool is not summed

You may not see the green text at first. If not, try clearing your cache. If clearing your cache doesn't work, post here and I'll supply further info on how to resolve it.

[dmw71]

Worked great.

s4.jpg (12.04 KiB) Viewed 1817 times