Do you prefer rolling dice for a sure thing? For the impossible?

[Blue]

Say you are playing an RPG without a lot of swinginess in whatever randomization method it uses. I'll call it rolling but it could be anything.

Your character goes to perform a check, say picking a lock. You are a master at it, and there is no uncertainty you can perform the standard task. Do you prefer to roll, or the DM just narrate how you open it. (Note: we are assuming that the roll will not make a difference such as opening it faster.) Note that a roll is different information given to the players - one is that you can do it no matter what, the other is that the roll was good enough for you to do it but you don't know that you could always do it.

And what about the flip side - your character goes to perform a check, say trying to lift a boulder. They is legitimately no chance to succeed. Would you prefer to roll or just be told you can't do it? Again, being told you can't do it gives definitive information, while a roll gives information that roll was not enough but hides that the task is impossible for you attempting in the manner.

This is a question about your preferences and what brings you enjoyment, there's no right answer.

 

[payn]

I usually prefer to skip rolling unless it has a chance or matters to the narrative. As a GM, I dont say things like ,"you cant lift the bolder its too heavy" instead I try and tell the player what it will take to move the bolder. I.E. help from other players, a spell, maybe a feat, something to make it possible but with effort.

 

[overgeeked]

You seem to be missing a "only roll when the outcome is uncertain" option. The snark of "blindingly obvious" isn't quite the same. You also seem to be missing any "I prefer not to roll" options. You seem to have thoroughly begged the question.

 

[Dausuul]

I prefer to roll only when the outcome is uncertain, i.e., "other."

 

[GMMichael]

Your character goes to perform a check, say picking a lock. You are a master at it, and there is no uncertainty you can perform the standard task. Do you prefer to roll, or the DM just narrate how you open it. . . Note that a roll is different information given to the players - one is that you can do it no matter what, the other is that the roll was good enough for you to do it but you don't know that you could always do it.

I'd call picking a lock an action, not a check.
I'd also like to able to assume that my character knows which activities are really easy for him.

And what about the flip side - your character goes to perform a check, say trying to lift a boulder. They is legitimately no chance to succeed. Would you prefer to roll or just be told you can't do it?

What's the point in rolling if the answer is guaranteed to be "no?"
While I'm at it, what's the point in this poll?

 

[Blue]

You seem to be missing a "only roll when the outcome is uncertain" option. The snark of "blindingly obvious" isn't quite the same. You also seem to be missing any "I prefer not to roll" options. You seem to have thoroughly begged the question.

Since we are explicitly never talking about the case where the outcome is uncertain, there can be no possible way to add it to the poll. I think you have missed the entire point - this is asking about rolling preferences when the outcome is certain.

 

[Blue]

I prefer to roll only when the outcome is uncertain, i.e., "other."

That's not "other" - we are discussing only rolls when the outcome is certain.

 

[Blue]

What's the point in rolling if the answer is guaranteed to be "no?"
While I'm at it, what's the point in this poll?

The question is about player preferences, eventually be to used for RPG design but I didn't want to start people off on tangents.

For a not-particularl-swingy randomization system, it's quite possible to have a character with heavy investment of a subject be able to auto-succeed where other characters would have uncertainty. It's also possible with the same low-swing system that someone just doesn't have any investment to do something complicated even at their best.

But, it's a commonly accepted trope that players like to roll dice. So would such a system turn players off?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I like the rolling. Why? Because nothing is for certain in this world, so why should it be so in fake ones?

What could be easier than telling someone your own name? And yet, I speak as someone who has forgotten his own name when under unexpected stress. (Amusingly, it was so shocking that I forgot my name that the person who asked me for it asked one of my friends…and HE forgot my name. The third member of our group identified all of us.)

 

[Dausuul]

That's not "other" - we are discussing only rolls when the outcome is certain.

You don't have a "never roll" option. So I stand by my vote: "Other."