[whswhs]

Originally Posted by ericthered

As a GM, I find I use 3 kinds of dice rolls in order to create drama:


Pump Priming: This is done far away from the session, and possibly even before the campaign. This is used as a kind of artificial brainstorming. I roll up adventure ideas, NPC's that could be useful, and themes. I've used this to roll up the next world an infinite worlds or space-faring campaign will visit next. I've used it on adventure tables to get the framework for an adventure. I've used it in monster hunters to both generate new monsters from a list of traits and to give me an edge in surprising my players as to which foe they are hunting this time.



When Priming the pump, the dice rolls don't create drama, but they set it up. Its my job to turn the rough rolls into something interesting, spot the moral dilemmas, the unexpected twists, and character motivations. The rolls don't generate the drama, but without them, I'd probably be using the same plots and elements over and over. They aid the drama, but it requires a lot of work.

I don't think I do this. At least, my experience has been that rolling dice to define a character, a species, a planet, or whatever is likely to produce something random and unsuitable, and I've basically given it up.

Resolving Interesting Decisions: As a GM, its my job to set up interesting decisions. Some of these decisions, the players will make on their own, agonizing between two choices. Other times, the choice isn't in the hands of the players, and both options are interesting. This is a fantastic time to bring out the dice. No one knows which way the dice will fall, not even the GM. And it matters which way they fall, but you aren't in trouble if they fall unexpectedly.



Fleshing Out on the Fly: As a GM, I don't have the ability to predict everything my players will do, or everyone they meet. People are particularly hard to predict, and I often roll up a random NPC during the game. Such NPC's are unlikely to play a strong dramatic roll. Other times, Its used to answer questions the PC's had. A player will ask if a condition exists, and if it exists, everything will work out wonderfully. I haven't thought about this before, and I admit it to the player, hand them the dice, and say: "He could have a mistress... try to roll under 8 and we'll find out." That's drama.

I do both of these. But I also do something that I'm not sure they include: I call for a dice roll when the player has chosen to have the character undertake an action that carries risk for the sake of attaining some important goal. The player's uncertainty of the outcome creates tension, and their choice to take the action anyway shows that it's important to their concept of the character, that it's something they would have to do.