Math? I don't think that rpg talks about computing an integral or spending 2h arguing on whether we're on a Hilbert space and can compute a scalar product.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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Ah, but you see, arithmetic is scary.
The only time I get too much to deal with is when I’m rolling four dice per attack, twice per round, and want to have a high level of confidence in my answer while also not taking up everyone’s time. For that I just made a spreadsheet and moved on with it.
EVE Online taught me speed distance time long before school did. It also helps that it's just intuitively obvious but that didn't stop it taking 2 whole lessons of physics.
turns out I didn't hate improv or basic math, I just let something convince me that I should dislike things I'm bad at
I like live imorov, and dragons, but not math. That's why I'm a bard.
Music is just math that sounds good when you get it right. Can't help you if you're one of those dancing or fancy-talking bards, though.
What's the mathenatically optimal guitar solo that'll "make them panties drop?" 🤔
"Do you want to play D&D with us? It's fun, you get to create a character, act out their dialog--"
sweeps majestic cape over their shoulder
"I shall BE THERE, with BELLS on! Excelsior!"
I mean, it's pretty basic math. I don't think that many people would be too interested if it had trigonometry or calculus lol
Yeah, it's just basic arithmetic with (usually) small numbers, and if you're the min-maxing type you might add probability calculation into it, but the latter is strictly optional and the former is basically the fun part about maths.
TBH I think probability calculation is fascinating, but it can get a bit cerebral if you want to do it during play.
Gotta use trigonometry to accurately calculate the distance to flying enemies
Is there any rpg where you need to do so? May be Fatal?
not for D&D, but in wargames with minis and terrain and stuff, I absolutely want to know the trajectory of the artillery shells being fired on my position. As well as the blast radius of the detonation and (if applicable) the size of the fireball and radius in which any shrapnel might be an issue.
Gotta know how many of my men are left and if their fortifications are left standing.
Have you seen some of the homebrew rules people use to track inventory and encumbrance?
No. And I don't think that I'd like to. :)
Can I interest you in German TTRPG Das Schwarze Auge?
Nein. Bitte, nein.
Yes, ill bring draino and cesium chips!
I love hearing people talk about it a lot more than I have ever enjoyed playing.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy playing it, certainly I do.
But I like the whole thing. You wanna tell me about your epic campaign? Or the ridiculous run? Cool. Those are stories I can consume without effort.
Don't forget legalese
I love Owlcat games. But i absolutely hate that they have the math formulas in everything. Just tell me the results man, that's why I'm playing on a computer
To each their own, I love seeing the math because then I can miss six attacks in a row and go "Fuck you! That's bullshit! Those rolls are bullshit!" and then look in the combat log to see that no, those rolls weren't bullshit, they're just shit. Makes the game feel more fair. If they obfuscated the math and just said "Nah mate, you miss" x6 with no other explanation that would really piss me off.
Oh i don't mean during combat. I mean for spells and items, weapons and armor.
Magic Iron Armor
Protects character for (blah blah)x7(15 + armor base - stat whatever)
It's a computer program. Just list it as"protects character for 6", and have that 6 change based on the requirements. You know, like how every other dev team in the history of videogames has done it haha
But then you don't know how your gear scales! That's important knowledge!
If they were making a less number-crunchy game then I might agree with you but this is kind of just the nature of Pathfinder, honestly. It's a game for numbers nerds and your objective is to stack +68 to your attack rolls or saves via as many different avenues as possible. This isn't really Owlcat's fault I don't think, it's more just a consequence of choosing Pathfinder as the system to run your game in.
Nah it's Owlcat. They did the same thing with the 40k game.