stupid question about dice step changes

[emeketos]

I played mostly 1st edition only briefly looked at any of the other editions. I was curious as to why the step system changed? Particularly the removal of D4 and D20. I can see how a D4 doesn't really roll and as such doesn't make a particularly good die. My only speculation of the D20 was it's ranges were too variable and or less likely to explode maybe the opposite was the case for a d4.

[Anunnaki]

That's pretty much why, emeketos -- the higher chance of rerolls with D4 and the lack of them with D20. You can still use the ED1/ED2/EDC dice steps if you prefer, however. No biggie doing that whatsoever.

[emeketos]

I was just curious thanks for the quick reply

[Nahor]

the nifty thing is you can choose to use d4 + d20 instead of 2d12 if you want. The way they explained it IIRC was that 2d12 contained less of an extreme result than did a d4 + d20 so you'd be more in line with the law of averages using 2d12 but still be able to possibly get the same top/low end result as a d4 + d20. I on the other hand have rolled 37 on 1 d4 so I'd prefer going that route It's all up to you in the end which step choice you'd like to make or just let your players (if you're a GM) decide on which they'd rather use if you don't care about mixing it up for that step.

[Mataxes]

For a look "under the hood" of the Step System, and some understanding about the thinking behind the changes in ED3, checking out my at The Lore Merchant.

In brief, there are a couple of places in the original step system where things got a little funky, and the changes are intended to minimize them.

[Ryval]

Question for 4th edition...
'What dice steps will be used: a return to ED1 or the continuation of ED3 and it's reliance on a plethora of d12's?
Personally I like my d4 and D20 (although 2 d12 are nothing to sneeze at).

And I liked each race having it's own Karma die (ED1) vs every race having a D6. Just a personal preference.

And whoever signed the contract on the Q-Workshop Earthdawn dice set that included a percentile d10 and a single D6 just wasn't thinking. An Earthdawn dice set should be d4, 2d6, d8, 2d10 (not percentile), d12, d20. By ED1 dice steps that set lets a player use every step until the low 30's.
Just sayin'.

[Mataxes]

The d4 and the d20 are making a return to the ED4 Step Table, which is going to be kind of a hybrid of the ED1 and ED3 versions. There will be more on that in the near future.

[kosmit]

[Flowswithdrek]

I have to say I did miss the the D4 and D20 - they kind of always felt like little orphans after our group moved to 3rd Edtion

[Kasbak]