D&D 5E The Role of Dice in Next

[Savage Wombat]

If dice are unnecessary, why do we have a dice-rolling utility on this very forum?

 

[AlioTheFool]

There are only two things in this world that give me more pleasure than rolling dice. Food and well...this is a family forum.

I absolutely want dice to be a significant part of D&DNext. For those who would rather rely on storytelling for resolution there should be clear advice in both the player's handbook as well as the dungeon master's handbook on how to do so. (The key to remember is that not everyone finds it obvious that rules in the book can be ignored at whim. That was an issue in 4e and will be again if not made clear to both DM and player that the written rules are guidelines rather than "this is the one true way" to play.)

 

[Sunseeker]

Dice add a "risk factor" to any activity, be it character or player skill. Player skill should benefit character skills, but dice still need to exist to keep it from simply being "Oh your sheet says 20 and that's more than my guy's score so you win."

 

[GnomeWorks]

Straight karma is silly, as you've noted. But so is straight fortune, or even the typical fusions of the two resolution systems we see - even D&D's task resolution system leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[LostSoul]

This blog post: Hack & Slash: On Skill Deconstruction: Why Roll for Resolution? is a pretty good account of how I feel.

A quote:

Diced resolution of actions is only necessary to resolve dramatic conflict with significant consequence for failure that cannot be reasonably (not realistically) resolved by the play of the game (discussion, problem solving, and negotiation).​

 

[am181d]

There are a couple of trends in gaming that I've noted over the past few years that I have mixed feelings about:

1) a backlash against *role-playing* from players (online, I've never seen it at my table) who would prefer to substitute dice rolls for actual character interaction

2) a backlash against *dice rolling* from players (online, again I've never seen it at my table) who would prefer to limit the number of times they have to roll dice and the number of dice they have to roll, because (presumably) math is hard

Are either of these real issues in the gaming community? If so, I supposed D&D should move to be as inclusive as possible, but these both strike me as core skills to be cultivated, not inherent preferences or abilities to be catered to or not.

What's the right balance between telling someone "this is something you should practice and get better at" versus "this is something that is optional to the game or even something that should be removed"?

 

[Janaxstrus]

There are a couple of trends in gaming that I've noted over the past few years that I have mixed feelings about:

1) a backlash against *role-playing* from players (online, I've never seen it at my table) who would prefer to substitute dice rolls for actual character interaction

2) a backlash against *dice rolling* from players (online, again I've never seen it at my table) who would prefer to limit the number of times they have to roll dice and the number of dice they have to roll, because (presumably) math is hard

Are either of these real issues in the gaming community? If so, I supposed D&D should move to be as inclusive as possible, but these both strike me as core skills to be cultivated, not inherent preferences or abilities to be catered to or not.

What's the right balance between telling someone "this is something you should practice and get better at" versus "this is something that is optional to the game or even something that should be removed"?

Both of these are true. You are playing "wrong" if you just want to roll dice, and playing "wrong" if you roleplay more than roll...on the internet anyway.

I don't care for either extreme personally. People who want to put their worst stats into their needed prime attributes to "role play" a character bad at their job and thespian it up at the table are not fun for me to play with.

By the same token, people who constantly play the same character, put no thought into it and want to reduce every encounter of any type into a hack and slash dice rolling fiesta are not fun to game with either.

I would like to see 5E focus on a balance between the two, and not badwrongfun any of the possible ways to play.

 

[Verys Arkon]

I have no problem with dice, and I agree that it is a way to emulate character skill vs player skill. However, I want the mechanics that go along with the dice roll to be flexible and straight forward.

If I have to look it up on a table, I don't want it.

If I have to wait for a player to add up 20d6 again, I going to go insane.