Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Reycied 07-03-06, 04:57 AM	Yo. New to the boards, and thought I'd post something that's been bugging me as a DM for the past few weeks. I'm currently running a Gestalt-style campaign (for those of you who don't know the Gestalt variant, it involves taking two--count 'em--TWO character classes at each level, and taking the better bonuses of each class. For example, if you were a Fighter-Cleric, you would have the Fighter's hit die, attack bonus and fort saves, but the Cleric's will saves and spells per day, etc...). Our regular group is generally a little pampered. Walk in, slay the monsters and get the treasure, and at worst someone drops to -2 hit points or so, but rarely do things get that bad. So I decided to up the ante a little bit. By making my villains smarter, more ruthless and varied in their tactics has successfully thrown my players for a loop and made them more careful about their actions when on a long dungeon-crawl. But my problem stems from the Cleric-Sorcerer in the group, Kalten. His player is somewhat new to the game (having only played one real campaign previously), and he remains quiet and a little distant at the table. This is only compounded by his abyssmal luck with dice--the man can't roll above a 5 to save his life. The campaign has been three sessions so far, each one about 6 hours or so, and he has landed ONE attack. Now, the first adventure site was pretty combat-heavy, and Kalten was on the frontline a good deal of the time, so opportunity knocked plenty. And with a Cleric's BAB and a decent Strength score, his bonuses don't suffer. But he misses every round without fail, more often than not rolling natural 1's. He is clearly getting distressed. Each time his turn passes and that d20 turns up with a 5 or 6, he just sighs and goes back to thumbing through the Spell Compendium with a dejected look on his face. I need to find some way to help him, some way to restore his faith in the game and in his character. But I can't control how his dice fall. Is there any way to give him a break without making it seem like I favor him over my other players?
Shavit 07-03-06, 08:46 AM	Wow, Gestalt-style campaign.... I wanted to run one but found out the rules after I began the campain. :cool: To the point, you cannot help him control the die, just for morals sake I would've changed his die, so atleast he'll think it was the die...Maybe that will boost his moral... Anyway with time I bet he'll score some hits and crits like everybody near the table. Meanwhile, maybe you can help him find spells that doesn't require attack rolls, some fireballs and magic missiles. Come to think of it, Magic Missile would be perfect, it's a 1d4+1 so 4 is an amazing roll there. It'll pass, I bet next time he'll score a hit, or maybe the time after that...
VrecknidjX 07-03-06, 08:52 AM	Cheat. If the game isn't fun, you're going to lose a player soon, and that's one more person who isn't enjoying D&D. Let him roll 2d6+d8 for a while instead of d20 for hits. If he's still rolling mostly 5s, then you should probably consider moving far, far away from this guy because he has some kind of probablility warping presence. Once he hits with some reliability, move him up to 2d10, this one still gets plenty of awkward rolls. If he's doing okay, liking the game, etc., put him back at d20. If the other players don't like it, make up some cool reason. Say the character's god is favoring him and so altering the laws of probability for that character for a while, and that if their characters had undergone similar trials and held up under the pressure, they might receive some small favors too. Dave
kelvinaw273 07-03-06, 09:20 AM	If it is pure dice, then his time will come. The day will happen when he can roll nothing but 20's, and then you will tear your hair out as your BBEGs fall! On the other hand, he may have poor tactics to compound the problem - make sure he has weapoons he is proficient in, good bonuses to his BAB, buffs and so on. Then ... it is up to the dice.
Dan Hemmens 07-03-06, 09:22 AM	There is no such thing as real luck. There is no such thing as a person who "cannot roll greater than 5 on a D20". Really there isn't.
Archmage Atrus 07-03-06, 09:38 AM	This is an odd problem. I know at times it just feels like the dice gods have forsaken us to rolling 5s or less. But there's nothing you as a DM or anyone else can do about it. (Although I do think the idea of changing the dice around is kinda cute, if ultimately unfair to everyone present.) Perhaps he's using a 20-sided d10. Have you checked his dice to ensure he's rolling the right ones? I dunno. It just seems an odd situation and an odd post.
KJW 07-03-06, 09:41 AM	Have him change dice. Seriously, I don't believe in luck, but I do believe that dice roll differently. Besides that give him roleplaying opportunities to shine, set up situations where he is in the spotlight for roleplaying and handle these situations without dice rolls. This will give him something to be positive about until his dice rolls improve.
Dan Hemmens 07-03-06, 09:43 AM	Perhaps he's using a 20-sided d10. Have you checked his dice to ensure he's rolling the right ones? I dunno. It just seems an odd situation and an odd post. That's a *very* good point. You can get caught out by that and if he *literally* never rolls well, that might be the reason.
Merestil Haye 07-03-06, 10:10 AM	Perhaps he ought to change what he's trying to do in combat? Instead of standing on the front line swinging and missing, encourage him to use his spells. I played a character like this once - I went cleric / wizard though. As I recall I only moved into the frontline once. I died. I spent my time boosting the other characters. Facing an onrushing horde? The Bbn | Cleric went to the front, then I put an Enlarge Person on him and watched him reap the poor onrushing goblins. If he got battered I healed him (or the others if they needed it). At 3rd level I took Spectral Hand as one of my spell selections, so now I can be 20' back and heal a frontliner, or put a cure on someone who's cut off and badly hurt. Prayer is another good party-support choice. It may not seem like he can help much, but cout up the number of times a character hit because of Prayer, or KOd an enemy because of the extra damage enabled by the Enlarge Person. You don't have to do it all yourself - that's what the rest of the party are for. Help him help them do it better. Speaking of which, Wizard is probably better than Sorcerer for a player's first spellcaster - it's easier to recover from mistakes about spell selection. It's more work in preparing the right spells, but that practice will enable him to play sorcerers better later, when he is more familiar with all his spell choices.
Reycied 07-03-06, 02:54 PM	Hey, thanks for all the replies! There are some great suggestions in here. Although I have looked over his character sheet (He uses a bastard sword, and he is proficient in it as it is his diety's favored weapon) and concluded that his bonuses are not the problem, and he IS rolling a d20 (I've checked. :P). But maybe since he IS a spellcasting class I should encourage him to start casting spells more often. The Spell Compendium offers great alternatives to already great spells, and since he has the divine and arcane both open to him, he has some more serious potential than I initially realized. I also really liked the idea of putting him in the spotlight with some roleplaying. This is also a great idea. Thanks for responding so fast, and being so friendly!
Steidas 07-03-06, 04:45 PM	What I did with a player: INVERT the dice. 1 is 20, 2 is 19, etc. bascially, from 21, substract the roll. Do this with ALL his rolls on ALL dice. I had a PC who couldn't roll over 4 to save his grandmother. Later, he was a two crossbow killing machine (killed the BBEG by himself... he even told the other PC's to stay out of it).
Senevri 07-03-06, 05:44 PM	Actually... I had a luck like that once. I solved it by not relying on the dice. I played a more meleeish character, though. But the same thing applies. First of all, if in combat with unknowns, start _defensive_! I generally just waited the first charge, then got into a flanking position, preferrably on higher ground. Maybe my roll was only 5, but with a bit of Base Attack( +3), Dexterity (+5 with items), weapon focus (+1) and a masterwork weapon (+1), that still hits AC 18. (Elf + Finesse with rapier.) Next, I started feinting. Most characters don't have Sense Motive worth anything - and, being a 3.0 game - I pretty much guaranteed a flat-footed opponent for myself. This made a few more points of difference. Of course, then I get hit by a critical and drop unconscious, but at least I got a few good rounds in. If I _knew_ the opponent was dangerous up close, I did have the option of using a bow. I also carried acid and alchemist's fires. However, later on, as I started sneak attack dice, the enemies slowly started dropping. As for your player... At level, oh, 1, he gets: True Strike --- Divine Favor Bless Magic Weapon With a decent STR, say, 14, he'll at lv1 have: 0 BAB +1 bless +2 str +1 divine favor +1 magic weapon. That's 5. Not much, yet. Flanking, with Higher Ground, gives additional +3. Feinting, makes them lose their DEX bonus. Sahuagin is CR 2, and has AC of 16. 15 flat-footed. He'd need to roll 7 or more to hit. A tough one, at this point. However, an Orc only has AC 13! Woot! hitting on 5! Of course, with a bit more levels - say, 6, this character can, with a bit of prep-time... aw, let me do the math: +2ish Divine Favor +4 BAB +2 str +2 bull's str +2 heroism +1 magic weapon +1 haste +1 rage.. For a total of +15 to hit. Should be okay for lv6. With Flanking it's +17. If that's enough, you can also go for touch spells. +16 to hit touch AC is a big deal.
Tikael 07-03-06, 10:20 PM	My suggestion is to try out bell curve rolls for one session to even out everyones rolls. pg132 UA. The dice seem to hate me too...
Quoth_theRaven 07-04-06, 12:50 AM	Yeah, I'm guessing he's just one of those streaky rollers... like me. His day will come. Buff spells and, just other spells should do nicely until his day comes. Then watch out! Or, it could be like the group I'm with. A certain chair at the table has seen fit to cause those seated to roll an unbelievable amount of 1s. Fortunately, the same player tends to use it each session (unfortunately for some characters in the party). I had the misfortune of it's curse one afternoon. A couple of 1s too many, and I switched seats. Lo and behold, here came the 20s! The siege perilous lives!
Molitor 07-04-06, 01:35 AM	There is no such thing as real luck. There is no such thing as a person who "cannot roll greater than 5 on a D20". Really there isn't. I totally disagree with you Sir!
Senevri 07-04-06, 03:16 AM	It's not bad luck, it's the universe, out to get you! I stopped rolling bad when I became the DM. Changing the dice can help, too.
Mesraic 07-04-06, 07:03 AM	Well something new you can do which adds more chance into the game is roll to dodge. I know most people don't like it, but I've used it most of my 18 year gaming carrer, and I prefer the added chance of the bad guy messing up. It means that even if he rolls a 5 with his bonuses maybe hits something like 10, you could rolla natural 1, or with only a +3 to AC roll total lower then him. And if you're inclined to fudge some of the dice rolls to let him have a funner time then you can fudge the dodge rolls behind the DM screen and no one will know the difference, that way without being game disbalancing he can feel like he's doing better as he bashes the heck out of some lower level bad guys. Just remember to take out the auto 10 on AC that everyone gets.