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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 4846945" data-attributes="member: 177">Video games are a different beast, for one thing, and they still have to keep you engaged in order to be entertaining.Applications that roll dice for you still have you in the process.&nbsp; Yes, and if the DM doesn't have any random elements, it is more difficult to tie the tension to him.&nbsp; The DM becomes less involved.&nbsp; There is a continuous scale here, from the DM doing everyhting, to the DM doing nothing.&nbsp; Imagine a system where the DM handled none of the combat at all - he chooses some monsters, puts them into a computer program, and then lets the players interact with it - he can walk out and get a cup of coffee.&nbsp; Now, clearly you aren't going all that far, but it is a step in that direction.Here's the real question - honestly, what is taking up the time in combat?&nbsp; I'm betting it isn't the dice rolling.&nbsp; Rolling dice takes mere moments - maybe two seconds.&nbsp; The time is taken up in making decisions and processing events in serial - one after another, rather than two or three at a time.&nbsp; Shifting the dice rolling thus doesn't eliminate the real time-sucker.&nbsp; Why eliminate something that keeps the DM engaged, when it isn't the thing that's actually causing the problem?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 4846945, member: 177"] Video games are a different beast, for one thing, and they still have to keep you engaged in order to be entertaining. Applications that roll dice for you still have [i]you[/i] in the process. Yes, and if the DM doesn't have any random elements, it is more difficult to tie the tension to him. The DM becomes [i]less involved[/i]. There is a continuous scale here, from the DM doing everyhting, to the DM doing nothing. Imagine a system where the DM handled none of the combat at all - he chooses some monsters, puts them into a computer program, and then lets the players interact with it - he can walk out and get a cup of coffee. Now, clearly you aren't going all that far, but it is a step in that direction. Here's the real question - honestly, what is taking up the time in combat? I'm betting it isn't the dice rolling. Rolling dice takes mere moments - maybe two seconds. The time is taken up in making decisions and processing events in serial - one after another, rather than two or three at a time. Shifting the dice rolling thus doesn't eliminate the real time-sucker. Why eliminate something that keeps the DM engaged, when it isn't the thing that's actually causing the problem? [/QUOTE]

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