Shadowrun 4th Ed. Dice Roller Options

[Fionnoulla]

Hello all I just finished making a dice roller based on the shadowrun 4th ed. rules. I would like to invite you all to give it a try.

http://www.5150Press.com/rpg/roller.php

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated !

Edit: Grammar

This post has been edited by Fionnoulla: Oct 8 2010, 05:59 PM

[Summerstorm]

hm hm...

Why did you include variable target number? I don't know any test in the normal rules changing the 5+ needed.

Also it would be nice if all entries stayed after a roll, so you can roll a similar test in fast succession.

One nice thing to have would be the inclusion of the -1 die per roll optional rule for extended tests. (You lose 1 die every roll... helps with limiting things you can achieve).

[Fionnoulla]

hm hm...

Why did you include variable target number? I don't know any test in the normal rules changing the 5+ needed.

Also it would be nice if all entries stayed after a roll, so you can roll a similar test in fast succession.

One nice thing to have would be the inclusion of the -1 die per roll optional rule for extended tests. (You lose 1 die every roll... helps with limiting things you can achieve).

The variable target numbers I plan to get rid of they are more for debugging purposes than anything.

Very good suggestions for improvements. Thank you very much for the feedback

[Mayhem_2006]

It needs to be able to store roles in a database, and send them out to 2 addresses via email.

That way it can be used for secure dice rolls for play-by-forum/email games.

As it stands, it only works at the table, (or for a trusted GM doing all the rolling on a forum game) and is thus just an inconvenient substitute for dice.

[IKerensky]

Nice rollers, like it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Could it be possible to have Extended test without target number ? (for legworking test).

[Fionnoulla]

IKerensky: Do you mean generate hits in a time period? Edit: If so what time-frames would you suggest?
Mayhem_2006: Interesting Idea. This sort of thing would require accounts and having to log in as there are people out there that would use it to email spam;However it is a feature I like so I will be working on it but it isn't something I can add quickly. Thank you for the Idea!

Update: As Requested -1 Dice per roll on extended test.

I am working on the features requested in this thread.
All of your feed back is greatly appreciated as I want to create a very robust dice roller.

The reason I started making this is my friends and I just recently started playing again and are getting used to the 4th Ed rules (We haven't played in a long time) and we are geeks... So a table top game with us it is common for everyone to have a laptop in front of them instead of pen, paper and dice. So this roller is a logical addition.

This post has been edited by Fionnoulla: Oct 8 2010, 05:55 PM

[Silbeg]

pretty neat.

The one thing I noticed was that you don't auto-populate the die fields... it would be kind of nice to have the roller "remember" the values you entered last time, so you could just hit "roll" again.

No big deal... just a suggestion.

[Summerstorm]

Hm hm.. excellent.

With the optional -1: if 0 dice is reached the test should give out a "Failure: Test not succeeded". As it is now, your roller keeps on rolling the one die till it is done.

Suggestion:
Glitches and critical glitches. Check upon each roll if it is a glitch or critical glitch.

Good and speedy work.

[MJBurrage]

Nicely done.

I would also suggest that you have the fields and checkboxes stay filled in unless changed by the user.

Less important—but still cool—would be to have the newest roll added to the top of the list rather than the bottom.

[Fionnoulla]

Update: Glitches and Critical Glitches Recorded in Extended test.
Optional -1 die in Extended test is checked now reduces pool to 0 and returns roll failure.

Silbeg & MJBurrage: Data staying Filled in - Working on that.

MJBurrage: Reverse order of previous rolls, good idea I will see if I can figure that out.

[Fionnoulla]

Update:
Order of previous rolls reversed - Most recent roll is at the top of the list now
Text boxes return last rolls values - I choose not to allow the Edge Check boxes to be clicked as prior roll so that the user will not inadvertently use edge and not realize it.

Happy Rolling!

PS: I am so glad I posted my project here, You have all provided excellent feedback and suggested very functional additions.

This post has been edited by Fionnoulla: Oct 8 2010, 09:12 PM

[Summerstorm]

Well... we got a quick, easy rolling tool. So we call it a good trade. Nice to help someone.

Hm... i wanted to code myself a program for gm-assistance too sometimes. Always with the procrastination... should get my own projects rolling (HAH).

EDIT:

Ah just one more thing, in the extended tests drop-down menu. Could you mark the base time unit down. (Don't want to look up the book when you let them roll something. Just like:

Fast (1CT)
Quick (1min)
etc...?

[Fionnoulla]

Summerstorm Sure, no problem, in fact its done =)

[KarmaInferno]

Here's an odd one for you.

If you use the Dice Pool Cap rules, you are limited to rolling a max number of dice equal to the higher of double your natural attribute + skill rating, or 20.

In an Extended Degrading Test, you lose one die every interval.

However, if your Dice Cap is for example 20, but the total number of actual dice you have is for example 24, that means for the first five intervals you throw 20 dice. After that the pool shrinks normally.

24 (reduced to 20)
23 (reduced to 20)
22 (reduced to 20)
21 (reduced to 20)
20
19
18
17
etc...

How difficult would it be to simulate that?



-k

[Fionnoulla]

KarmaInferno: That is a very good idea. I will think on how to implement it tonight. (Not a quick add on)

To everyone: I think that the way I have edge working for extended tests is incorrect... Currently it applies edge like the rest of the rolls (re-rolling 6s) and cutting the overall time in half. The more I think about it the more I think that is wrong. Could someone explain edge as it applies to extended tests so that I can duplicate that on the roller?

[IKerensky]

Hey I dont want extended roll to return à failure... I want them to return the total number of success obtained.

When doing research Players are making extended rolls... except there is no real target number and the total success are used to determine the quality of information returned. I am clearer ?

[IKerensky]

Also, could it be possible to not put test duration and optional rules box back to default after you push the roll button ?

[Brainpiercing7.6...]

Very nice tool.

My suggestion(s):

Is it possible to have verbose output on extended tests? Maybe with an addtional checkbox to select it. It would be interesting to see how many hits were generated in what timeframe.


As to Edge for extended tests: Edge can only be used per interval, so for a single roll (unless they changed that in 20A). Instead of a checkbox you need to ask how many points of edge should be spent at most, and how many dice edge adds. For instance, for a DC12 extended test with a poor dicepool, say 4, on an edge 6 character, it might be smart to specify 2 points of edge to be spent, so that the first two rolls add edge dice and get rule of 6. However, in the odd case that 12 successes are generated in the first roll, then the second point should not be used, because no second roll is made. Of course, this still doesn't allow the flexibility of using edge on a case by case basis.

[MJBurrage]

As I said before, very nice, and thanks for having it remember the text-box settings.

It would be nice if it also remembered the extended test interval chosen, and the "Optional -1" setting.

Concerning Edge:

• I assumed—after rolling some samples—that the edge check-box makes the program re-roll failures once; however after rolling some high dice-pool tests, the hits returned seemed low. (on average, 5/9ths of the dice should be hits after using edge)
• Upon further reflection I realized that you are supposed to know the results of the roll before choosing to use edge to reroll failures, which the current version does not allow.

P.S. is their a way to download the php file without executing it (so I could use it offline during a game)

Regardless, many thanks.

[Fionnoulla]

Update: Interval and Optional rule in extended test will remain selected after rolls.
News: I am now working on The Roller v2.0 - All of the changes that I made from the original design has now made the source code sloppy so I am now working on the v2 rolling engine that will be easier to add features to. I expect the release date to be somewhere around Friday, Oct. 15, 2010.


MJBurrage: Unfortunately PHP scripts can not be run locally. The roller script requires a web server to execute.

This post has been edited by Fionnoulla: Oct 12 2010, 07:01 PM