Hrothwulf, son of Beogar, Axe of the Fafnir Clan, charges forward, snarling like a wild animal as he closes the distance between himself and the frost giant. By the time he is within arm's reach, his blood is boiling and his axe is raised high. He swings, a stroke powerful enough to hew through frozen skin, taught muscle and iron like bone to sever the monster's leg. But the giant steps back away from the blow and brings his iron hammer down on Hrothwulf, piledriving him into the snow with a red spray. So ends the life of Hrothwulf, son of Beogar, Axe of the Fafnir Clan, Red Stain on the Snow.
While the preceding would be quite the anti-climactic scene for a novel or film, it is a very real possibility during the course of D&D play where the dice are as powerful determiners of the outcome of events as the player's choices or the DM's rulings. The extent to which the dice impact the “story” in a D&D game is largely dependent upon the mechanics of the game – which vary from edition to edition – as well as the regularity with which dice are rolled – which is more dependent upon the the participants of the game, both player decisions and DM rulings.
Almost invariably, combat is most likely to have its outcome determine by the uncertainty of dice since dice are rolled with more frequency (and ferocity!) in combat than any other situation in the game. Even outside of combat, however, a single dice roll has the power to drastically alter the ongoing “plot” or “story” of the game: a crucial saving throw, a desperate diplomacy attempt, even a simple roll for wandering monsters or random treasure can shake the campaign to its foundations. While this inherent uncertainty can result in unforeseen consequences to otherwise apparently innocuous or rote activities, it is just this uncertainty and these unforeseen consequences that separates the game from more linear, narrative and consequently limited forms of entertainment. No matter how skilled the writer or director of a novel or film might be, no matter how much tension he is able to convey, there is always the great likelihood that with 100 pages or 45 minutes left to go in the story, the hero of the piece is going to make it through an exciting chase or visceral fight scene. But in D&D – and RPGs in general – there is a very real possibility of something unexpected (and tragic) happening to one or more of the story's heroes (or villains) at any time, regardless of how much “plot” remains to unfold. This creates true tension, by its nature preferable to false tension.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
. 
