When to Use Dice Rolls to Determine Outcomes

Written by Harry

Dice rolling in role-playing games provides a means to determine the outcome of actions made by characters.

In tabletop role-playing games, dice play a large part in generating actions and reactions. In Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) games, the preferred method is rock/paper/scissors.

Online games are a little different. For the most part, they use an honor system. Most sites have dice generators players can use, or players and storytellers roll dice alone at home.

80% of the fun, though, is the anticipation of taking a chance. You never know if a move will succeed or fail. Making a risky move and getting an incredibly lucky roll or an epic fail makes the game that much more interesting for everyone.

This is where true role-playing comes in. Dice results give you the unexpected in an already touchy situation.

When To Use Dice

The best time to use dice rolls is in combat or when trying to use a certain skill or ability. Dice are also helpful if your character uses a skill never before tried or one he or she hasn’t learned yet. Shooting a gun in a high-stress situation? Roll the dice. Cornered on rooftops and attempting to leap to the next building? Roll the dice.

Dice have other uses too. We frequently use dice rolls for results such as when a character is faced with a choice of two options that could result in very different outcomes.

When your character’s actions involve another character, you need to roll the dice. Your character can attempt to kick a knife out of someone’s hand, but the other character may have too good a grip or have faster reactions.

Smaller rolls to determine outcomes don’t require the intervention of a Storyteller, though. Players can perform rolls between themselves or alone.

You may not even need dice. For example, sometimes James and I just ask each other to choose odds or evens, a number between one and ten or to pick heads or tails. (Of course, James always chooses evens, six, and tails). This is perfect for players who don’t have dice or access to an online dice roller.

Results are always final, though. We abide by the resulting success or failure even if we’ve just royally screwed over our characters.

When Not To Use Dice

Once you become intimately familiar with your character and know his or her personality well enough, or when your Storyteller has a good grip on the character’s personality, skills and abilities, results are more common sense than rolled by dice.

If you know what your character is capable of doing, then you can logically figure out the chances of success or failure. If the action is one your character has learned and performed countless times, there’s probably no need to roll the dice.

Dice rolling and number crunching can get tedious if you take it too far and bog down the thrill of the game. If you know when to use dice and use them well, their spontaneous results can spice up a gaming experience tenfold.

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