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Randomness counts against the player in the long run and, unlike monsters who appear, die and are never seen again, players are around long enough for the long run to count. It is common for people to wrongly believe that the randomness "balances out" so that it's simply a matter of taste whether you prefer.
![pathfinder battle axe pathfinder battle axe](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/96/82/929682d9219579d7eed79a704f2b0abc.png)
The second of these points is often misunderstood. For classes that can take Great Weapon Fighting, it has an additional edge in the dice re-roll mechanics since each die can be re-rolled on a 1 or a 2. The Greatsword has two big benefits: (1) it has a higher average, and (2) it has a tighter and less random distribution. The Greatsword is a better weapon than the Greataxe unless you are playing a Barbarian. Others accept the risk of a low roll with the Great Axe in order to have a better chance at high damage. Some prefer the Greatsword because the high chance of average damage is "slow but steady". But when you are in a battle and need a 12, your chances are better with the axe. You have a better chance of rolling higher than average, but also a higher chance of rolling lower than average. Only one quarter of your rolls will be a 6,7, or 8. 4d6 would have an average about 14 (1 in 36) and a max of 24 (1 in 648) 1d12Īll numbers have an equal chance of occurring (a uniform distribution), thus your chance of a 12 is 1 in 12. With the addition of more dice this curve gets steeper. In this case the average (7) has a chance of 1 in 6, while the max has a chance of 1 in 36. Rolling 2 dice creates a bell curve distribution of the possible values. While Netzach makes a very good point, I'd like to add in the die dynamics.Īlthough the average is very similar the two situations behave very differently.