From my time playing DND with my girls and some coversations I've read online I feel we could streamline our conflict resolution dice rolls. The goal would be to give players more information, increase the tension of the scene, increase the narrative of the players and speed up the turn. I'll run through our current system, propose a new system and leave it open for comment.
Current Dice Rolling
1. Player says what they want to do, "I try to hit with my Careful Shot attack."
2. DM says, "OK, roll."
3. Player rolls and declares their modified number, "12?"
4. DM consults notes and creates a narative describing the action, or, more likely, simply states, "You hit." or "You miss."
5. DM says, "Roll damage," if appropriate.
6. Player rolls and declares their modified number, "15!"
7. DM consults notes and adds to narative if damage is catostrophic, "You killed him!"
Proposed Dice Rolling
1. Player declares what he is going to do and what he is going to target, "I am try to hit with my Careful Shot attack which targets AC."
2. The DM gives the player the modified target number, "Ok, roll a 12."
3. The player then rolls his hit die and damage dice together and gives the complete narative of the attack, "(player rolls 12 to hit, and 15 damage) My dude pulls back his bow and unleashes a Careful Shot through the melee thorning the orc punk for 15 damage in the arse!"
4. DM consults notes and adds to narative if damage is catostrophic, "The shot to the arse put him over the top! You kill him!"
So the net result is the players would know their target number, which would increase the tension since everybody could watch the roll to see if it hit, and it would allow the players to control the vast majority of their own narrative, and it would speed the game up since the back-and-forth goes from 7 steps to 4 steps and the to hit and damage are resolved together.
So, what do you think?
38 Comments
wiggi
7/8/2009 03:18:08 am
I think in the past we used to do it that way. The GM gave us a target number and we then rolled, said yes or no, if yes gave damage. Then the GM decided that was not good because it caused everyone to figure out target numbers taking away some element of surprise, tension etc.
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3 Man
7/8/2009 04:03:36 am
Yes, this is a reversal of a previous position. I feel, now, that letting the players know the target is more realistic. It's something we as flesh and blood people do all the time intuitively. "Should I pass or kill against Nat in the handball game? His Fortitude is greater than his Reflex so I'll kill." The same should be true of an experienced hero. The avenger should be able to size up his opponents Fortitude and AC and know which he would have more success against.
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3 Man
7/8/2009 09:53:06 am
To encourage good narative I would even consider modifying damage based on the narative.
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wiggi
7/9/2009 01:40:28 am
But your perfect world example is just right. Even your example of the handball task illustrates it.
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3 Man
7/9/2009 02:46:43 am
You are right, and we're still going to try it the new way.
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donk7
7/9/2009 05:49:51 am
OK I think Nats handball analogy is piss poor everyone knows after playing the opponent for 10 minutes I allready lost and am out in the hallway making excuses.
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3 Man
7/9/2009 05:56:17 am
That's just like DND. [See Xavier v. Howling Hag, circa 2008].
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Wookie7
7/14/2009 07:48:48 am
I disagree with penalizing for just saying "I hit for 5 damage". Some of us just aren't as creative. On the other hand, I can't wait to hear some of the descriptions after the drunken stupor kicks in.
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wiggi
7/14/2009 12:10:15 pm
that was a great full auto burst and it wasn't my fault his shield stopped short of the ground.
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3 Man
7/14/2009 11:52:03 pm
The point is to speed up play and add descriptions. Knowledge checks are a great idea, and would be a free action not causing loss of attack, but they run contrary to the idea of speed of play. We could try it though. It would allow a pc to know what to target.
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Wookie7
7/15/2009 01:17:50 am
Using a knowledge check was just an idea to increase the value of non-combat related skills. I'm glad y'all agree to its worth. Yah, me!
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3 Man
7/15/2009 01:58:29 am
So it is your theory that attacking the correct target will speed up combat? I'd buy that for a dollar. So if two guys attack the same dude does one make the roll and share the information if successful? Or do they each have to roll? Which is more realistic? More practical? And which would make the guy with the high knowledge skill feel more valuable?
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wiggi
7/15/2009 05:10:45 am
If the rolls are free actions only one person should need to make it. He can then tell his allies, as free actions, where to target. Legolas does it in Two Towers, of course he is an elf and all but surely we can manage. Sharing the information is realistic and practical. Sharing also makes the more knowledgable guy more valuable.
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3 Man
7/15/2009 05:30:48 am
Hmmm. I think you have everybody roll as they attack until somebody gets it. The target # is determined by the level of the monster. I have a chart. I really think we're on to something here!
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Wookie7
7/15/2009 06:04:09 am
I was thinking you need to call it to use it. As I see it, you're actually trying to think about the info rather than just reacting to the encounter. As long as you're successful, you should be able to get basic info. Plus, that should help to keep combat moving. Basically, if you forget to use your skills to their fullest, oopsie.
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3 Man
7/15/2009 08:10:22 am
And, if we make people call it to use it, Don will have one more reason to beligerantly berate his party members. Oh, joy!
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donk7
7/15/2009 10:11:51 am
Sorry I havn't posted in a while. Ok let me catch up. Nat is stupid, rakor was gay, steve couldnt come up with a good idea to keep my mom off of him, knowledge checks will speed up or slow down the combat whichever one you dont want to happen, descriptions are what faggot poets on shroooms do not real role players, Josh loves the owl bear anus, and I would never berate my fellow role players. YOU COCK SUCKERS.
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The General
7/16/2009 08:01:56 am
ya mean i get to be berated more, YAY
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The General
7/16/2009 08:05:17 am
I do think descriptions make it fun, ala falling dwarf, and as the night progresses the action y get more entertaining and vulgar (yay). I also think the reminders would be helpful at first to play it up as long as no one goes over the top. As far as making it faster, i am not sure if it is a GM side thing that need to be changed. If i remember correctly from last year it was normally the PCs taking forever deciding what to do that slowed us down. I think maybe a good well place kick in the rear might help us along???
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3 Man
7/16/2009 11:16:39 am
To see the speeding up aspect you have to read the original post. The idea is if you know what to target, what your number is, roll to hit and damage together, and come up with you own quick narative combat should speed up. But, as Steve said, the point is to make it more fun, not just faster.
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Donk7
7/16/2009 10:37:08 pm
With 7 players, not sitting around for 5 minutes between your turns is fun. connstant action keeps interest and keeps lazy sacks of shit like me off the couch and at the table. Even if I'm not doing something but my team is it wil keep my interest like the general said its the 3 minutes of players trying to decide to shift 1 square left or right. What about a 30 sec. sand dial timer from the DM. Not used every action but if you feel it is a high stress situation or you feel someone is draging down the action you make a VERY DELIBERATE show of flipping over the timer, time runs out = character was overwelmed with the heat of the situation and locked up. Not even loss of turn but delay action, so that its not the end of the world but until the player knows what they want to do the character will stand there, mouth agape, in awe, like a t-sip in a gay porn shop.
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sleeper
7/17/2009 02:03:28 am
Hmm, a shot clock for your turn.
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3 Man
7/17/2009 12:27:23 pm
I'm game. Anybody have an egg timer we could use?
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The General
7/17/2009 01:14:13 pm
DL it for your Iphone
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3 Man
7/17/2009 02:04:04 pm
The iphone has a timer. What about a little mini hour glass though? Is that too much to ask? The last thing we want is me screwing around with my iphone all weekend. Trust me on that one.
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sleper
7/20/2009 12:39:02 pm
I'm sure I can come up with a sand timer by next week.
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wiggi
7/20/2009 02:30:26 pm
I have a sand hour glass that runs out in about 40 seconds. If that will do let me know otherwise you can keep looking.
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3 Man
7/20/2009 08:33:03 pm
40 seconds is perfect. That would get us through a round in 6 or 7 minutes, or an encounter in 45 minutes to an hour plus role playing time.
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Donk7
7/20/2009 11:50:18 pm
I am excited about the timer but I dont want to be the guy that created a monster. My thoughts on the timer are for player specific and situation specific times not every encounter every round every action. Too much structure as it is in my opinion. If we have a player that is normally on top of things and for some reason he is having a tough time I think we suffer through it. But if some jack ass is laying on the couch and not ready you bust out the timer on my ... I mean his ass.
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3 Man
7/21/2009 07:25:07 am
Too late! You said it. You suck. It's your fault.
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Donk7
7/21/2009 10:09:54 pm
I AGREE WITH JOSH COMPLETLY AT THIS POINT REGUARDING THIS ISSUE.
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3 Man
7/22/2009 01:39:35 pm
I'm saving this post forever!
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Donk7
7/23/2009 04:54:18 am
Do you like all of the caveats? I gotta leave myself some outs.
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3 Man
7/23/2009 08:57:07 am
I'll give you a caveat, big boy.
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Donk7
7/23/2009 11:08:06 pm
Can it be a +3 Caveat flames on command?
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7/17/2012 11:30:09 am
Your grasp of this topic is amazing. It truly touched base to me and I'm glad I found this material. Thank you very a lot.
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7/17/2012 11:30:44 am
Perfectly written subject material , thanks for selective info .
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3 Man
7/17/2012 02:09:35 pm
I'm not sure how you found my little blog, but I'm glad you find the information helpful. This dice etiquette does help, though it can be hard to teach old players the new flow! As long as everyone is having fun I suppose it doesn't matter too much.
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