Who Rolls the Dice, Opinions and Advice

[Jurble]

So im trying to decide how i want to run the dice rolling in the game we are going to start soon.

I posted a thread about this awhile back (got deleted) but ive had new thoughts i thought id bring up and see what you all think about it.

So in the last thread (it seems to have disappeared) a player mentioned using DMGenie to do all the rolls and the players pretty much did none of them.

Now there are some things about this i REALLY like and some i dont so ill explain.

I think rolling the dice really gives you a feel of "input" into the game and that you have control over your own character. If i am sitting there as DM and saying "you fail, you succeed, etc, etc" then it drops down on player participation.

On the flip side, i would love to run a game which minimises the meta side of the game, and moves the rules to the bakcground for the DM to mostly deal with, while the "scene/reality" of the situation comes to the front.

So i could say: "ok you deal X dmg, so you swing your sword in an upwards arc which your opponent fails to block. The sword smashes into his chestplate driving him backwards and you notice a trickle of blood leak down the pelvic armour..."

or i could say the same thing without putting in the numbers. Keeps the players from thinking "ok he has Y hps left so if i hit him with this then he'll go down quickest coz he cant have more than X hps".

I love the idea of them asking "what does he look like? is he stumbling? can i see any blood? etc etc" actually getting more into the "scene" and explaining the lay of things, rather than concentrating on the mechanics.

So anyway im once again unsure how to run my game.

A great quote from Man in the Funny Hat in that last thread (which is now gone but i saved in Gmail)

Players make all rolls for their characters actions, so all their PC's attack, damage, saves, skill rolls, etc. About the only time you wouldn't have them do so is when making such a roll WOULD be a meta-game clue of what should otherwise be unknown to them. Then it becomes a DM choice as to whether the player makes the roll or the DM makes the roll for them. This is a useful tool for a DM to use. If you make a spot check FOR the PC then whatever there is to be spotted remains a secret. If you TELL the player to make a spot check you remind the player to pay closer attention, you give meta-game clues that can equate to the PC's having the sensation that SOMETHING is wrong, but they don't know what - you make them paranoid.

I really like this, it makes it simple in terms of giving the players input while giving the DM the tools he needs, but still im thinking of trying to hide the mechanics more, less focus on the numbers and more on the imagination side?

Maybe letting them make their attack rolls and rolling dmg for them would solve this? They see if their attack hits, but thne how much they do dmg depends on what their characters see

Anyway what are ppls thoughts on this?



M

 

[wmasters]

Try it. Get DM Genie and try without dice for a couple of sessions, or try with less dice. See what you, and your group think. If, after 2-3 sessions you don't like it, don't use it. If you do, and I've heard a lot of praise for it, then all the better. You can't really go wrong taking 2 sessions out to try something that you think might add a lot to your game.

In fact, I think DMGenie comes with a trial period anyway, so you don't even have to pay for it if you decide it's not for you. This is, of course, based on my ever-failing memory, so it's entirely likely that I dreamt it!

 

[dvvega]

I ran a Ravenloft campaign back in 2ed where I did away with all dice rolling by players.

Even their character sheets didn't look like a standard character (no numbers just words).

It was a lot of work on my part, but the narrative was decent and they really got into the roleplaying aspects of the campaign.

No longer did the fighter have 18/56 strength ... he was Very Strong. Of course when he faced someone with 15 strength he was only Strong compared to them.

I did give players a chart of words that indicated relative strength/power so they could make rough guesses at numbers involved.

Was a great campaign but as I said a lot of work.

Nowadays I stick to the players roll everything even Search/Spot/Listen rolls. Of course I through a lot of S/S/L at them so they don't know when it means anything.

 

[Menexenus]

In the campaigns I participate in, the players roll (pretty much) everything associated with their characters, including info-sensitive rolls like Spot, Listen, Sense Motive, etc. The main reason is that it is just too time-consuming for the DM to keep track of every player's modifiers. (DMs have enough to keep track of.) So when a player makes a listen check and rolls a "1", we know out-of-character that something is out there, but we trust each other to role-play our characters as if we don't know.

 

[Nellisir]

I like rolling dice, and my players like rolling dice. We actually went the other way - I use the Players Roll All the Dice rules from Unearthed Arcana (and located on the Hypertext SRD under Alternate Rules).

Now that everyone has gotten used to it, it works very well. Keeps the players much more involved.

 

[The Levitator]

That may have been me! I remember responding to a post some time ago about diceless gaming, and I'm a strong proponent of it. From a roleplaying aspect, the players love the increased suspense and atmosphere it creates. It also forces them to rely on all of their senses and be more descriptive. Using DM Genie, running diceless is cake and combats absolutey fly! Having DM Genie handle the mechanics, both the I and the players can focus on the important part, telling the story. My players have developed a more narrative style of combat, which makes them more involved than throwing a die (as they explain it). More than one of them have mentioned how the dice were a distracting reminder of the game aspect of D&D. From the player's perspective in our game, they have only their sheets, notes, digital maps and images to go on. It's made for some really exciting gameplay, especially since my favorite part of storytelling is creating the tension and suspense.