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Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Dice Aren't Everything

Zugg has failed his last three Will saves. He’s listening to the voices in the fog telling him to jump into the freezing cold waters where dwells a mystical presence. Sarven Sylmaris (you may have heard of him) turns to the Dungeon Master:

Sarven: “I distract him. What do I roll?”

DM: “You haven’t told me how you want to distract him.”

Sarven: “Well what could I do?”

Not every scenario requires the roll of the dice.

I personally hate leaving the outcome of the game up to chance. Unfortunately I also don’t like diceless systems. I’m an enigma my precious reader. You don’t know me.

I knew a player once who wanted nothing more than to be the charismatic face of the party. He wanted to do all the talking. In other words he wanted to play my favorite character. I was a player in that game so I was happy to sit back and be the silent rogue assassin. When it came time for him to step up to the plate he wanted to rely solely on his diplomacy score. Our DM prompted him: “What do you say to them?” She asked. “Well … I rolled a 35 so whatever would work.” He replied.

I nearly punched him. I walked away from the table for a bit and got a drink. Calmed myself down. I wasn’t even running that game and his response filled me with what I can only describe as an inferno of rage and discomfort matched only by the fiercest of hurricanes.

Here’s my issue: RPG’s are about ROLEPLAYING. It’s the first two letters. It’s literally ⅔ of the name. It’s a game and it’s fun to generate the statistics that bind your character within the game’s rules but if you can’t sink yourself into the role of the suave and convincing front man then maybe you aren’t meant to be the front man. Maybe you’re meant to be a sorcerer who occasionally offers advice.

Because it’s a ROLEPLAYING game not every instance in the game requires you to roll dice. If a player gives me a compelling speech trying to convince a pirate to give up his ship and it’s equal parts terrifyingly intimidating and rakishly simple then I don’t necessarily need them to make a roll. They sold me, the dungeon master, on the performance and that’s enough to satisfy ⅔ of the game. I may have them make a roll to maintain appearances but I don’t have a difficulty in mind. I’m just making sure they don’t roll a 1.

The greatest instance of not requiring dice rolls is when players want to interact with other players. If you want to convince another player or intimidate another player or lie to another player then do those things. Tell them why you deserve the +2 Cutlass of Sea Monster Summoning. Give them a reason to fear you if they take a certain action. Lie to them about what you’re planning to do with all that innocent blood you’ve collected, necromancer party member. You’ve got to sell it.

This, of course, requires all party members to sign the social contract known as “not being a total douchecanoe at the table.” I don’t require actual signatures but I do reserve the right to drop bears on asshole party members. If they aren’t at the table for some cooperative roleplay that will lead to incredible stories down the line then they don’t get to enjoy the sweet storylines I spend hours weaving for them. Think about it economically. The demand for assholes is very low but the supply seems neverending. You can always find a replacement for a bad player.

Of course if they want to roll dice they can roll dice. I’m not a tyrant … well … not a malicious one.

What’s my one rule? Not every scenario requires the roll of the dice.

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