The final layout style has been designed for Legends of Lang'Kor, which means we're kind of in the home stretch. There are likely some bugs that will come out in the final phases of testing, which will include the blind testing, but things are looking good.
Stay tuned for updates.
Unique and strange dice have been tied to role playing games since their inception. For many gamers the iconography of the 20-sided die is a badge of honour worn to identify themselves as tabletop RPG fans. But what is (or should be) the role of such dice in our games? And why do we need such strange implements to run our games?
The answer to the latter is merely a mathematical one. Without getting to deep into it, the six-sided die and its limited number generating potential has been cast aside by many (if not most) game designers. Generating numbers consistently at higher ranges is not possible without being forced to handle handfuls of six-sided dice at a time.
But the real question (and the most contentious) is what role these dice have in the game. Simply put, they are there to randomize the outcome of an event. A version of that statement has probably been written by every game designer for the last half century. But if tabletop RPGs attempt to strike a balance between simulating adventurous storytelling and being a game that is fun to play, how often should the element of chance factor into the game?
My opinions on this topic have changed from one side to another as I tried different games, but now, after about 20 years in the hobby, I think I can say that I've come to decision about how I feel about it. Dice should only be used when the outcome of a situation (skill test, check, or whatever) will a) alter the narrative in a meaningful way, and b) no other in-game resource is being paid. Let me elaborate on these two points.
There's a common meme about gamers "rolling for it" when their characters do almost anything. Roll to pet the cat, roll to find a lucky penny, roll to intimidate the guard, roll to tie your shoes, etc. This started as a joke, but it seems that (at least in part) it comes from a critical analysis of the "new school" games that attempted to change how RPGs are played. Games that rely heavily on skills or player abilities and that are often open-ended. Now I'm not saying that those games are written like this, the problem with what I call "over-rolling" comes from the players that misinterpret the game mechanics. New players especially seem to think that characters should roll for literally every action they take, as if the game was designed so that every time a player spoke they had to roll something to see if it worked.
The problem with this approach should be obvious for the most part, but there is a subtlety to it that is often overlooked. I'll make comparisons to real life and other forms of media in this section, I know that RPGs are not movies or real life, but bear with me.
The issue that comes up (and attempts to be resolved by modifiers and whatever else) is that a player should be confident of the outcome of something that is either unchallenged or doesn't affect the narrative. If a player states that their character pets a cat that is lounging on a tavern counter, does it matter if they "succeed"? Is there anything on their character sheet that can be applied to the roll? If the answer to either of these questions is 'no', why bother rolling it.
I've had players that want to engage with a scene, so they say something like "while talking to the innkeeper I try to pet the cat". These are great little moments, they shouldn't be narrative-stopping moments where a character's skills are called into question. If the player instead asks something like "can I diagnose this cat for rabies" then a roll of some veterinarian skill might be called for.
In-game resources, or currency, as some people call it, are values that must be paid throughout the game to stay alive. These include hit points, money, food, medical supplies, and time. Rolling for something should only occur when a cost is not already being paid with some other resource. For example, looking for something in a dungeon. In Legends of Lang'Kor, the primary resource being spent while exploring dungeons is time. Lighting only lasts a finite duration, so dawdling is not a good idea. Since the characters are already on the clock, the cost to, say, find a hidden door is that it could potentially be a waste of time. If you throw a "looking for doors" roll on top of that, you've doubled the difficulty of this task, making it nearly impossible to accomplish.
So what's the bottom line? I'd say don't overdo it with dice rolls. Only roll when it's actually necessary or when something else isn't being paid.
If you're here, you might already know that I'm working on a table-top role playing game called Legends of Lang'Kor, but for th...
