Expected Dice Value of Pick Highest

[randolph]

[potsticker]

This might help you as well:

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

It's not quite all the same dice, but I just posted this:



The "4d6" and "4d6 & 1d8" ones are for when you really care to devote your two reds, red d8, plus both whites to something. It's when you need to hit real bad.

[schoon]

Ah, this sings to the analyst in me!

Interesting that the big bump is really from adding the d8, and while more d6s certainly increase your odds, it's not as much bang for your buck...

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

Well, yeah, but you get them under pretty extreme circumstances, like devoting half of the frame to one weapon range or not carrying any ranged weapons. The only way to get two is to have two HtH weapons and no others.

Note that 4d6 is really good, btw. That's what you usually roll for a weapon, when you count the whites.

And note just how much better 2d6 is than 1d8. You have a 5/8 chance of doing worse, but a 3/8 chance of doing better. That's the difference between saying to yourself, "I need to get there as fast as I can" and "I'll make a break for it if the die says something good, otherwise, I'll hunker down here..." because, in your head, you're committing to using white dice for movement. Naturally, of course, if you expected to put the frame in this position, you'd have a movement system. Or you wouldn't have gone and gotten it shot off, ya durn fool.

[Forged]

An interesting thing to note, since the white dice can both be used, you can statistically skew the bonus they provide by giving priority.

Consider this mech:


You don't have any valid spot targets, since they are all out of range/behind cover. You are trying to get to an objective, but you know this guy is going to get railed on.

while = 4.4722
=4.4722

If you consider that you give the higher of the to one and the lower to the other the numbers change.

the priority counts as having the same effect as 3d6 pick highest, so it gets an average of 4.9583
the non-priority is 2d6 pick lowest, then roll 1d6 and pick highest, getting an average of 3.99

Of course this is just looking at the odds differently. It less you say, I'm going to prioritize X, and give the rest to Y