On Crappy Rolls
No, no I don't...
I used to think I only rolled badly as a DM. Whenever I would roll badly, I’d just chuckle and say, “Hey guys, I’m helping you out!” It seemed to work well for my players, so I wasn’t one to complain.
But now, when I’m just a player, I find myself rolling just as badly, if not worse. Then the realization set in…
I roll like crap.
I don’t think I ever won a game of Warhammer 40k when I was playing it throughout high-school, I’ve lost a few good characters to bad rolls, and I have a tough time beating anyone at any board games I play if there’s a luck factor. In short, my luck gland is stunted.
So what’s a guy to do? Switch up your dice? Done that, no effect. Splash them with holy water? Seriously considering it.
What about all of you? Do any of you roll horribly?
Over the years I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to try and get better rolls. Check out my dice rituals. Personally, I’d trying exchanging dice with another member of your gaming group. Unless of course they realize that the dice are contaminated with your bad mojo and refuse to even consider it.
.-= Ameron´s last blog ..What Do PCs Do For Fun? =-.
A buddy of mine has a tiki mug—a wooden mug carved in Polynesian-style with a glaring face—that he carries his dice in. It’s his excuse for rolling poorly. The mug is full of “dice lice”, he says. Why not play it up? Get your own mug, or similar unique container, and let everyone know about the curse. That way you always have something external to blame your bad rolls on. Think of it as a cursed item you can’t be rid of.
Odds are that it’s actually all in your head anyway. I used to fret and sometimes fudge important rolls in a game (D&D), a habit which I think I picked up as a too-frequent DM, where it’s a little bit more accepted to fiddle with your dice and maybe choose which roll suits the circumstances. Nowadays I just own up to crap rolls and hope one of my teammates can pull my iron out of the fire. Yeah, I’ve had good characters whacked by bad rolls, but I’ve had my share of epic successes too. As I bet you’ve had as well. Just depends on where you focus.
Buy yourself an “ugly mug”, call it cursed, and laugh at your bad luck. Bet it improves!
I roll poorly for things like character generation, but in-game I roll fine. This is a big part of why I hate random character generation – it always ends with me having sucky stats.
I play with a guy in multiple games (we recently finished up a multi-year 3.5 campaign, he’s in my 4e game and Dark Heresy game, and we’re playing in a 3.5 Ravenloft game, too)…anyway, he always has cruddy roles. In all those games over the years, I think I’ve only seen him Crit once. His 4e Warlock misses more way more than he hits. He’s switched dice, set out specific dice for specific characters or specific actions, tried rolling with his left hand (actually worked temporarily!)…