Assigning Dice at Character Creation

[Ariel629]

Hello All,

I'm new to Pulp Alley and - not being mathematically inclined - have what may be a dumb question regarding assigning dice to character skills. 

Skills are assigned a number of dice as well as a dice number. The choices tend to overwhelm me.  I understand that rolling 3 dice of one type is better than rolling 2 dice of the same type (for example 3d8 vs 2d8).  Likewise a higher dice type is always better than a lower dice (for example, d10 vs. d6).  However, it's the combinations that confuse me.   For example, when should I choose 2d8 versus 2d10, etc. ? 

The question comes up when I'm statting characters from TV show, books, or other media. It's hard to know what combination of dice best reflects the character (or at least my concept of the character).  For example - is Sherlock Holmes' Intellect 3d10 vs 3d8, etc.  Using https://anydice.com/, the probabilities of rolling a 4 or higher are the same (approximately 99% for both the 3d10 and 3d8)

I'm probably overthinking things, but I'm wondering how other folks translating fictional characters for the game have handled the issue, or whether it's been an issue for them at all.

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

   

[syrinx0]

You need to roll a 4 or higher per dice for Pulp Alley. So if you use that site for a 1d10 you have a 70% chance of a success where as a 1d8 has a 62% chance of a success.  The more dice you roll over a 4 the more successes you have.  Some challenges require 1,2 or 3 successes to pass. 

I would probably say Sherlock would be a 4d10.

[Alcide Nikopol]

Sometimes it is easier to pick the low skills first. Obviously there's quite a bit of personal opinion involved but I'd make Sherlock 2d8 on Shoot and Might. Remember that some challenges need more than one success so 3d10 if always better than 3d8 if you are needing to roll 2 or 3 successes.

[Ariel629]

Thank you!  This is very helpful.  I'm getting a better hang of things by creating a few sample Leagues.  I really appreciate the responses.