Roll Playing

[mahrundl]

Khayd'haik, I'd suggest a couple of other options:

* I use a computer / PDA / calculator with randomising function
* Other

Personally, I'm a 'Why wouldn't I?' type. But then, I'm pretty good at mental arithmetic by and large, so it isn't a problem for me. Also, there are few situations that I'd be rolling more than about 20 dice at any time.

[quoghmyre]

As a GM I use my computer. Especially, as I use personalised NPC's and Monsters, so handling 12 Orcs, with a variety of weapons, adds and armour is just too much work. Slowing the game and giving the Players time to scheme.

But Players always dice with death.

[mahrundl]

Quog, I've taken to using a computer as well, and will do so more when I have my all-singing, all-dancing GM Tool at a point where it can do more than hum off-key and stagger drunkenly...

But sometimes, you have to roll dem bones. The players need to see the dice tumble, and roll to a stop showing exactly the numbers they didn't want to see! There's something about rolling a sizable collection of dice, and getting a result that show *lots* of spots, to make the heart beat faster. Although that many spots may mean that the *character's* heart is about to stop...

[carjack]

I've used a pda with a die roller in it before, and it was handy. But I think I'd still rather use dice most often and either guestimate with large MR creatures or even fudge with them.

[mahrundl]

I figured that there was a limit, Khayd'haik, but I've never set up one of these polls so I didn't know how many options you could have.

I think the reason why I prefer physical dice is that you can see what happens from start to finish. With the electronic form, you can't tell what's going on behind the scenes. While I doubt that there's any jiggery-pokery going on at your Eposic site, and I can write my own routines to generate numbers for my GM Tool, there's still a gap between triggering the 'roll' and seeing the result.

[ironfang]

"The more dice the better!" I guess I'm of a transitional generation, in that I have this wonderful computer full of gaming scripts, notes, programs, eBooks and so forth, yet when it comes to dice...

I just gotta have that Crown Royal bag full of dice!

I actually have three.
One with the proverbial sh1tload of six-siders - for T&T of course.
One with all my GM/player dice for that "other" FRP game.
The third is my "Hall of Fame" bag, with almost thirty years of dice memories in there. I still have the first set off cheapo TSR dice - well chipped and virtually round (yes, even the 4-sider!). The d20 that rolled eleven twenties in a row, during a convention tournament no less! The .999 silver d20 an old girlfriend had custom-made one Xmas.

[quoghmyre]

Just to clarify my GM use of a computer, I only use my computer for combat rolls, not SRs and WM rolls these are done with the dice.
When the players are taking there time deciding what they going to do next, or drifting off the tasks at hand, I start rolling that 1 dice, they soon notice "He's looking for wandering Monsters!"

[maasenstodt]

For games with a larger group (more than 3 or 4 people), I'm more likely to use my laptop for dice rolling. For smaller games, however, I'd probably stick with dice.

Either way, though, I roll all the required dice. ;D

[mahrundl]

In complete agreement there, Quog. It's only the combat "buckets o' dice" that I'd use the computer for.

Which doesn't mean that my GM Tool won't have the ability to do SRs and other rolls involving small numbers of dice. I just won't use those options - until the fateful day that I forget the dice but remember the laptop...

[Dhrrru]

Personally, I use physical die during group play because of the extra atmosphere it lends to a session unless a (usually combat related) situation throws up the "buckets o' dice" problem, when I turn to Khaydhaik's EPOSIC animated dice roller (which I'm sure you're all familiar with - exaltations to Khaydhaik!), or Pete Tyjewski's 'ProDice' tool (available for download at www.demonspawn.net/games/tnt/default.htm).

Come to think of it, I pretty much always use physical die in solo play, too. Perhaps I'm just hooked on the corporeality of throwing/rolling dice?

[Vin Ahrr Vin]

So far, I haven't had battles so huge that the number of dice has been a problem.

Also, I use a dice cancellation method that helps with the math a lot. I have dice of two colors for the two different sides of the battle. Roll ‘em all together and match up pairs and remove those pairs from the rolling surface. Eventually, only one side has numbers left so you add them up.

For example:
Black rolls 1,2,2,3,4,5,5,5,6
White rolls 2,3,3,6

First match them up. We can cancel out a 2, 3, and 6 from both.
Black has 1,2,4,5,5,5
White has 3

Also, Black’s 1+2 equals White’s 3 so cancel them out as well.
Black has 4,5,5,5 and rolls a 19.

If either side has more adds than the other, take the difference and pre-set extra dice pips to those values.

For example, if Black was +4 and White was +9 then give White an “extra” dice pre-set to 5.
Black rolls 1,2,2,3,4,5,5,5,6
White rolls 2,3,3,*5*, 6

Canceling works as above except that now White cancels an “extra” 5.
Black has 4,5,5 and rolls a 14.

It’s just that easy!

[Deleted]

my husband worked very hard on a script for irc - we use his bot to roll the dice. (however, i love my dice so i still have a bagful of em and when i feel the computer is hating me I will start using the "real" dice

[Dhrrru]

snowberrry said:

... when i feel the computer is hating me I will start using the "real" dice

I know what you mean, Snowberry; sometimes, the supposedly "random' machinations of a computer-based dice roller seem stacked against you, at which point it's time to break out your dice (preferably, the lucky ones that always roll doubles in combat or for SRs, and triples during character generation). [I've got a set of four (fairly ancient now) rounded-corner dice that pretty much always roll up the numbers I'm after, which is probably why I'm so attached to physical dice in the first place - I mean, it's uncanny how often this set of dice comes up with the goods for me. Do other T&T gamers have "favourite" d6s?]

[WSmith]

I personally love using physical dice. I find it the only way to go. I love the feel that RPGs had back in the 80s before these computers took over, and I will do anything to achieve that. I also use the same method Vin suggests about cancelling. The bonus of doing this and actually rolling the dice is that you still get to see the spite damage.

There is another idea I had, but don't have the know how to put it together, as I have no programing skills. Perhaps come up with a script that will generate 100 random rolls of each "number of dice" starting at 5 dice. Then print the results out from 1-100 for each. So it would look like:

5 DICE
01 13 / 2 pts spite
02 20 /3 pts spite
03 16 / 1 pt spite
04 14
05 30 / 6 pts spite
....
99 12
00 26 / 2 pts spite

6 DICE
01 28 / 3 pts. spite
etc.



Then you just roll a d100, reference the chart.

[oli]

Another fan of physical dice here. I just love that "OMG" moment when a player sees you grab dozens of the things and suddenly they start making all sorts of plans