If Your Dice Are Cursed, Consider Building A Character Who Doesn't Roll

I've mentioned this a time or two on this blog over the past decade and change, but I am cursed. Any dice I roll regardless of the method, who handed them to me, or which game I'm playing will give me some of the worse possible results I could ever hope for nine times out of ten. I once rolled so many natural 1s that I started counting them as a streak (I hit 11 in a row before it finally broke, in case you're wondering), and it was one of the most horribly entrancing things I've ever done.

Also, irritatingly, this curse doesn't apply to me as a GM, because all of a sudden my dice wake up and remember how to be lethal when I'm sitting in the big chair.

Anyway, this curse is what taught me to mix max and point crunch any character I make, because I need to be able to actually succeed and participate even if I'm rolling somewhere between a 2 and a 5 for a majority of the night. And while I do take a certain amount of enjoyment in digging through a game to find every bonus and tool I can to help me combat fate (it's why I have an entire Character Conversions archive, after all), there is another solution for folks who are frustrated that their dice won't cooperate.

Play a character who rarely, if ever, has to roll a die to participate in the game.

Oh dearie... I'm not rolling dice. You are. Give me that save, won't you?

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Bonuses, Debuffs, And Controlling The Battlefield

Generally speaking, the sort of character I'm going to describe is going to be a spellcaster (for fantasy games), and likely some sort of psionic or technomancer for a more sci-fi related game. Exact mileage will vary, but keep in mind that this is meant to be a shift in perspective and strategy more than it is a recommendation for a specific particular class in a specific particular game, even if the following examples are from Pathfinder since I feel they make my point concisely.

All right? All right.

Now then, most RPGs that have you roll dice give you a bunch of bonuses and negatives, and you then have to either beat your enemy's roll, or you have to overcome some arbitrary number set as the difficulty. If you're attempting to persuade a door guard to let you into the tavern, you need to hit a certain number on your Diplomacy or Intimidate roll, or if you're swinging a power sword at a chaos space marine you need to have more successes than he has to parry your attack.

These are the situations where a dice curse can be an issue. Because no matter how much the odds are in your favor, there is always a chance that something goes wrong and your action is wasted. You miss your shot, you fail to persuade an NPC to your point of view, and so on, and so forth... and that's really the most frustrating part of things. You just aren't having an effect on the game, and you feel like you might as well be sitting there blowing raspberries instead of wasting everyone's time.

I believe that is where I come in.

One of the most visual examples of the character who doesn't roll, yet can still be the MVP of an encounter, is the bard. Seen across various editions (as well as in the Tactician caste in my own RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic), the bard is typically thought of as a party booster. Their music grants bonuses to their allies, they can inspire courage and suppress fear, and they gain access to spells that can heal allies and hinder their foes even further. And while the enemy might receive a saving throw against these spells, the bard often doesn't have to roll anything (except for how many hit points they give back to an ally).

However, bards aren't the only class capable of this kind of play. Consider a transmuter wizard who is constantly enhancing the attributes of her allies through various buffing spells, or who reveals all the enemies with a well-placed glitterdust spell (which might even blind her foes, turning a fight into a rout very quickly). The sorcerer might have adhesive spittle on-hand, able to entangle a foe and stick them in place so they can become easy prey for the martial members of the party (since entangled foes receive negatives to attack, Dexterity, speed, and several other factors). A witch might have the ability to hex an enemy, forcing them to use the worst of 2d20 rolls when they attack, make saves, and so on, thus allowing their allies to avoid harm, and score more devastating attacks with their own spells.

I talked about more specifics in Vulgar Displays of Power as well as in Don't Underestimate Battlefield Control Spells for folks interested in more PF-centric advice.

With that said, if you want to avoid rolling dice for your character, then some of the things you should build your strategy around include:

- Granting bonuses to your allies (as well as healing), which tend to be automatic successes.

- Debuffing enemies in ways they cannot ignore, even on a failed saving throw (though there may be a lesser penalty on a successful save).

- Shifting the terrain of the battlefield entirely (creating pits, summoning walls, and so on).

An important thing to remember is that this strategy largely requires an individual to step out of the spotlight, and to act as the assist for other players to be the ones who clinch glory. That can be tough to accept, but it is often extremely satisfying knowing that your character is the power behind the throne, and that it is through your efforts that everyone else is succeeding (or at least avoiding death).

Lastly, it's important to remember that you can never remove dice rolls entirely from a character. Even if you primarily boost your allies in their endeavors (both in and out of combat), or your strategy is to force your enemies to work at a disadvantage, you're still going to have to make an occasional skill check, saving throw, etc. Still, there are a great deal of situations where you can absolutely leave a task up to someone else who doesn't have untrustworthy dice... and you can give them an extra slap on the back and a +1 for good luck if you have a spare spell slot!

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