Role of Randomness in Roleplaying Games
For many – perhaps most – people, rolling the dice is a key element of their tabletop RPG experience. After all, fancy polyhedrons are one of the hallmarks of the hobby. What is the deal with this Randomless Renaissance then, you might ask. Why would I get rid of something so intrinsically intertwined with the roleplaying experience?
To answer this question, we first need to ask ourselves why we roll dice in the first place. Investigating some of the roles dice fulfill will help us understand possible reasons for going random-less.
1. Randomness Leads to Objectivity
I’d argue that the fundamental role of dice rolling is to introduce a larger level of objectivity to the gaming experience. The points that come after will mostly come back to this key element: random mechanics disconnect the story being told from the subjective whims and wishes of the players (including the Game Master).
Why is objectivity important? For one, it calls back to RPG roots in wargames: in a wargame, you need to make sure all participants are on equal footing. Otherwise, there is no fairness, no challenge… No game.
Another reason is that objectivity makes the game world take on a life of its own, making it feel more real. It helps with immersion, with suspension of disbelief, and – ultimately – with focusing on roleplaying.
I’d like to stress that this is relevant to all forms of randomness in an RPG: not only skill tests for characters. Random encounter tables and similar tools give us the same benefits.
Objectivity Replaces Trust
An important effect of having objective rules is their impartiality. If you don’t fully trust your Game Master to give you a fair experience, the ability to rely on dice rolls gives you a higher level of confidence. The GM cannot ruin your day if they are beholden to the objective reality of your character’s skills and die roll results.
It makes life easier for the GM, as well. Instead of arguing about the players’ choices being unreasonable, you simply give them a difficulty level and have them roll. They won’t blame you if they can blame the dice.
In other words, randomness supports impartiality, and thus decreases the need for trust at the table. E.g., it makes it easier to play with people you don’t know well, which is vitally important in the age of online play.
Objectivity Forces Us to Face Our Limits
We all get enamored with our ideas. As players, we try to make sure our characters always shine. As GMs, we want the story to follow the plot we have written. Dice rolls help us challenge these unconscious biases, and make the experience ultimately better.
You may want your character to always come out on top but every good story has its ups and downs. Victory tastes so much sweeter if it was bought dearly. And even the occasional disaster can be satisfying if the adventure that led to it was memorable.
Letting go of preconceptions enables you to be more present, and savor the moment. Telling a story together is easier if there are tools stopping you from getting too attached to a specific outcome.
Objectivity Creates Emotional Distance
Drama is an art as old as humanity. It was Aristotle who first recognized the cathartic effects of tragedy on the minds of its spectators. Roleplaying games can be even more intense. For a couple hours, you are teleported into another world, and potentially confronted with difficult, uncomfortable situations. There is a reason for the popularity of all safety tools out there. Roleplaying can have a purifying effect but we also recognize the potential risks of our buttons getting pushed, our traumas triggered, etc.
Game rules abstract away some of that dramatic experience, becoming a sort of a safety tool in themselves. Hitting a villain for 3 Hit Points doesn’t affect us quite the same way a visceral experience of plunging a knife inside a person would. We can live the fantasy of being a powerful fighter without having to deal with the trauma associated with torn limbs, splashes of blood, screams of pain and anguish, or with guilt for taking a human life.
Randomness additionally increases that emotional detachment. Instead of focusing on your (possibly problematic) intent, you focus on the dice roll and its results.
In addition, randomness takes away some of the burden of decision making. If you fail due to an unlucky roll result, you don’t have to dwell on your choices that led to the failure. You weren’t being stupid, you were simply unlucky.
2. Randomness Leads to Novelty
Novelty is the second important purpose randomness serves. Ideas we come up with are based on stimuli we are exposed to. When looking at trees outside the window, chances are that asked for a random noun, we’ll say “tree”. In RPGs, this extends to adventure design, to coming up with solutions to problems, and to roleplaying characters.
Rolling dice gives you new input challenging your instincts and forcing you to think outside the box. It may be as simple as a fumble on an attack or as complex as creating a scenario from random tables.
Novelty Creates Emotional Responses
We get interested in things we cannot figure out. As pattern-seeking creatures, we get hooked on the mysterious and the unknown. When we roll dice, we create that suspense. We don’t know what will happen. This makes us curious, surprises us, makes us anxious. Rolling dice make us feel things, and therefore, it make us feel alive.
The feeling of novelty is a large part of what makes us come back to RPGs. Immersing ourselves in something different and surprising can be super addicting. Randomness is a part of what enables that experience.
Both of the factors affected by randomness: objectivity and novelty, challenge us. They force us to get engaged, look for solutions, connect the dots. They give us that dopamine rush that keeps us coming back for more. At the same time, they create a scaffolding supporting a specific structured experience, protecting us from ourselves.
I hope I was able to elucidate why randomness is so deeply embedded in RPGs and what it helps us achieve. This backdrop will help us have meaningful conversations about the effects of giving it up. Which this substack is ultimately about.