Optional Post Subject
Baraendur said:
Well, in fact it has, obviously. If it hadn't I would be guilty of munchkinism (which Gygax has defended in Dragon and would be the subject of a very interesting debate). I'm fairly certain that this is a pretty common experience actually.
It isn't so much that a person isn't RPGing if the dice aren't rolled for over an hour, but rather that something that doesn't require a random factor hasn't occurred. Perhapse the party is questioning witnesses, perhapse they are trying the fine dining at the local tavern, or perhapse I (the DM) am too busy eating pizza to want to start an encounter requiring a bunch of dice rolling (grease stains on the notepaper looks tacky and makes it hard to write on).
On the other hand, where it comes to combat, picking locks, and other skilled items, the most interesting way to do it is with a randomness factor. Now a stroyteller could simulate the random factor by using statistics, allowing for example 1 out of every 3 actions to succeed, but in doing so, some of the fun and excitement of RPGing is missed. It also doesn't take into account that one lucky shot, that unexpected run of good rolls, or someone who is just a bad die roller in general (speaking of which, there is a reason that my players love me as a DM)
So when you describe how your character faces someone with a sword, you need to roll a dice, but when you describe how your character faces someone with words, you do not?
Well, according to 3e rules, you do: diplomacy, bluff, intimidate, sense motive checks and all that. But my point is: you CAN do without. So can you with combat, and in a similar way: by using descriptions, by using wits.
Now, do I think it would work for any game, for any universe? Nay. I am talking about Amber here, a world in which those "lucky shots" that you mention never seem to happen. In the novels, the best fighter wins, unless he is outsmarted (as Benedict is tricked by Corwin).
Of course, you can then ask me: what the f* does it have to do with D&D, or d20? And my answer is: er, not much. As I said, I just wanted to inject some fresh blood in a subject that Gary and I actually discussed now and again many times for the past year. We will never agree. Because he is wrong, of course, since I am always right, but I still find the discussion interesting.
And thank you for making it more so.