Dice Pool - Advantages and Problems

Advantages and Problems

Dice pool systems allow a greater number of variables to affect a roll, which can be an advantage or a problem depending on the complexity desired by designers and players. One major drawback is that games using dice pools require a large number of dice, meaning a larger outlay for players on equipment, and the need for more room when making a roll. For this reason some games have rules placing a cap on the number of dice that can be rolled, usually granting other bonuses to the roll for each extra dice that would otherwise be granted. Such rules are often optional.

Famously, early versions of the Storyteller System sometimes made rolling botches (critical failures) more likely the higher your skill or attribute was, since a critical failure would occur if any of the dice came up as a "1"; the probability that at least one "1" will be rolled increases the more dice are rolled, and so highly-skilled characters would botch surprisingly frequently, whereas poorly-skilled characters could frequently get away scot-free. This problem was eliminated in the Revised version of the system and later derivatives by stating that a botch only occurred if no normal successes were scored, and one of the dice came up "1".