Resolution systems in RPGs
I've heard some people talk about female gamers not being into rolling dice that they'd rather spend their time role-playing. While I don't think it's a valid generalization, I wonder what types of conflict resolution systems Gamer Chicks enjoy. A conflict resolution system is how you accomplish things in an RPG that are not automatic like hitting the orc with your longsword or using your vampiric charm to influence the hapless mortal or making your character recall a piece of information you have forgotten.
So far, I have played or read three primary means of conflict resolution in RPG rules.
Additive dice style
Used in D&D but also in games like West End games old D6 system where you total the dice rolled
In D20 style, you roll a D20, add some modifier, and compare the result to a Difficulty Class or DC. As your skill or equipment gets better, your modifier increases making larger and larger numbers possible.
- Strengths: Addition is usually easy. Usually some tasks become impossible to fail when powerful enough.
- Weakness: The modifiers can get to be complex. The target numbers can also be somewhat arbitrary in some situations. Some tasks are simply impossible.
Success dice style
Used by most or all of White Wolf's systems as well as systems like Faery's Tale
Each time a certain number is rolled, it counts as a "success." The more successes you have, the more successful you are. In the World of Darkness, you have a number of dice to roll based on skills, equipment, and modifiers. If you roll an 8, 9, or 10 on a ten-sided die, you got a success. Faery's Tale works similarly with each even number on a D6 counting as a success. These systems usually also have a means of "exploding" where a certain number lets you roll another die.
- Stengths: Apart from the number of dice, the math is really simple. Pretty much anything is possible assuming there is an exploding die mechanic.
- Weakness: Usually the character progression in these games is really slow. It can take a long time to really feel like your character has gotten any better.
Diceless style
In games like Best Friends and Mortal Coil where no dice are used at all
This category is very broad because there is no single method to resolution, but the fact that they are diceless does tie them together. Usually players have some sort of limited resource that they use in order to resolve conflict to their satisfaction. In Best Friends, you pass a Friend token to the character that your character hates for being better than them. You are still limited though by your basic trait. Mortal Coil also uses a token system, but it is done through blind bidding rather than the opportunity to pass only a single token. Sometimes rolling dice is just fun though, so being diceless can be both a strength and a weakness.
- Strengths: Without dice, things are less random. Requires more planning since usually your resources are limited.
- Weaknesses: Without dice things are less random. It could be slow if someone takes a lot of time deciding what to do and what resources to use.
So what do you think? Does any one style have greater value or fun factor to you? Is there any gender-based trends to what people prefer to play?
You're going to think I'm
You're going to think I'm crazy, but my biggest issue with dice driven games are the people who are seemingly challenged by SIMPLE addition. ARGH! Finger counting drives me up the wall, taking 15 seconds to figure out that 12 and 17 equals 29 gets under my skin. I mean, if you really have a hard time with numbers then keep a small calculator in your dicebag to help you out. Haha. See I told you, I'm crazy. I like D&D because it's dice driven. I never have to worry about any particular action/decision taking up too much time in the game because the dice decide it all for me.
I don't particularly like games where certain numbers equal success, just because I'm much more suspicious of a person's dice who continuously succeed in that kind of game. *narrows eyes and examines dice while they're at the bathroom* "Are these babies rigged or what?" Or maybe it's just because my dice usually get confused and behave in exactly the opposite direction. You need 5's and 6's to succeed? *Ann Rolls four 1s and a 3*
That said, it won't keep me away from a game that I find to be fun or easy. Savage Worlds was great fun. Shadowrun is bearable if the GM is capable of keeping the story balanced and continuing forward.
I think that a lot of the female gamers that I play with, the generalization is that they can't be bothered to pay attention to their character information enough to know what they're doing when it comes to rolling a dice. The impression that I get is that they're leaving it up to other people to know their stuff for them - while they're free to do other things between their "turns" (reading, sewing, painting instead of planning your next move or listening to what's going on).
So my loooong-winded answer is that I love dice driven games, because I feel like it puts more control into my hands. I'm free to be my character while leaving the decision-making to the dice. I don't mind success-driven dice rolls though. They're not my favorite, but I can live with that. Diceless games? I'm not sure I've ever played anything diceless other than old classic card games (canasta, hearts, etc). I mean, even board games use dice to determine our actions
I suppose as long as there were clear-cut methods for resolving conflicts/decisions then it would be just as fun.
When it comes to roleplaying games, I'm a big fan of the philosophy of getting to know your character sheet. Note, I didn't say "get to know the rules books". When it comes to rules, there are people who can help you out with rules. When it comes to your character though, knowing where things are on your character sheet is the best thing you can do, simply because it means less time is spent on numbers and more time is spent role playing the result. If you don't like any of the printed forms out there, make your own character sheet so it all makes sense to you and is quickly found according to how you like to organize things. I think a big misconception for some gamers (guys and girls alike, but especially new ones) is that it's not considered "roleplaying" if you're leaving it all up to the dice to decide.
It's not a valid
It's not a valid generalization. That's the problem. There are SO many myths out there about what we do and don't like!
I can attest that it's not true that we don't like dice systems because we wouldn't play them at all if that were the case.
I think I'm less likely to sit around memorizing a stack of rules when we have 3 or 4 people next to us who already know them backwards and forwards. I also prefer to have a DM who's a little flexible with rules and system instead of being a "rules lawyer" at the expense of the story and players.
*gets off soapbox*
I find that most of the
I find that most of the rules-lawyers in my games are the players, challenging the GM on the calls he's making. Haha.
At any rate, I think rules-lawyers should be subject to torture or something horrible, because all they do is stall the game.
That said, I will call a GM on something when I feel like I no longer have control over what my character is doing. For example:
GM: "You all walk into a room. Only the person with the highest spot, roll your dice."
Me: "What? You saying I can't be looking around the room too?"
or
GM: "A cloaked figure follows you into a dark alley and and offers you a message scrawled on a piece of parchment. You take it and strain to read. The man attacks!"
Me: "Wait, I never said I took the paper! Don't I even get a chance to sense his motive? Can't I cast dancing lights if I'm going to just randomly take it and start reading it?"
Basically, any time a result is gotten or shot down without my being asked to put my skills to use (aka rolling a dice) ... then I get cranky. I like my characters too much to let them become side material
*Falls over laughing*
Our GM used to use what were rules such as:
The Green Boot of Death: Take it just how it sounds.
&
The Yellow Boot of Doom: Which is a little more complicated but if anyone challenged the GM they would be submitted under the fear of either being maimed so much they couldn't do anything for the next 10 rounds (or till next game)
My GM's were very unforgiving when it came to arguments and it was actually quite comical watching some people come up with their reasons for challenging they who we "lovingly" referred to as GOD...
However... there were a few times when players actually had valid and forgivable reasons not to get a boot
Like I said, I don't believe
Like I said, I don't believe it's a valid generalization. So does using dice or being diceless matter to you? Best Friends and Fairy's Tale are about the same level of complexity. Which system do you have a preference for? Why?
The problem is we are not
The problem is we are not comparing apples to apples. Both systems are great for their given games. I don't prefer one over the other. I think each game works equally well for it's given goals.
Style of resolution aside...
...women (girls, chicks, whichever word you like) buy more dice from my store than men (boys, dudes...) do, despite the larger percentage of men buying the actual games.
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