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This brings to mind an interesting possibility: Keep the roll, but decide this's only a very small-scale war for some reason - perhaps domestic politics quickly distract whichever power got the 17, or perhaps they're afraid the other power will quickly overwhelm their current advantage? By analogy to OTL WWII, perhaps Japan strikes Pearl Harbor but then - being aware of America's industrial advantage unlike OTL - quickly offers peace?
That would be VERY anticlimatic...
Ephraim Ben Raphael's post said the land and naval forces involved was greater than the World War...so I think it will be a big war.
 
America rolled a 20 before and it was kept, I don't see how an opposite roll should be overturned. In fact, I think a 17v1 is one of the few situations where Japan wins, it will still be incredibly bloody, as the post indicates, and will(I think) allow for a richer narrative in the long run.
 
Personally, I think it is contradictory to reroll.

Regardless of the result (I want Japan to win), the purpose of using dice is to remove authorial bias (if present), allow for unique twists, and even provide different ideas from what was expected.

If the end result is just going "Nah, that roll didn't pan out", don't even roll the dice and just decide what happens. If the dice roll ends up still being a fumble, but for the other side, why not just re roll that? Why not reroll until they both get a natural crit?

Imo, rerolling is basically saying "I want to have randomness, but only if I agree". My opinion would stand even if the roll was something crazy like "Drakia Invades America" and America Crit Fails while Drakia gets a nat 20. Clearly thats probably the worst possible outcome (I imagine that'd be a harsh peace for sure), but if thats not an acceptable outcome for the story, it shouldn't be given the chance via dice roll.

In the end, however, the choice is yours. I would like for you to do a sort of "Alternate History Novel" cameo in the story about what the first roll was, or vice versa.

Infact, that might be a nice compromise. Maybe see what you come up with for the current roll, then do a re-roll (if others agree with my idea/re-roll), then pick whichever is a better story in your eyes. Then the alternative (first roll or re-roll) can make a cameo as a alternate history novel within the story. (Or something similar.)

Edit: On further consideration, I do believe that my last idea is most interesting, if only to know what the re-roll would be. (I like seeing what my Mulligan would be when doing the 3 randoms thing for sports games etc) But I would much prefer the original roll to stand. And I agree that doing a "and then one side gets distracted" would be a huge cop-out and very anti-climatic.
 
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I vote for keeping the rolls. If Japan wins it is nice upset, if America wins it is nothing out of ordinary. Either way I see no reason to reroll.
 
Very much in agreement.

Anyhow, losing to Japan need not be an automatic game over to the US. Perhaps it'd be the straw that breaks the back of the USN's dominance in US politics (paving the way for either democratic civilian leadership or Army dominance); perhaps it'd shock America out of its arrogance, and force Washington to pursue a more pragmatically proactive foreign policy against her rivals overseas; perhaps it'd ignite a national debate where these mutually contradictory ideas are pit against each other.

Further to that point, Japanese victory in the Pacific War is no guarantee of the Japanese Empires long run stability, and the terroristic forces unleashed by America's proxy groups might just well bring down Japan in the long run. Perhaps Chinese nationalism would continue to bog down Japan after victory in the Pacific (TNO levels of Chinese revanchism anyone?); or India would find common cause cause with a defeated America over Japan.
 
Honestly, I hope it's the USA that fumbled, as it opens possibilities for the Societists to start their own war on the Grand Alliance, and also because after what Perdue did, it would feel good to see America get hammered.
 
The US fumbling could be their fleet (which has not had a good couple of years as you remember) getting so crippled by the opening attack that they cannot even wage war if they want to preserve what remains of it.
 
Thing is fom the description before the dice rolls, my feel was, that regardless of it's name as Great Pacific War, it didn't really feel like it would be the kind of OTL WW2esque "War to the Knife" to begin with. No side has any designs on the others homeland, it's a textbook "Age of Exploration to 19th century" clash over imperial spheres of influence. One where I'd expect to see the kind of "limited victory with limited gains" outcome seen otherwise in Central Powers Victory TLs.

So if you want my opinion about the dice rolls: You shouldn't have rolled with 20 sided dice in the 1st place. You should have rolled with a 6sided dice then added 9 points to the result to Japan and 10 points to the result to the US. Giving Japan a range of potential outcomes from 10-16 and the USA one from 11-17, then interpreted the results like from a "traditional" 1-20 dice roll.
 
Thing is fom the description before the dice rolls, my feel was, that regardless of it's name as Great Pacific War, it didn't really feel like it would be the kind of OTL WW2esque "War to the Knife" to begin with. No side has any designs on the others homeland, it's a textbook "Age of Exploration to 19th century" clash over imperial spheres of influence. One where I'd expect to see the kind of "limited victory with limited gains" outcome seen otherwise in Central Powers Victory TLs.

So if you want my opinion about the dice rolls: You shouldn't have rolled with 20 sided dice in the 1st place. You should have rolled with a 6sided dice then added 9 points to the result to Japan and 10 points to the result to the US. Giving Japan a range of potential outcomes from 10-16 and the USA one from 11-17, then interpreted the results like from a "traditional" 1-20 dice roll.

Once again, that'd defeat the purpose of the dice roll, as that's just heavily manipulating the dice to achieve a desired outcome. At that point, just write a narrative about whatever you wanted and don't even bother with the dice.

The Great Pacific war could very easily be a cultural name. If Japan wins, it could be the war that pushes the US out of Asian politics, while the US would just see it as yet more proof of their Navy being corrupt and uselessly led by morons. Meanwhile, the US winning could result in Japan being anywhere from utterly destroyed as a relevant power, thus being the Great Pacific War that ended their Empire, while the US would see it as just "swatting away" some nuisance. It'd take a lot for both to see it as a Great War. The First World War is named as such because it was so deadly and wide-spread.

I'd be willing to wager the Soviets "Great Patriotic War" was named differently in Nazi Germany, for example.
 
So if you want my opinion about the dice rolls: You shouldn't have rolled with 20 sided dice in the 1st place. You should have rolled with a 6sided dice then added 9 points to the result to Japan and 10 points to the result to the US. Giving Japan a range of potential outcomes from 10-16 and the USA one from 11-17, then interpreted the results like from a "traditional" 1-20 dice roll.
I agree with this. The twenty sided dice leaves too much to just random chance.
 
I really love the dice system in this tl it makes the Drakaverse feel much more real as there is something that is even out of the authors control. I say you keep the rolls as they are It'll be extremely interesting to see how it plays out. Also I will cry if Australia and New Zealand dont end up as part of the united states
 
I’d say re-roll, since you seem to be implying that the current result would hamper the narrative.

Also, I agree with the suggestion of ditching the 20 sided dice in favor of a 6, with narrative bonuses added onto the result. I feel like that’s a good compromise between sheer randomness, while also still factoring in circumstances from the world you’ve built here.
 
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xsampa

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Has anyone considered that the US might increase support to Indian Muslim rebels if Japan wins and create a *Pakistan? There aren't many alternate Pakistans.
 
I’d say re-roll, since you seem to be implying that the current result would hamper the narrative.

Also, I agree with the suggestion of ditching the 20 sided dice in favor of a 6, with narrative bonuses added onto the result. I feel like that’s a good compromise between sheer randomness, while also still factoring in circumstances from the world you’ve built here.

This
 
Personally, I say reroll. Either side being crushed would be both unrealistic and highly disappointing. Especially with it being named the “Great Pacific War” and being described as almost a Second World War, which makes it sound like it would be a longer and bloodier conflict. If America crushes Japan, Pan-Asianism is suppressed and everyone returns to the New Order of the Ages, and all the buildup would be for nothing. If Japan crushed America, the remaining American allies think that America is too weak to protect them and leave, and the US itself might fall apart. Since the whole point of this TL is the Drakian-American rivalry, it would be disappointing to see it end after just a few decades.

Yeah, it’s sort of cheating, but it would be more realistic and entertaining if the sides were more balanced.
 
Would it be cheating to let the first dice roll decide the outcome of this war without letting it entirely decide how badly the one side loses? Maybe humiliating defeat, but not exactly getting steamrolled effortlessly?
 
Regardless of what you choose, I think neither side should be utterly crushed.

No Japanese occupation of West Coast, no US occupation of Japan, and the loser keeps some important colonies/protectorates (the losing USA might keep Ireland, Central America and Insulindia, the losing Japan might keep Korea and Manchuria but nothing else).

So, a major loss of territory and influence + reparations and military limitations, yes.
USA or Japan losing everything, no.
 
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