Using Guard/Encounter matches for randomization

eldarth · July 2013

Okay, I'm looking for a guard/encounter pairing that is an even fight (50% guards win, 50% mobs win).
Guards vs Cutters I've had 3/7 (42%) - not too bad, but a tiny sample size (7 fights).

So, if anyone has any suggestions for "even" matches, or as close to it as possible, let me (everyone) know.

Here's the general idea using 50%...

r1 = 50%
- r1a = 50% [25%]
- r1b = 50% [25%]
r2 = 50%
- r2a = 50% [25%]
- r2b = 50% [25%]

[i.e. r1a, r1b would spawn a match if r1 loses (i.e. encounter completes)]

So, loser of a match (component complete) can be used to spawn encounters in different locations, objects in different locations, different objects, etc.

Here's how it looks at 33%:

r1 = 66%
- r1a = 66% [44%]
  - r1a1 = 66% [29%]
  - r1a2 = 33% [14%]
- r1b = 33% [22%]
r2 = 33%
- r2a = 66% [22%]
  - r2a1 = 66% [14%]
  - r2a2 = 33% [7%]
- r2b = 33% [44%]

eldarth · July 2013

Bump. Anybody? Even fight guards/mob?

sarkany69 · July 2013

I've done it, but since it's part of my quest, I typically intervene. I did find it close to 50% the few times I stood by and watched. The exact encounters were 2x Guards - melee - hard difficulty 1 and 6x Undead - melee - Easy difficulty 3

Hope that helps

eldarth · July 2013

sarkany69 wrote: »

2x Guards - melee - hard difficulty 1 and 6x Undead - melee - Easy difficulty 3

I'll put it in my trials and let you know. Sounds like it could be a long fight though -- might be too long.
I'll give 1x guard and 3x undead a try as well -- that might be quicker, close enough, and easier to spawn off results.

Results:
2x guards mh1 and 6x undead me3 = 10/10 guard wins
1x guards mh1 and 3x undead me3 = 7/10 guard wins

I think it was due to the fact the guards seemed to get in a free attack while undead were animating out of ground.

So, I tried 1x guards mh1 (minus a recruit) x 3x undead me3

Results:
7/15 guard wins. Not bad. About a 25-30 second battle though.

Those extra encounters make spawning more difficult.
Spawn A on g1 complete, Spawn B on u1 AND u2 AND u3 complete.

mosby1 · July 2013

If you just want a 1 in 2 chance of triggering something, use a patrolling mob over a pit with 2 platforms. A player action can remove one of the platforms, essentially giving you a 50/50 chance of something happening. Much faster and more reliable, in my experience. There's an example showing exactly how to do it in the DM's Studio.

There's also a "coin flip" where 2 mobs are dropped together into the pit, and one will die first. That's not as evenly 50/50 though.

sarkany69 · July 2013

Mosby1 seems to have a good suggestion, but If you're still wanting to go the battle route:

What I did is I had a wall between the 2 mobs so the zombies had time to crawl out of the ground. Then when you remove the wall its a fairly even match. That might be why I was getting close to 50/50 odds with that combo.

It does sound like you want the battle done quick, so this approach might not work for you.

eldarth · July 2013

Yeah, quick is better. I don't want any player action to be involved since the player could easily repeat the same action if discovered. I am essentially dropping a guard/mob into a 20x20 room for them to battle it out, and based on the winner, gives me one encounter complete or the other.

Thinking more about mosby1's idea I kind of like it - I could setup a hard-guard looping patrol over 1-n easy mob "buckets" and then depending on when a player reached a point, or a dialog option could drop the platform the guards were patrolling. That'd give me a fairly random 1-n. Hmm... more thinking to do. :cool:

raphaeldisanto · July 2013

Someone tested this way back during beta, and I think they had almost exactly 50% success with some combination of guards and a hard single drow encounter. I forget exactly what combination it was off the top of my head though, but maybe that might get you started. All I can remember was that it was multiple easier guards and a single harder drow.

I also recall that in one of his tests the mobs actually managed to kill each other, (from the drow's bleed, I suspect), so make sure you take that into account if you're using a combat-based randomizer.

eldarth · July 2013

Actually, Mosby1's suggestion is perfect.
I don't actually need the random element until after PC has completed an initial quest, so I'm going with a single hard mob patrolling above a 40x40 platform divided into quarters by invisible walls containing easy mobs. Easy mobs and patroller spawn immediately, patroller walks a square over pits - once quest is completed, disappears top platform dropping patroller into one of the four pits. This will give me a nice random 1-4.

Using Guard/Encounter matches for randomization

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