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A thought about Social Mechanics
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<blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 9193656" data-attributes="member: 7030042"><p>It seems to me that part of the premise in the OP involves imputing the generation of fiction to the die roll where it does not exist.</p><p></p><p>E.g. in D&D, an attack roll actually generates only so much fiction:</p><p>(1) natural 1 or total < AC means the attack misses</p><p>(2) total >= AC means the attack hits</p><p>(3) natural 20 means the attack <em>really</em> hits</p><p></p><p>... and that's it. That's all the fiction that is <em>actually</em> generated by a D&D attack roll.</p><p></p><p>If players or GMs are generating additional fiction that they then link to the attack roll itself - such as assuming bumbling or incompetence on the part of the attacker, <em>that is on them</em> and not the mechanic being invoked.</p><p></p><p>The same thing goes for social mechanics, at least in D&D.</p><p></p><p>E.g. in B/X (if memory serves) you can roll an "ability check" by rolling a d20 and hoping to get a result under your ability score for a success, while in WotC you roll a check and try to equal or exceed the DC. The fiction that the die roll itself generates is just that the effort succeeded, the effort did not succeed, or (depending on the game and GM) there is some sort of mixed result.</p><p></p><p>If, in WotC-era D&D, the d20 comes up as a "1", <em>no fiction assuming incompetence on the part of the player character has been generated</em>. That's entirely on the players or GM if they assume such fiction is linked to the die roll.</p><p></p><p>I can't speak to other games. Maybe there are games where the rules tell you that an especially bad roll is "your character done goofed up"? I'm not aware of any. And personally, I would prefer not to have such a strong link - I'd rather be doing the lion's share of work generating fiction. The dice are there to tell me <em>what</em> happens (the attack misses, the Duke doesn't believe your lies or isn't convinced by your attempt at persuasion). Me and the players will decide <em>why</em>, assuming we care to.</p><p></p><p>IMO when it comes to the premise in the OP, who rolls the die is probably better put as an answer to questions such as, "Who gets to have the tactile experience of rolling dice during gameplay, and when?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Composer99, post: 9193656, member: 7030042"] It seems to me that part of the premise in the OP involves imputing the generation of fiction to the die roll where it does not exist. E.g. in D&D, an attack roll actually generates only so much fiction: (1) natural 1 or total < AC means the attack misses (2) total >= AC means the attack hits (3) natural 20 means the attack [I]really[/I] hits ... and that's it. That's all the fiction that is [I]actually[/I] generated by a D&D attack roll. If players or GMs are generating additional fiction that they then link to the attack roll itself - such as assuming bumbling or incompetence on the part of the attacker, [I]that is on them[/I] and not the mechanic being invoked. The same thing goes for social mechanics, at least in D&D. E.g. in B/X (if memory serves) you can roll an "ability check" by rolling a d20 and hoping to get a result under your ability score for a success, while in WotC you roll a check and try to equal or exceed the DC. The fiction that the die roll itself generates is just that the effort succeeded, the effort did not succeed, or (depending on the game and GM) there is some sort of mixed result. If, in WotC-era D&D, the d20 comes up as a "1", [I]no fiction assuming incompetence on the part of the player character has been generated[/I]. That's entirely on the players or GM if they assume such fiction is linked to the die roll. I can't speak to other games. Maybe there are games where the rules tell you that an especially bad roll is "your character done goofed up"? I'm not aware of any. And personally, I would prefer not to have such a strong link - I'd rather be doing the lion's share of work generating fiction. The dice are there to tell me [I]what[/I] happens (the attack misses, the Duke doesn't believe your lies or isn't convinced by your attempt at persuasion). Me and the players will decide [I]why[/I], assuming we care to. IMO when it comes to the premise in the OP, who rolls the die is probably better put as an answer to questions such as, "Who gets to have the tactile experience of rolling dice during gameplay, and when?" [/QUOTE]
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