David and D&D Math - The Miracle of a Single Sling Stone

In the latest, Fifth Edition of Dungeon & Dragons (D&D 5e), the weakest creature that has the "Giant" creature type is the Half-Ogre, with a mere 30hp on average. I wonder, is it possible for a character to deal 30 damage with a single sling stone? For some characters, yes. For David, no.

A sling normally deals 1d4 damage, meaning that you roll a four-sided die (a d4), getting a random number between 1 and 4. Let's assume that David rolled maximum damage. So, we have 4 so far.

With all attacks, the attacker adds either their Strength or Dexterity Modifier to the damage roll. Since the sling is a ranged weapon, David would use his Dexterity modifier. If we assume that David has the maximum possible Dexterity modifier, that'll give us +5 for a running total of 9 damage.

This damage can be increased further if we assume that the sling is magical. A normal magic weapon can grant a bonus to attack and damage rolls up to a maximum of +3. That's 12 so far.

But not only can the weapon be magical, the ammunition can be magical, too. If we assume that David was using magical sling bullets instead of regular river stones, we can add another +3, for a running total of 15. We're halfway there.

And then, of course, the attack could have been a crit. If a character rolls the maximum result of 20 on an Attack roll to see whether their attack hits, they score a Critical Hit, which deals more damage. However, the normal rules for critical hits only increases (in fact, doubles) the number of dice used in the attack, giving us another d4, for a maximum addition of +4 damage, bringing us to 19.

The only way we can go higher from here is to add use class features or additional magic. Class features that increase damage include Barbarian Rage, Paladin Smites, and Rogue Sneak Attacks. But David was not a Barbarian, Paladin, or Rogue.

Alternatively, we can add more magic. Spells like Hex and Hunter's Mark can increase damage (but David wasn't a spell-caster), and certain magical weapons deal additional damage. For example, there's a magical, flaming sword that deals an extra 2d6 Fire damage. There could, theoretically, be a magical, forceful sling that deals an extra 2d6 Force damage.

But David's sling wasn't a magical, forceful sling. It wasn't any kind of magical, and his ammunition wasn't magical, either. And, frankly, it's even a bit ridiculous to say that David had a +5 Dexterity Modifier. In my opinion, he was probably closer to +2.

If we're being realistic, the most damage David could have hoped for from a single sling bullet was 10. That's 4 from the d4 of the regular damage, +4 from a second d4 from it being a Critical Hit, and +2 from a more realistic Dexterity modifier. That would only take away one third of the weakest giant's hit points, and even then, the odds of David dealing that much damage are 1 in 320.

The bottom line is that, while a sufficiently magical character could theoretically have done it, there is no way David could have slain a giant like Goliath with a single sling stone. It had to have been a miracle.

Challenge and Change

In doing my research for a paper I'm writing for school, I noticed something interesting about the word "Challenge." If you take the middle three letters out of the word, leaving only the first three letters and the last three letters, the word becomes "Cha___nge," or "Change."

I think there's a connection between challenge and change, beside just a fun, letter-removing trick. Challenges necessarily change people. I don't think there's anyone who's ever experienced a real challenge and not been changed by that experience. Similarly, change is hard, or at least, the good ones are. Perhaps the only way to make positive change is through facing some kind of challenge. The two may not necessarily go together all the time, but they do seem to be somewhat linked.

So, when we faces challenges, let's be mindful of how they might change us, and let's try to make sure they change us for the better. And when we want to make positive changes in our lives, let's be aware of the challenges we may have to face to do so, and let's prepare to face them. We all will face challenges, and we all will change. Let's be aware of how change and challenges come together, and let's use both our changes and our challenges to become better people.

Second Chances Don't Come Cheap

One of the songs I like to listen to occasionally includes the line "second chances don't come cheap," and they really don't. One thing that I love and hate about the Gospel is that we get as many second chances as we need, but Jesus Christ had to pay for all of them. We can repent as many times as we need to and come back with a clean slate each time, but Jesus Christ still paid the price for all the sins we've ever committed, whether we've repented of them or not. We get second chances, but they didn't come cheap.

I wish they did. I wish our sins didn't cause Jesus suffering. I wish we could let go of our past mistakes without Jesus having to take them unto His own shoulders. But that's not how the world works. Every sinful decision causes Him pain, and He accepted that pain willingly in order to give us second and third and four-hundredth chances, because He knew we'd need them. So, I'm glad that we get second chances, but I'm less happy about how we got them.

So, let's not waste them. Sure, we can get as many second chances as we need, but the fewer we need, the fewer He had to pay for. Let's try not to need many second chances. They didn't come cheap.

Judgement is the Lord's

Mormon 8:19 For behold, the same that judgeth rashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord.

At first glance, this looks like the standard "an eye for an eye" type of verse, but then we get to the last three words of the verse. This scripture says "he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord." It's not our job to smite people. In fact, the next verse so fairly explicitly:

Mormon 8:20 Behold what the scripture says—man shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.

There may be some moral truth behind "an eye for an eye" style of justice, but it's not our place to go around plucking out eyes. It's not for us to judge, and it's our job to smite those who have done wrong. We can and should protect ourselves and each other, especially from those who have shown a willingness to cause harm, but it's not our place to harm them in return. We are not the ones who should seek vengeance. Let's let God take care of all that.

While we shouldn't let evildoers continue to do evil, it's not our place to judge or punish those who have done evil. That's God's job. So, when we are smitten, don't smite back. Just step back, take a deep breath, and let God handle it. God will see to it that justice is done.

Lights Through the Darkness

Riding a bike at night can be scary. When you're virtually invisible to motorists, and you can't see the obstacles around you and in front of you, biking at night can be vary dangerous. But that wasn't my experience tonight. I had powerful lights to see and to be seen with, and I had a reflector vest and other reflectors to make myself and the road in front of me as visible as possible. It was actually a lot of fun.

Life can be like that, sometimes. It's dark and dangerous and scary. But if our lights are strong enough, or rather, if we carry strong lights with us, we can be safe. Heaven's light can illuminate enough of our path to let us navigate safely, and is we have enough light around us, we can be fairly protected from the dangers around us.

Granted, we won't be able to see everything, and we won't be completely impervious to the world around us, but having enough light with us can help see us through any darkness, even if we don't make it through unscathed. I was fortunate enough to make it through my bike ride unscathed, and that was on'y possible because I had strong lights with me.

Working Through The Wicked

Mormon 8: 7-8 And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites.

And behold, it is the hand of the Lord which hath done it. ...

When God does His work, He usually does it through those who are already physically on the Earth. He sends messages through His living Prophets. He has us do service for others, for Him. In many instances, we are His hands. But, interestingly enough, so were the Lamanites. As it turns out, one doesn't necessary have to be righteous to do the Lord's work. God works with the tools He has. This often means that He uses imperfect (and sometimes immoral) people to do His perfect work, but He manages, often surprisingly well.

God works in mysterious ways, and that includes working through imperfect, mortal people. And apparently, it also sometimes includes working through the kind of people who normally seem unlikely to be on the Lord's errand.

Quick to Observe

In Mormon 1:2, Mormon is describe by Ammaron as "a sober child, and art quick to observe." Taylor, from Book of Mormon Central, had an interesting insight about that last phrase, "quick to observe." He said that, in addition to the clear meaning of being observant, it could also have a second meaning of being obedient. He notes that, most times it's used in scripture, the verb "observe" is used with the commandments, saying that someone observed the commandments or that they observed to keep the commandments. Thus, Mormon's being "quick to observe" could have meant being quick to obey the commandments of God.

Of course, the introspective question to ask here is "how quick are we to obey the commandments"? Most of us come around to keeping most of the commandments eventually, but how soon after we receive a commandment are we willing to keep it? How quickly after getting a prompting are we willing to follow it? Apparently, Mormon was pretty quick at that. We should try to be, too.