On the reduction of dice in gaming:
On the reduction of dice in gaming:
I’ve had a growing problem with my beloved RPGs as of late…where are all the dice going?!!! So many games now replace die rolling with drawing cards, to the point when I yearn for the opportunity to roll a plain ol’ D6. When I first started gaming with the Gauntlet (via the now extinct “Heights of Gaming”) I never forgot my bag of favorite dice: glittery, prismatic, marbled, smoky….every time I spilled them onto the table in preparation for Dungeon World I took a moment to enjoy their colors and unique traits, carefully choosing the dice lucky enough to be used that night. Even though my poor D20s never got any love, the others at least had a chance of getting some play depending on which playbook you were using. Over the years, we’ve played so many wonderful games and they all have great qualities, but fewer and fewer involve dice. I stopped bringing my dice bag. I wondered from time to time as I indulged in getting a new polyhedral set why I even bothered, as they never got used. And then I heard Dan talking about re-working Danger Mountain and losing the die rolls and my heart cried out, “No Dan…don’t do it…don’t give up on the dice!!!” (my heart is very dramatic sometimes). I know I’m not the only collector out there…I’m looking at you Brandon and Scott. I’ve read the articles regarding the statistical problems with die rolling, the ease of card use, the added benefit of suits for ranking/tie-braking purposes. Guess what? I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care if the statistics aren’t perfect, It’s a game not math; I don’t care about ease of use, is dice rolling really that hard?; and tie-breaking? It’s called a re-roll! Fellow gauntleteers, am I alone in my love affair with dice and my melancholy at their diminishing usage?
