1. Yes it does...
2. ...if standard XP rules apply to NPCs. It's never stated one way or the other, but given that armies aren't entirely made up of high-level fighters, I'd say it's fuzzy at best.
Actually, no, it's not 0.000625%.
That'd be right if they asked what the odds are of throwing a one, then three nat twenties.
They didn't, they asked what the odds were of throwing just three nat twenties AFTER rolling a one; The one has already been rolled and as such has a probability of 1, so you're still working with 0.0125%
This makes more sense in situations where past events do matter; Let's say the weather has a tendency to stay the same, if you ask 'what's the chance it'll be sunny immediately after an hour of rain?' you'll get a lower odds than JUST 'What's the chance it'll be sunny?'
It's funny how everybody is talking about Sanji already and in the comic he doesn't even have a name and is just waiter #3. Genius!
This is why I like this comic!
In the first campaign I was in (which was an all-magic-users, military campaign), we had another player who was new to D&D who came every once in a while as a hanger-on. In order to get her used to the game (as she wanted to join in with a full character the next campaign we did), the DM had her be in control of our druid's animal companion (a large cat, if I recall) whenever she was present.
One day, we got to our biggest mission yet in our campaign - sneaking into a castle to assassinate the king, who also happened to be an incredibly potent (and durable) spellcaster. We were all casting spells up the wazoo to try to take this guy down, with no end in sight. My character - a sorcerer who specialized in Fireball - was almost down for the count, and several of the other players' characters were starting to run low on HP and spell slots.
That's when the player piloting the druid's cat found an opening, and pounced on the king. We knew by this point that the king had damage reduction, and the cat's damage was a mere pittance compared to the output of an entire party of spellcasters, so the rest of us figured this would just be a waste, and would result in me (not to mention the others) just hitting the cat with our AOE spells.
Lo and behold, she rolled a twenty.
Then another.
And then a third.
Yup, the most powerful spellcaster in the land was vorpal'd by the druid's animal companion, being piloted by a rookie player.
In the first fight of the first campaign I ever ran one of the more experienced players playing a halfling factotum rolled three 20s and asked if we were following this rule. I agreed (knowing he would probably kill the mook he was attacking with a crit anyway) and surprisingly didn't have this bout of leniency turn against me by the players getting a few lucky rolls against some major villain.
A few months later in the same campaign the players were exploring a haunted ruin and came across a trio of spectres. One of the spectres won initiative, went straight for the halfling, and got three 20s. We decided it actually ripped the soul out of his body. The rest of the players took a round to realize the halfling had been the only one who had a reliable way to bypass incorporeality, and promptly fled before the spectres' create spawn ability could activate. After that point I silently reduced any triple 20s from NPCs to normal crits
The Baratie is a restaurant. He's probably just there for some food and a nice stiff drink. Does anyone remember if the Baratie served beer in cans, mugs, or long-necked bottles?
Timothy
7th Oct 2013, 12:11 AM
Waiter #3 is going to level up so many times from this. : D
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Knowlessman
7th Oct 2013, 11:53 AM
Isn't there a rule against leveling up more than once from the same source of XP?
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Vinom Trifang
7th Oct 2013, 4:26 PM
That doesn't apply to NPCs.
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GreatWyrmGold
15th Nov 2014, 3:56 PM
1. Yes it does...
2. ...if standard XP rules apply to NPCs. It's never stated one way or the other, but given that armies aren't entirely made up of high-level fighters, I'd say it's fuzzy at best.
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Stephen
7th Oct 2013, 2:24 AM
What occurs to me: What are the odds of throwing three nat twenties in a row immediately after rolling a one?
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Kaleo
7th Oct 2013, 4:19 AM
Specifically that: 0,000625% every four rolls you make.
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Guest
7th Oct 2013, 2:31 AM
.000625%.
Yeah, he's probably just going to do a few retcons about how Sanji is a real badass and was all along. I've done it before.
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aerion111
7th Oct 2013, 3:23 AM
Actually, no, it's not 0.000625%.
That'd be right if they asked what the odds are of throwing a one, then three nat twenties.
They didn't, they asked what the odds were of throwing just three nat twenties AFTER rolling a one; The one has already been rolled and as such has a probability of 1, so you're still working with 0.0125%
This makes more sense in situations where past events do matter; Let's say the weather has a tendency to stay the same, if you ask 'what's the chance it'll be sunny immediately after an hour of rain?' you'll get a lower odds than JUST 'What's the chance it'll be sunny?'
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Guest
7th Oct 2013, 3:32 AM
While true, he clearly meant with the odds of the 1 thrown in there. Not much point in asking if the number doesn't change.
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xuincherguixe
7th Oct 2013, 2:17 PM
Never tell me the odds!
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Lina
7th Oct 2013, 4:24 AM
It's funny how everybody is talking about Sanji already and in the comic he doesn't even have a name and is just waiter #3. Genius!
This is why I like this comic!
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xuincherguixe
7th Oct 2013, 2:21 PM
It would be funny if he STAYS waiter #3.
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Raxon
7th Oct 2013, 8:20 AM
Phil will be playing Sanji, judging by his reasons for joining the game.
Weaknesses are women and transvestites, for opposite reasons.
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xuincherguixe
7th Oct 2013, 2:12 PM
Are we REALLY sure they're opposite reasons?
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Joe the Rat
7th Oct 2013, 8:53 AM
Mmm, I was going to point out that he should really be an Expert (what with the chef thing), but I suppose Commoner is right for wait staff.
This is exactly why triple-20 never lasts long in house rules.
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AttentionDeficitGuy
7th Oct 2013, 12:48 PM
STORY TIME!
In the first campaign I was in (which was an all-magic-users, military campaign), we had another player who was new to D&D who came every once in a while as a hanger-on. In order to get her used to the game (as she wanted to join in with a full character the next campaign we did), the DM had her be in control of our druid's animal companion (a large cat, if I recall) whenever she was present.
One day, we got to our biggest mission yet in our campaign - sneaking into a castle to assassinate the king, who also happened to be an incredibly potent (and durable) spellcaster. We were all casting spells up the wazoo to try to take this guy down, with no end in sight. My character - a sorcerer who specialized in Fireball - was almost down for the count, and several of the other players' characters were starting to run low on HP and spell slots.
That's when the player piloting the druid's cat found an opening, and pounced on the king. We knew by this point that the king had damage reduction, and the cat's damage was a mere pittance compared to the output of an entire party of spellcasters, so the rest of us figured this would just be a waste, and would result in me (not to mention the others) just hitting the cat with our AOE spells.
Lo and behold, she rolled a twenty.
Then another.
And then a third.
Yup, the most powerful spellcaster in the land was vorpal'd by the druid's animal companion, being piloted by a rookie player.
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Hyozo
8th Oct 2013, 1:22 AM
In the first fight of the first campaign I ever ran one of the more experienced players playing a halfling factotum rolled three 20s and asked if we were following this rule. I agreed (knowing he would probably kill the mook he was attacking with a crit anyway) and surprisingly didn't have this bout of leniency turn against me by the players getting a few lucky rolls against some major villain.
A few months later in the same campaign the players were exploring a haunted ruin and came across a trio of spectres. One of the spectres won initiative, went straight for the halfling, and got three 20s. We decided it actually ripped the soul out of his body. The rest of the players took a round to realize the halfling had been the only one who had a reliable way to bypass incorporeality, and promptly fled before the spectres' create spawn ability could activate. After that point I silently reduced any triple 20s from NPCs to normal crits
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dragonbrain
7th Oct 2013, 5:03 PM
Waiter number three represent
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Zero Jack
8th Oct 2013, 12:41 AM
And the crowd goes wild! Literally. I think one of them just turned into a giraffe.
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Lina
8th Oct 2013, 9:56 AM
What is Kaku doing in the crowd?
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Zero Jack
8th Oct 2013, 7:22 PM
Oh, you know, just hanging, being a giraffe.
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Rentok
8th Oct 2013, 7:57 PM
The Baratie is a restaurant. He's probably just there for some food and a nice stiff drink. Does anyone remember if the Baratie served beer in cans, mugs, or long-necked bottles?
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Rentok
8th Oct 2013, 7:57 PM
I apologize in advance- that pun was a bit of a stretch.
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Yarrik
9th Oct 2013, 7:42 PM
Well, that was suitably amazing.
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Poker
17th Oct 2017, 12:53 PM"That legendary deraillement"
That's the kind of roll that are remembered long after the campaign end.
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Pram The Oracle
9th Oct 2018, 1:51 AM
Sanji’s origin is an amazing accident
I love it
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