If you were to play a card-based RPG, would you want it to also have dice?

[Haplo781]

Imagine a TTRPG along the lines of, say, Marvel's Midnight Suns meets Slay the Spire. Would dice as a randomizer appeal to you in such a game, or would you want it to be entirely card-based?

 

[aco175]

I guess if the cards make things random, then you do not need the dice. I like dice, but not needed.

 

[Baron Opal II]

One randomizer is enough. With boardgames, two sets of randomizers can be useful to set the structure at the beginning, and then a second to resolve conflicts during the game.

Torg had cards and dice, and the dice seemed secondary. If you had the right three or four cards it unlocked the chance of obscene dice totals that allowed finishing moves or creating plot points that would stretch across the campaign. The odds of getting those exact three or four cards were slim, but possible, and not often enough to choke on the die rolls half the time.

Deadlands had dice and cards, too. It was a bit of an inverse, where the cards opened up better die results but the dice were more important. There were also chips to adjust results in a way you preferred.

 

[niklinna]

Torg has cards and dice! It's been rebooted as Torg Eternity. Not only does it have cards, it has three different kinds of decks (initiative, called Drama; player, called Destiny; and cosm-specific player cards too). Each cosm (of 8) you can adventure in has its own Drama and Cosm card decks. Sheesh. At least all the splatbook rules have been kinda-sorta unified....

 

[Longspeak]

I don't know the thing OP references, but...

I would not want dice as a randomizer AND cards as a randomizer.

I like games with cards. I like games with dice. I like games with cards that do interesting stuff while the dice to the randomizing. But two randomizing mechanics? No.

 

[aramis erak]

Provided the dice and cards have very different roles, sure.

Example of games I do like the mix:

• Twilight 2000 2.0e - Cards for reactions and NPC personalities; dice for tasks
• Twilight 2000 4e - cards for random encounters & initiative; dice for task resolution
• Deadlands - Cards for character gen and initiative; dice for most other randomizations
• Crimson Cutlass - needs a tarot deck (standard 4 minor 14 card suits, 1 major 22 card suit) and 2d8.... It's a blast when in the right mindset - the deck almost supplants GM narrative structure...

games where the use of one or the other was an option? not so much. Castle Falkenstein feels VERY wrong with dice. (Rules for which are in Comme Il Fault.) I'll stick to Cards for CF.
Meanwhile, the optional (but recommended) masterbook deck is really cool in torg and other masterbook engine games.

I've not run any Cards for Tasks and Dice for non-tasks. I only recall one: Lace and Steel. Fighting is card based. ISTR it being dice for character gen. Too lazy to dig and check.

Freemarket, DL5A, MSHAG, Starchildren: Velvent Generation

 

[Staffan]

I'm not familiar with the games the OP mentions (I think they're computer games?), but I have some thoughts on using cards as randomizers and how they possibly work along dice.

• Draw a card instead of rolling a die. This seems kind of boring to me, particularly if everyone uses a common deck. If each player has their own deck, and is able to modify it as part of character generation/advancement (like in the Gloomhaven board game), that can add a little spice – essentially you're building your own die. Adding a die on top of this seems redundant.
• Hand of cards where you play a card instead of rolling to do a thing. This is, I think, how Castle Falkenstein (with regular playing cards) and TSR's SAGA system works. In many cases, the card's suit matters, because different suits are good at different things. In these cases, cards are less randomisers and more of a resource management tool: you know you can leap across to the other roof because you have a 9 of spades in your hand, but do you want to spend it on this or save it for something else? Again, dice are redundant here.
• Dice as main randomizers, cards as bonus. This is how TORG does it: you roll to do things, and you can play cards for bonus effects: either straight bonuses ("+3 to your roll"), other things that affect rolls ("Second chance: reroll"), or things unrelated to rolls ("Alertness: you find a clue.")

 

[schneeland]

Provided the dice and cards have very different roles, sure.

That's my position, too.
Further examples would be Forbidden Lands (cards are used for initiative) or Savage Worlds (cards are used for initiative and chase scenes).
However, e.g. in narrative games like Itras By, adding dice wouldn't make sense. So it really depends on the specific case and if there is distinct purposes for dice and cards.

 

[Blue]

If the cards are used as pure randomizers, I would not want dice.

If the cards were used in card type ways, like holding a hand and determining when to use it, or building a deck for your character that gives bonuses to only certain types of actions, then I could see usages even if randomizers.

But even better are cards that do other things. Sure, those might be able to be put on a chart and determined with randomizers, but cards quicken that at the least, and enhance it when used in card-type ways.

Here's a completely made up example:
Picture making a deck for your PC, and you'll be able to have three in your hand to play when you think are appropriate. Cards have two parts - a narrative control and a bonus to a related sort of activity - you can use it for either (but not both), and you don't refill your hand until you've used all of your cards. You are playing a well connected rogue type.

A Friendly Face
When meeting with sentients who are not Hostile where at least one member is new, you may unexpectedly know one and they have a step more positive Reaction than the rest. Give a quick thumbnail of how you know each other.
MODS: -2 Target on any non Aggressive social move; -1 Success on any Stealth or Hidden move

I Know A Guy / Name Dropping
Know the closest reasonable location to find a legal or criminal service. Starting Reaction of Hostile or worse is bumped up to Suspicious and may be adjusted from there by other cards.
MODS: -2 Target numbers on social moves for the rest of the scene until a social Failure, at which point Reaction will worsen by two steps.

 

[R_J_K75]

Outside of poker I generally don't play card games besides the very occasional game of Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples at a party. Trivial Pursuit is the only game I recall playing that has both dice and cards. Regarding a tabletop card RPG-type card game, no I wouldn't want to have to use both dice and cards. I'm old, my memory isn't too great and I have a hard time walking and chewing gum these days so one or the other for me.