Is a game a game if dice are not used?

[garhkal]

An interesting question came up after gencon.

Is a RPG still an RPG if dice are not used? What if they are used, but flat out ignored if they would go against the PCs??
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[Orgaloth]

Well I LARP, and dice arn't used there, and I have seen some other forms of rp that don't use dice (Amber is a classic rpg for table top gaming).

So yes, it is an rpg if dice are ignored.
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[PsiberDragon]

[Ankhanu]

As long as there is some mechanic for conflict resolution, there's still a game. Playing a role without a concrete method of conflict resolution is just playing, the rules make it a game. Whether the mechanism is dice or not is kinda immaterial, though they are a mainstay of the game culture.

[Jedi Skyler]

These are all good examples and ideas. However, garhkal is kinda touching on a thread topic we've covered elsewhere, that of ignoring the dice when they go against the PCs. Yes, it's still technically an RPG. However, if you never let the PCs suffer the consequences of their actions you take away any risk they'd face, and thereby take away the excitement they'd otherwise find.

[awfulalex]

ROLLPLAYING - NO
ROLEPLAYING - YES


We are roleplayers and not rollplayers so dice rolls are their to add a element of chance. But there are games written specifically to be played with out dice.
Live Action Role Playing(dice replaced by somethign else),
AMBER(diceless system),
others that use playing cards or other means of determining random effects and chance
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[Gry Sarth]

My group and I have had a few Star Wars adventures in the course of our campaign that didn't call for any roll at all, and yet they were generally as exciting and intriguing as anything. Usually they were "social" adventures. Adventures were you would mostly walk from place to place, talk to people, make contacts, arrange deals, etc. Sometimes we decided to put the Con and Persuade rolls aside and just act.
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[K21DUBIE]

I have run those types of adventures and gave bonuses to those die rolls if they where attempting to social act it out. Works out well and rewards the extra effort of RP

[garhkal]

[Ankhanu]

[Jedi Skyler]

Plus, it's even possible these "mini adventures," as they may be seen to be, could simply be used to set up details for another part of the campaign. Use them to establish contacts, get the wheels working for acquiring weapons, armor, materiel, etc.

Plus it's a good chance for the players to roleplay, perhaps earn some extra CPs for being highly participative, etc.

[ifurin]

i use the rp bonus (sometimes) for players who try to role-play some of their skill rolls. but this is mostly because several of my players are new to roleplaying and have a tendency to play a set of stats, not a character. i try to persuade them to make a personality, even a generic one. (anything more than i roll to....... helps)

[K21DUBIE]

I have ran into that aswell but once the players learn that they get a bonus to actually RP the situation out they begin to see the benfit and begin to RP out. You actually get to see the player grow. kinda cool.

[Jedi Skyler]

That's true. Sometimes it's better to see the PLAYER grow, rather than just their character, because it means you're going to have better games from then on. Better players give the GM more material to play off of and can greatly expand the scope of the game.

Kinda like getting pilots to think in 3D; once they get that skill down, a whole new universe is opened to them.

[awfulalex]

Last night we played a Table Top Star Wars game and it was torture as the GM made us make rolls for every little thing. And we spedn about 4 hours of real time jsut fighting our way through goverment officials to get soem non crucial information. I did however get too blow up a few tons of Firecrystals. Ship is covered in carbon marks.
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