Roleplay vs. Role-Play in D&D

The standard reasoning for rolling dice and challenging the characters and NOT the players is that since their PC is attempting something in the game, success or failure should be based on the PC’s skills and abilities, not the PLAYER’S skills and abilities.

Examples: Jumping across a chasm – would you make the barbarian player attempt that in real life? Sneaking quietly through the forest – should everyone go out to the woods so the players can show how silently they can move? Picking up heavy objects, reading spell scrolls, understanding the Orc language…etc.

Many things DO work this way. We roll dice and resolve the vast majority of situations using PC skills/ability modifiers PLUS dice rolls. All of the above examples, for instance.

So, players who must use their brains to solve a riddle, say, may object and demand to be allowed to roll dice and add a modifier to solve it. Are dungeon masters then being unreasonable in asking players to use their brains?

No, I don’t think so.

There are many things in the game that rely on player brains and NOT character skill.

Take combat: swinging swords and casting spells and things like that are based on PC skill. But what about tactics? Who decides where to move, which enemy to focus fire on, and which PC ability or spell to use? The players do of course. We don’t do ability checks to determine those things based on a PC’s combat experience. The players decide.

Take social situations. Sure, there MAY be a persuasion or intimidation check, but many times WHAT the player decides to say is extremely important, too. Many times there is NEVER a check, and the outcome is 100% dependent on what the player decides to have their character say.

How about the classic RPG decision making moment? You know, where the group sits around the table discussing the merits of choice A, B, and C, and deliberates about what to do next? Do you use the character’s abilities to make dice rolls and checks to determine what the group does? Or do the players get to decide? Of course, good players will be ROLE PLAYING those decisions, doing what they think their characters would do – but it remains: the players decide, not the dice.

What is my point? Obviously both methods are used, but more than that: if we boil down EVERYTHING in the game to dice rolls with appropriate modifiers based on character skill, we remove the human element. We remove your players’ brains from the equation. They would no longer really need to think. Everything that happens would be determined by character skill and dice. And does that sound like a fun game to you? Does that even sound like a game at all?

So why then is there a balance of things determined by character skill and the dice and other things determined by players using their own brains? The answer is engagement; you want your players to be engaged in the game, that is, actively interested in it, paying attention, and enjoying themselves. And that engagement has a root in something else: CONTROL. Human beings like control. We enjoy the feeling of having control over what happens.

So, should we give our players 100% control, if that’s what they like? No dice rolling at all. They just get to decide what happens. Let’s just turn the game into a narrative event where we go around the table and just DECIDE what will happen, and make an awesome, epic story out of it?

That would fail, too. It might be fun once or twice, but it’s missing a classic element of game design: CHALLENGE. Human beings also like to be challenged. This is one reason new jobs are exciting, but once you’ve been at a company 10 years, you are bored out of your mind and hate working there.

We need to have some CONTROL but we also need to be CHALLENGED. And of course, we need FEEDBACK that lets us know how we’re doing – when you drop to 0 hit points, when your cleric in full plate sucks at jumping but you try anyway; when your wizard successfully counters a fireball spell – things like that. But that’s perhaps off topic, so we’ll just let that sit there for now.

So, the point is, in D&D, to have a full, rewarding game experience, we need a BALANCE whereby outcomes are sometimes determined by character skill plus randomness (dice) and sometimes determined by players’ brains and decisions.

Okay, so how do you decide which to use?

Most of the time, you, the dungeon master, don’t need to. For most situations, which to use – BRAINS OR DICE – is baked into the game system. The rules literally tell you how to resolve it. The players decide what their characters do in the combat, but the dice rolls and PC skill determine whether the sword swing hits, how much damage the spell does, etc.

And that really just brings us to the GRAY AREAS. And the areas that players are going to ARGUE with you about. And I would say for these, it’s up to YOU the game master how you’d like to handle them.

When players argue that they should be able to solve a riddle with an Investigation check, recognize it’s probably not a rational argument – at least not really – instead, it’s an emotional argument that RESORTS to reason. Really the player doesn’t want the hassle of dealing with the riddle or puzzle because they just don’t like them – so they want an easier solution, which would be a quick die roll that makes the riddle or puzzle go away.

I suggest making it clear to your players how you’ll handle any gray areas – and puzzles and riddles and remembering stuff the players didn’t take notes on are probably the most common instances of this.

Now, if you’ve decided to use ability checks and dice rolls to decide something, you might be asking, “Should I require just one check or multiple checks?” I would say for something simple or that involves a single effort at a moment in time, that’s one check. For instance, trying to pick a lock. However, for something more complex OR that involves an ongoing effort over a period of time, that’s better resolved with a SKILL CHALLENGE. For instance, trying to escape a crumbling castle before it crushes you, would be a skill challenge.

That’s great, Luke, but what do YOU do? Okay, I’ll address the two most common gray areas and how I handle them.

Riddles and Puzzles – players use their brains; I allow ability checks (usually Perception and Investigation) to get clues. My reasoning: if I’m spending time creating these, then they won’t be resolved in a die roll or two. The players need to figure them out using their own brains, assisted by some ability checks to get clues. Otherwise, I should just stop spending time making them, and just literally tell my players, “You come upon a puzzle that you must solve to unlock the door. I’m not going to describe the puzzle, because it’s irrelevant. Someone just please make an Investigation check with advantage as you all try to solve the puzzle.” And how stupid and lame would that be?

Remembering Stuff. This is a great one. Ever have a player say, “I don’t remember the name of the NPC, but my super smart wizard should. Can I make a check?” Players often don’t take detailed notes, so this might be a common occurrence. (I LOVE players who do take good notes, though!) My approach: I’m usually not stingy with IMPORTANT information. If players don’t remember minor stuff that won’t really affect things too much, I don’t help them. I just let them flail about, and it’s rather entertaining – for everyone! But if it’s something important to the game, I’m just going to tell them. No dice rolls or Intelligence checks required: I just tell them. My reasoning: I’m not running a 9th grade English class where I expect students to take notes. It’s a D&D game. If players don’t take notes, whatever. If something is important, I’ll remind them. If it’s not, then they suffer. That’s life.

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