A Guide to Roll Etiquette
When do you roll?
Who decides when and what you roll?
What if you rolled the wrong thing and just realized after you rolled?
Can you call for what move you are triggering by yourself?
Why you should name your player moves
How to deal with the Aid move in play
Anything missing from that list? Anything more worth talking about?
Those all look pretty good!
Looks good! The aid move info in particular should be useful.
I found surprising things!
Rolling Damage: the rules say that that players should roll damage & the GM never touches dice. But there’s nothing wrong with the GM rolling it, and arguments for it. A pro vs con convo would be good.
Well if you think that “The rules say don’t do that” is nothing then sure. I don’t want to get into that a lot because this article mostly argues “this is what the rules say and what they mean” instead of arguing multiple points. The rules say players roll their own damage and that is it. Otherwise I would need to argue everything.
If a die goes over the table, do you reroll all of just the one?
How do I make sure everyone can see my dice? (I’ve got some hard to read dice, where the pips are difficult to read. I typically avoid using them.)
Do you think it’s worth talking about the physical circumstances of players rolling at the table, specifically about transparency? It’s a common gripe in d20 games for players to roll the die, glance at the number, then scoop up the die before anyone can confirm the result.
(This is usually followed by a discussion about cheating, where people roll low and want to hide it. But I actually had a player that, for whatever reason, didn’t want to do the math to add up bonuses, so if a die looked low enough she just scooped it and said she failed. We had to wring successes out of her. Befuddling.)
I’m not sure if this is relevant in a game where you roll 2d6, since it’s so easy to see the results across the table, but it’s the only thing I could think of that you didn’t list. And it’s a little weird to have that “hey dude why don’t you just let that die sit for a second because we think you’re cheating” conversation; exactly the kind of awkward situation etiquette’s supposed to nip in the bud.
I usually assume people don’t cheat. Also this is a personal problem you need to handle at the table. Not a “understanding of the game” issue.
You may find this discussion over at SE interesting:
http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/48852/how-to-deal-with-players-rolling-dice-before-establishing-the-context-of-the-act
I have nothing useful to add, but I’m going to suggest that if you write this up, it should be titled Slow Your Roll: A Guide to Dice Etiquette
Tim Franzke The game is a conversation; personal problems are game problems. And enough people have problems with uncheaters — folks who probably aren’t cheating, but where you can never see their result — that it’d be good to have a referent to discuss it.
People like to roll moves, which is great because it makes them interested in their character and it can incentivise them to do interesting things, but also not great because the game isn’t supposed to be about the moves. The moves are just supposed to be there to add some punch, to take the fiction in and spit more fiction out.
I think the way to make people stop constantly rolling dice (from an AW perspective) is to make them afraid of the consequences of failure. But also they need to be excited about the consequences of failure! It’s difficult.
I have a flat rule at my table that if a die lands cocked or bounces off the table, it’s a re-roll, period. It’s clear, it’s simple, it works. But I’ve never had a problem with people hiding their rolls that something simple like “hey, DM has to see” didn’t fix.
Jeremy Strandberg I also roll damage for the monsters because why should the players have all the fun? If anyone challenged me on it we could discuss it (my argument would be “I like getting to roll dice sometimes”), but no one cares and most of them haven’t read the rules that closely anyway.
colin roald yeah, I’ve posted a little manifesto on the topic in the past, and I’m totally comfortable with it. I suggested it as a topic because it’s a topic, something new GMs ask about here from time to time. But I totally get Tim Franzke’s reason for not including it. It’s not a matter of ettiquete or a confusing thing about the game. The RAW are very clear.
And besides “but I want to roll too” there is a pretty good reason to let the GM roll damage – it flows better in the conversation – but in the end it is a style choice, or a matter of taste. I enjoy not having to care about such stuff and be a bit more surprised by it. Also this makes me harder to blame for high damage. bwahaha.
The look of trepidation on the players faces every time I make them roll damage is worth me never touching dice.
I think it also helps make the game feel less adversarial, because then rolling means that I, as a player am not dealing damage to them, as a player. There’s some really interesting psychology going on there and I invite every gm to explore it.
As for Dice rolls that are not visible, I consider the dice rolling to be a part of the performance. It’s the moment of chance that your fate rests on. When you roll, the entire table should be engaged in the result. Don’t hide your dice, perform with them. Let the world see what happens, and your reaction. Play it up and enjoy your moment in the spotlight.