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2 Dimensionality of dice pools vs. dice + adds
Hi there, I just read your post, and as others have mentioned, holding more dice feels more fun than a single die. That's a big part of the appeal. In Shadowrun, when you hear 10 dice hit the table, you know that something serious is happening, and I feel that little bit helps enrich the presentation for players. That aside, dice pools derive their dual-dimensionality from the fact that you can modify target numbers (TN) and the size of the dice pools. This divide is also present in dice + adds, however. In Dice pools, the number of dice rolled generally reflect the entity's skill or resources, while the TN references the difficulty of the action. Climbing a brick wall is TN 5, while climbing a sheet of glass is TN 8, for example. However, an invalid might roll one die, while a spider-being might roll 8, to generate his successes. This is an example of having higher skills or resources. In dice + adds style games, such as D20 system, both of these aspectrs are present. I have my clmb modifier, showing that I am an extremely proficient climber (+8) and on the other side, representing difficulty, I have the DC (the target number). If I become better at climbing, I get a +2 to my roll. If it is raining, there is a +2 to the DC. Both factors are modified. The only difference is that in a dice + adds system, the sum of the modifiers is generally applied as a single operation. Numerically, there isn't a difference between a +8 vs. DC 18 and a +6 vs. DC 16, but those two represent different situations.