Are you playing D&D if there are no dice?

[Remathilis]

Yes, if you have no dice out, you are still playing D&D.

But I would never want a computer/random list of numbers deciding my fate for "dice" rolls. I like them little plastic things too much...

 

[The Levitator]

Yes, if you have no dice out, you are still playing D&D.

But I would never want a computer/random list of numbers deciding my fate for "dice" rolls. I like them little plastic things too much...

I DM 2 diceless groups running 3.5, but last week I got a chance to sit in as a player in a Rolemaster group. One of the best things about the night for me was using dice and the fact that they also used mini's (we use a VT). It had a very "old school" feel to it and while I didn't care much for the Role (and roll and roll and roll) Master game, it was a nice nostalgic feeling to throw those little plastic thingies around and use a little painted thingy to represent my character.

 

[Warbringer]

I agree. I tried the electronic die roller for about 15 minutes before I had to get those babies shaking again. I love a crit as DM almost as much as I do as a player.

Well, I'm still in the game. PCs still fight and die. There is no change in the importance of dice as an otcome generator. I create the environment, the players determine the outcome. The fate of the dice is in their hands alone; as it should be! They are the actors, not me.

Besides... I roll far too many crits...

By the way, when my players roll poor defense rolls (say 5), they generally say thinks like.. "I misjudge his attack and left open an easy hole to strike...the orc hits me"

or when casting magic for the DC (say 16)..."my god favors me aganst this arrogant fool and the gods malice strikes him for.....(damage)

 

[Doghead Thirteen]

And removing the dice from the hands of the players I game with, if no dice means that all rolling is done via program, would cause a revolt. Remove the thrill of rolling max damage on a crit and you may as well just kill us!

Very. Well. Said.

If you can't end up down to 2 hit points cornered by a vampire and nail off three natural twenties in a row thus ashiung the bastard, what is the point of randomisation?

Likewise, if you can't hit a 1 on a roll needing 2+, that campaign is (IMNSHO) missing something.

Dice are the RPG equivalant of the feeling of backpressure on the trigger. For sure, it doesn't change much whether you're clicking an icon or hurling 2d10 at the table, but by all that's holy the 2d10 feels better!

I'll just misquote William Wallace;

Yeh can take our country, but yeh cannae tak our D20!

 

[DonTadow]

My experience in a diceless game is missed. Overall, I wouldn't do it again, but I played in one for a year and a half about 8 years ago. The dm claimed to be prerolling dice but it was obvious that he was just pushing the story along by however he thought it should go. After playing in a couple of good dice games after that, I can't say i could ever go back. It was an ok experience and the role playing was the best, but there was a genuine feeling of lack of control.

It felt more like I was guiding an a a glider to a safe landing as opposed to flying a plain.

In the same token some of the dice rolls in my game are solely up to me the dm and not the players. All listen, spot, initiative and trapfinding search rolls.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Why do you discount definition #1 preferring #3?

To differentiate it from Cops & Robbers and House, which it bears some resemblance to, but is also very markedly different from.

 

[jmucchiello]

To differentiate it from Cops & Robbers and House, which it bears some resemblance to, but is also very markedly different from.

But they are certainly games but you contend that RPGs without randomizers are not games. I don't see how you can say RPGs without randomization are not games unless you believe C&R or House are also not games. They are most certainly Role-Playing. And I say they are also games. So why do you need to distinguish RPGs with dice from RPGs without dice? What do you gain by doing so?

What harm is there is acknowledging that Let's Pretend is the root of all Role-Playing. And that like RPGs, Let's Pretend is also a game.

 

[RFisher]

So, for clarity, just one more time, to eliminate any confusion;

To clarify: Discussions drift. (Even sometimes through misunderstanding the orginal question/thesis.) This is a feature, not a bug.

 

[The Levitator]

To clarify: Discussions drift. (Even sometimes through misunderstanding the orginal question/thesis.) This is a feature, not a bug.

I'm aware that discussions can drift. But there have been posts that have been addressing a completely different issue, and as one of the people who games diceless, I don't like being lumped into the wrong categories, especially when people haven't even tried gaming how we game and are so quick to dismiss it as somehow less credible than the standard way of playing. There's a big difference between playing diceless using a random number generator and free roleplaying where no mechanic is used to determine the results of actions. Drifting is one thing. Leaping off the edge seems like a different thing to me. I'm not new to message boards, and I've never seen anyone get reprimanded for clarifying a position before when there's obviously a misperception as to the original topic. I apologize for attempting to clear up any confusion as to the real issue of the post.

Drift away!

 

[RFisher]

I've never seen anyone get reprimanded...

(O_O) Can anything I type really be seen as a "reprimand" when I have a smiley for my sig? (^_^)

Sorry. I was just feeling a bit ornery--tho' still good-naturedly so--& forgot one of my own rules of online discussion for a moment.