Diceless, paperless D&D

[Mistwell]

While reading the new 3.5 rules for D&D it struck me that the game is much more figure & grid oriented, and the feel almost seems like a wargame to me. Now don't get me wrong, I don't dislike that (I am a big fan of wargames). However, I've also been thinking about my eary days of D&D 1.0, when I would sit in a cabin at camp with nothing but some notes and my imagination to play with.

I'd like to know if anyone sucessfully played D&D recently without paper, dice, (and no computer of course). You know, the kind of game you could play while on a road trip, or while camping. Of course, the DM needs to have things well layed out in their mind (or be very good at improvising), and capable of describing things in sufficient detail to permit combat movement (when necessary) so that people can judge distance enough to use certain distance-sensitive feats and spells.

Anyone done this recently? Anyone have any advice on how to do it best?

 

[PowerWordDumb]

That's not D&D, that's called make-believe. We used to play it on the schoolbus ride home (45 minutes!) where dice and paper were impractical.

Of course you can play that just as well today as you ever could, just as you can play D&D without miniatures just as well as you ever could. We were able to wing it just fine in the old days despite the fact that weapons had lengths for purposes of determining reach, and spells had distances for range and area of effect. The DM would make a judgement call and all was good.

Works just as well today, though legions of people are lining up to scream about "requiring" miniatures and battlemats to play. Of course miniatures and battlemats help the game - just as they always have. But they're no more critical today than they ever were.

Edit: Sorry, didn't actually provide you any advice, now did I? I'd say the way to make it work is the same method we always used: Abstraction. The DM would tell you whether you could reach opponent X in order to rush in and attack, and whether you were near enough to catch Oppenent Y with a spell. Ditto the bad guys - he'd tell you baddie #1 had closed to combat with you, while baddies #2 and 3 were over by your friend doing something else. As long as you keep the descriptions abstract enough and don't get worried overly about the details, it works perfectly well.

 

[Halivar]

Precisely how we do it. Since our group plays in a bunch of lazy-boys in a circle with no table, we find mini's on a grid rather impractical. Only papers are our character sheets. Of course, we could stand to lay off the dice a bit...

 

[Aeolius]

Sounds like a message-based game, which is as much a work of coauthored interactive fiction, as it is a D&D game.

 

[Impeesa]

Funny you should mention that - I work for a summer science camp for teenagers. It runs in two-week sessions, and at the end of each one we go out for an overnight trip (visit the observatory, build trebuchets, etc). The first time we did this, I found myself playing some sort of freeform diceless, paperless D&D-inspired game sitting around the campfire with half a dozen of our young campers - and one of them running it.

Of course, I figured this was an odd occurrence, and that in the three more times I'd be doing the trip this summer it probably wouldn't happen again. I was right - I just got home from the second one, this time it was that diceless Marvel Universe game.

--Impeesa--

 

[frankthedm]

Diceless, paperless D&D
... Is what i call Blasphemy!

 

[Bloodstone Mage]

This is kind of a weird idea, but hey!

Why not scan your character sheets and put them on shirts? That way you could wear your character. The DM can wear a shirt that has numbers 1 through 20 on it, placed on there randomly. Whenever anyone has to roll something, they close their eyes and point at the DM's chest.

Oh man, that was stupid. Oh well.

I can see playing D&D without paper or dice. It would be just simply role-playing then, though. The DM would have to determine combat hits and damage randomly, and the game would have to more descriptive. Very good idea, and kudos to those who try!

Cheers!

 

[Aitch Eye]

Often I suspect that our DM's signature all-purpose d% rolls are simply to fill the empty space while he just decides what happens, so we may be close to this sort of thing at times.

I can think of one thing from our non-miniatures combats that could be elaborated on for a diceless game. I'm always describing in a fair amount of detail what my reasoning and assumptions are for whatever tactics I'm using; partly to make sure the DMs and I are (or I and my character would be) on the same page with everything, but it's also to some extent a way calling attention to things that might lead them to assign undefined circumstance bonuses. The sort of decisions that go into that could perhaps be taken a few steps farther to help decide the results of a combat maneuver, though this would work best with fairly fluid or cinematic combats, or ones taking place in a reasonably complex location. I'm not sure how it would apply to tank types bashing away in a standard corridor.

For something that could reasonably be seen as an extension of D&D, I think you'd need at least character sheets. You could then look to see if the character had made a legitimate investment or sacrifice in being able to do whatever, or made something central to the character. With the right type of scenario, you can then decide whether he should just simply be able to do what he's attempting for story purposes. For instance, if the player came up with a plan that involved starting a huge bar fight, and had maxed out bluff and diplomacy and taken the caustic wit feat, then perhaps you could decide that the character should be entirely capable of starting huge bar fights any time he pleases. Or at least any time he's in a crowded bar. What's missing from the sheet might suggest how the situation might then develop, like no ranks in local knowledge or gather information leading you to introduce consequences to the event the player couldn't possibly have predicted.

 

[apocalypstick]

This is kind of a weird idea, but hey!

Why not scan your character sheets and put them on shirts? That way you could wear your character. The DM can wear a shirt that has numbers 1 through 20 on it, placed on there randomly. Whenever anyone has to roll something, they close their eyes and point at the DM's chest.

Oh man, that was stupid. Oh well.

On the contrary, I find this idea oddly appealing.

 

[Mistwell]

I know there are some systems that use playing cards as the dice generator. I've also heard of diceless systems that use a kind of bidding system to determine outcomes. And then there is always rock paper scissors.

I can concede using a player character sheet...though I think for my idea to work best it would involve people memorizing some key stats and leaving the sheet behind. Really it is just 6 stats, with 6 potential levels of how good you are with that stat (generally -1 to +5, if you are using point buy and racial adjustments). Skills are more difficult, though still not too hard to remember which ones you have maxed. Feats also generally not too hard to remember. AC is probably the easiest, since you have a mental picture of your character. Hit Points may be a sticking point, since they change every level and every time you get hit, get healed, or rest for a day (though I already know a player who keeps track of her hit points by writing on her hand).

The T-shirt idea is a pretty funny one...not bad actually (though I suspect the pointing part would degenerate quickly).