Dice for gaming

[curufea]

Just came across a page that shows all the various types of dice used for games. The really odd ones tend to be for roleplaying for some reason. I've always found the strict use of dice in roleplaying a bit odd, as it's the more free flowing and rules-optional type of game there is. dice, roleplaying

Comments

[homonculus]

Dice add a nice level of support for those GMs who do not have the confidence and skill necessary to successfully conduct a more free-form, narrative resolution process.

(And besides, they give everyone something to fidget with during the less-than-exciting times during games.)

[curufea]

Yeah, but I don't like the constant reliance on numbers in what is basically a chance for people to create a story as a group. Stories aren't about numbers - while they may underpin the setting and help simulate how things work, I think they dominate too much. You don't want players quoting numbers all the time - you want players to creatively describe what they are doing and how they are interacting.

[homonculus]

Which is all well and good in theory - but not every player (and certainly not every GM) can play to that level consistently and fairly.

But it is all about balance, I'll agree with you on that one.

[curufea]

Yeah - but I think it should encourage descriptive and discourage numbers. Whether or not a player goes that way is up to them. But the system should not be too big a hindrance.

[capnoblivious]

I've always found the strict use of dice in roleplaying a bit odd...

The strict use would be, these days, surely?

I mean, the only dice I used at Arc were in an old school Cthulhu game; the youngest and newest designer was using a narrative system (not very well, granted, but he tried).

[curufea]

Strict as in "where, when and how" with lists of how they are modified.
You must use this kind of die with these modifiers.

When in most cases the lists and modifiers are arbitrarily determined in the first place and are more abstract than in any way part of game balance.

[curufea]

A prime example is the list of weapons in D&D

A sword does D6, a dagger does D4

- Why is a dagger less prone to kill you than a sword?
- Why is it by 2 points?

A non-PC normal person that throughout their entire lives keeps the same "hit points" has a slightly better chance to survive a stab wound from a dagger - but if you compare that to "high level" PCs - the difference of 2 points is negligible (ie going from 100 to 94 or 96 isn't going to change their actions in any way).