Is the time right for electronic dice?

[kenmarable]

If you find adding up the dice slows your game down, then by all means, go ahead and use something electronic and don't feel a tinge of guilt. The fun is what matters most.

Personally, we've always liked the handfuls of dice. Even if it comes out to pretty much average results, just collecting d6's from fellow players and rolling that 18d6 spell damage just feels fun. The pile of dice hitting the table and the quick glances to see how many are 5's and 6's... those are some of the funnest moments of the game for us.

So as a player, I prefer physical dice over electronic ones. As a DM, I might consider it if the dice counting does impact play negatively. Also, even going back to pre-iPhone days, we've had two players write little macros for their phones or fancy calculators to calculate out all the damage. After checking the formulas to make sure they didn't sneak in an extra bonus, we all had no problem with it.

Use dice as long as they are fun. If they start to get in the way of fun, ditch them.

 

[Kaodi]

Great. Now I have an idea for the ultimate electronic die in my head, and no ability or resources to build it with. But I guess that part is what the engineering department at school is for, hehehe...

 

[Heselbine]

Froth, froth, grrr...electronic dice? Whatever next? Any player getting out his 'eye-pod' or other new-fangled device will get short shrift from me. One of my players attempted to use some kind of electronic bleepy d6 once. Outrageous.

Everyone knows that dice are the gaming gods' gift to gamers and that throwing them is an act of worship. Replacing dice with electronic squeaks and whistles is selling out to the demon queen of video games. Don't do it!!!!

That's a no, by the way.

 

[billd91]

For online or messageboard games, sure. For tabletop, hell no.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Frankly, even if the time was right for it (and, fwiw, I don't believe it is), I'd be staying right where I am: with a fistful o' dice, yo.

No reason to change, for me and mine. So it ain't gonna happen.

 

[Derren]

Considering that there is no such thing as a truly random number in electronics or computing, I would say no. Plus tabletopping is one of my ways to get away from technology so I'm biased.

Rolling real dice also isn't random.
Just the formula for calculating what the dice will roll is too complex to calculate, so we don't bother and say "its random".

 

[Derulbaskul]

When I DM I often Excel on my laptop in lieu of real dice but that's because I consider it my job to facilitate the game and the story so I'm not so attached to my NPCs and monsters.

If I ever play again I am sure I would only use real dice. It just seems right when it is my character.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

While I'm a dice-lover myself, I wouldn't object to a player using an electronic dice analogon. There are several players around who are slower than my eight-year-old boy when adding dice results.

 

[Umbran]

Considering that there is no such thing as a truly random number in electronics or computing, I would say no.

First off, this is not exactly true. Some systems take their seeds from background radio noise, and are thus as random as any natural process can be.

But whether it is "truly random" is really not the point. If the results fit the proper distribution, and are not predictable by the humans using the generator, for RPG purposes, they are random. For most of us, our dice are probably more predictable than an even vaguely-decent electronic version, to be honest.

Be that as it may, electronic dice require electronic equipment. Unless your players are using a lot of electronics to play the game anyway, I would find the extra hardware to be a distraction. And as others have said, the physicality of the dice are more of an asset to the game than may at first be understood. Actually picking up and rolling the 15-die fireball is not the same as asking your laptop to produce a number. We are physical beings, and so we respond to physical objects.

So, if we are playing over a virtual tabletop, then electronic dice-rolling makes sense. If we are all gathered in my living room, though, they don't make much sense.

 

[slwoyach]

No. And die.