I loved the D&D ad campaign that depicted online RPGs as boring click-fests. Although I am a fan of online role-playing games, I totally agree with the slogan: “Get together. Roll some dice”. All role-playing games are indeed a great way to have a good time with your buddies, and everyone loves rolling dice.
But when does the dice get in the way of the game? Usually quickly. It is possible to roll for event single action in D&D, but role-playing games can be played without a single die – the premium example being the excellent Amber, a diceless RPG.
I like to avoid rolling dice whenever I can. Except for attack and damage rolls, every roll can be skipped, given the right circumstances. The “Take 10” rule is a great addition to the game, but still not flexible enough for my liking Here are a few example of what I try to do:
- A character attempts to break through a wooden door. If the character has a…
- high strength attribute (let’s say 15+): I’ll allow automatic success.
- medium strength score (10-14): I’ll tell the player to roll..
- Low strength: It just won’t happen
- A character with high reflex score who mentions he is wary of traps won’t fall into one. No roll necessary.
- A character that maxes out his appraise skill will always guess the actual value of an item, unless the item is completely alien – in which case it probably has a high value!
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I try to keep the dice rolling to a minimum. It speeds up the tempo of a game, encourages role-playing, and makes the players feel that if they invest time in a character and experience points in an ability, the dungeon master will let them use it fully and often.
3 Comments
2:31 pm on August 6th, 2007
I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, myself. Die-slinging adds a much-needed element of chance. For example, automatically crashing through doors on Str 15 can remove tension from a scene — if they were trying to break in to rescue a colleague or break out to escape a monster.
A certain amount of discretion’s called for, I suppose. If continually throwing dice would slow the game up, then yeah, by all means… but as in anything: gauge the mood.
Of course, rules like taking 10 and taking 20 help to cut the amount of die-rolling as well, provided the PCs have sufficient time in which to do it.
6:44 pm on August 18th, 2007
I think from time to time i dont role dice because
A) some times i want/dont want the PCs to be able to do something i just let them
B) I can be lazy
C) … I 4get wat it was going 2 be
“Phil Smith” is rite though i need the chance in there most of the time! and i love rolling dice anyway, i do it randomly through out the game so they PC’s dont know if im rolling something for them or not.
7:24 am on August 20th, 2007
You gotta train your player to have the dice rolling as they announce what skill they’re using. Often rolling a 3 makes the question as to whether or not they can climb the wall redundant, and they role-play it well for me now, “I guess I just can’t find any foot-holds.”
I’ve been trained by a good DM too. He usually relates a poor skill roll or even good save, to some environmental factor, slippery floor for a bad jump, no vegetation for a save vs Entangle. It made the particular spot you’re standing in random in the kind of way that you don’t usually look at the slight variations in your immediate environment.