Dice in forum role playing

[The Fuzzy Pixel]

Topic in the title. I'm not familiar with dice being a tool in forum role playing, and I've not done tabletop role playing with all the relevant books and such. As such dice being an actual dynamic in role playing is very foreign to me. So help me understand a few things here.


What role does dice rolling serve in a forum style role play? What is it supposed to replace/introduce, exactly? It forces an element of chance yes, but most forum role players in my experience (your mileage may vary) can be trusted to abide somewhat fairly to an honor system regarding their character's actions. I'm sure anyone who's played a board game in their childhood can attest to dice being very fickle at times, and there's always the possibility of a character giving their all clearly, only to whiff on a poor roll. Or the exact opposite, where a lucky roll results in a jaw dropping moment of disbelief, a moment that probably wouldn't have happened were it not for dice being a factor to begin with. Those are the two extreme ends of the scale, though; and for the in-betweens what does dice do better or provide that regular writing couldn't perform itself?


I've seen we're able to link dice roll results here, so I suppose even lengthy posters could roll preemptively before writing their actual post. So if you do use dice in role plays here, what do you personally use them for, and how? Do the forced variable of randomness enhance the experience, or is it just an addition out of just liking to roll dice, or getting the vibe of that tabletop experience?

 

[JayTee]

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]Topic in the title. I'm not familiar with dice being a tool in forum role playing, and I've not done tabletop role playing with all the relevant books and such. As such dice being an actual dynamic in role playing is very foreign to me. So help me understand a few things here.

[/QUOTE]
Alrighty. This is a common enough question, so I'll see what I can do to answer them succinctly

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

What role does dice rolling serve in a forum style role play? What is it supposed to replace/introduce, exactly?

[/QUOTE]
Most commonly, a shared ruleset that enforces fairness and balance between all parties.

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

It forces an element of chance yes, but most forum role players in my experience (your mileage may vary) can be trusted to abide somewhat fairly to an honor system regarding their character's actions.

[/QUOTE]
This has not been my experience. In fact, it has been the opposite of my experience. People don't like the idea of harm coming to their special snowflake character, so they cheat and auto dodge every possible bad thing that could happen in the most convoluted or contrived way possible. Dice and the systems that involve them remove that possibility by having outcome X be a clear result of dice roll Y. The trick is that a player who knows the game engine, and what his character is capable of, will know how to avoid the worst of outcome X.

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

I'm sure anyone who's played a board game in their childhood can attest to dice being very fickle at times, and there's always the possibility of a character giving their all clearly, only to whiff on a poor roll.

[/QUOTE]
It happens, that's part of the game, see below.

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

Or the exact opposite, where a lucky roll results in a jaw dropping moment of disbelief, a moment that probably wouldn't have happened were it not for dice being a factor to begin with.

[/QUOTE]
It happens, that's part of the game, see below.

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

Those are the two extreme ends of the scale, though; and for the in-betweens what does dice do better or provide that regular writing couldn't perform itself?

[/QUOTE]
The Wow Factor, the element of joy when something you thought was doomed to fail ends up being a success, the crushing sorrow when something that should have been a sure thing fails spectacularly. The randomness introduces less certainty, which in turn leans to your accomplishments with your character being more meaningful, because you weren't in control 100% of the time.

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

I've seen we're able to link dice roll results here, so I suppose even lengthy posters could roll preemptively before writing their actual post.

[/QUOTE]
That would be cheating, and if caught would get you kicked from a game like any other cheater. Thankfully it's actually hard to get away with that, because of how the dice mechanics work on this site.

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]

So if you do use dice in role plays here, what do you personally use them for, and how? Do the forced variable of randomness enhance the experience, or is it just an addition out of just liking to roll dice, or getting the vibe of that tabletop experience?

[/QUOTE]
An amount of randomness that adds a greater sense of accomplishment when you succeed on a goal that you and your party knew was going to be difficult. A shared set of rules that all can abide by to avoid godmodding and power playing. The knowledge that your planning of your characters actions is actually meaningful, rather than just busywork to pretend that you don't have 100% control of everything at all times.


Hope this helps!

 

[Shining Lotus Sage]

I've been trying to approach this from a few angles, and the thing I keep getting hung up on is this

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]can be trusted to abide somewhat fairly to an honor system regarding their character's actions
[/QUOTE]
followed very closely by

[QUOTE="The Fuzzy Pixel]what does dice do better or provide that regular writing couldn't perform itself?
[/QUOTE]
And it just feels as though you're asking why people bother bringing gambling into their novella workshops. But that's not what's going on here. There are absolutely pure-narrative games, which resemble campfire storytelling more than they do the dice-and-miniatures image tabletop roleplaying has. But even those aren't a group of storytellers gathering to tell each other their stories. And they aren't a group of storytellers gathering to take turns elaborating on a single common story, either. By that point, you're not playing a game at all. Or rather, you probably are, but the rules are implicit and unspoken and social, and have as much to do with what goes on outside the story as in. But I digress.


It's not a storytelling circle. It's a game during which a story is told. How much you emphasize different parts of the game rules, story cohesion, and group dynamics around the table depends on the type of game you've all gathered to play. The use of "roleplay" as a noun always chafes me, but I accept that it's the best term for what you're accustomed to. The fantasy and social-practice play are the point. When you're bringing dice in, it's not to make a modification on the roleplay format. It's because you're playing a role-playing game, and that's one of the many ways to mingle gamist and narrativist elements. Maybe you use cards instead. Maybe an opportunity cost dilemma model. Maybe blind bid. They're games, and games generally have rules. People like games with rules for lots of reasons.