The Dice Are Your Friends

#026 - On randomness, ritual, and meaningful rolls in OSR play

This blog post comes a lot later than I hoped for. It’s a (too) late addition to Prismatic Wasteland’s blog bandwagon on the topic of “Randomness”. Various random tables were provided to prompt bloggers to write a post on a specific topic at a randomly selected time, citing a specific other blog. A fun idea.

When it was called for by the end of May, I rolled the dice and was cocky enough to confidently announce my participation publicly. Life got in the way, and I wasn’t able to participate by the June 20 deadline, so I discarded my roll. And that pretty much sums up how I feel about randomness. I love it, it’s often quite useful, but sometimes gets in the way of the shared story. Let’s explore.

Screenshot of the Prismatic Wasteland blog. Image Source: Golem Productions.

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My Players Love their Dice

In my experience, players like rolling dice, because rolling is a physical and emotional part of play. They buy themselves beautiful dice sets and pet their favorite d20s. Desperate saves, weird tables, and “let’s see what happens” moments all turn the roll into a small ritual at the table.

Accordingly, Jamie Madigan argues that players often want to roll their own dice because it gives them a sense of control and participation, even when they know the result would be just as random if someone else rolled. In that sense, dice are not merely tools for probability. They are part of the agency, suspense, and shared drama of the game. Dice are part of the fun.

When I first encountered OSR/NSR-adjacent advice, some of it almost sounded like the opposite: good plans don’t roll, players should solve problems with ingenuity instead of dice, combat is a fail state, and if dice hit the table, things are getting dangerous. Best to avoid them. I am exaggerating a little bit, but you’ve probably heard it, too.

Core question: Why does OSR sometimes sound like it distrusts dice, when so much of old-school play is built around rolling them?

Some of the dice my sister got herself a while ago. Image Source: Golem Productions.

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Does OSR Reject the Dice?

Obviously not. If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, statements like “good plans don’t roll” could potentially sound like a rejection. But as Farmer Gadda points out, this is a misunderstanding: OSR is not about removing dice, but about using them with intention. The real question is not whether we roll, but when and why we do.

Chris McDowall frames this clearly in his ICI doctrine: Information, Choice, Impact. Rolls should not block information or replace decisions, but support meaningful outcomes. In practice, this means avoiding situations where a single failed perception check hides something the players need to engage with the world, or where repeated skill checks replace actual problem-solving. Instead, information should be accessible through interaction, choices should remain in the hands of the players, and rolls should resolve moments where outcomes are uncertain and consequences matter.

In that light, OSR skepticism is not aimed at randomness itself, but at empty rolls that slow the game, hide necessary information, or replace player ingenuity with routine checks.

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Meaningful Rolls vs. Empty Rolls

From a procedural perspective, every action begins in the fiction. Players describe what their characters do, and the game world responds. If the outcome of an action is obvious, or if failure would not meaningfully alter the situation, then a roll is unnecessary. In such cases, resolution through description maintains flow and clarity.

However, when the outcome is uncertain and the stakes are significant, the introduction of a roll marks a transition point. It transforms the situation into one of tension and anticipation, where the result carries weight. In this sense, dice condense possibility into a single moment that is both visible and shared. The tactile act of rolling, combined with the suspense of the outcome, creates a brief but powerful convergence of attention at the table.

Good, “meaningful” rolls do at least one of these things. They …

• reveal how the world reacts,

• create risk,

• force a decision,

• spend time or resources,

• produce surprise for everyone,

• make consequences visible,

• or create a memorable table moment.

Different game systems (also beyond OSR) illustrate these principles in distinct ways:

Old-School Essentials emphasizes rolls that determine how the world responds. Reaction rolls shape encounters, morale rolls decide whether foes fight or flee, and wandering monster checks add time pressure. They change the course of play.

The Year Zero Engine highlights decision-making within dice mechanics. Its push system lets players reroll for success at a cost, turning probability into a player-driven risk-reward choice.

Dungeon Crawl Classics and Savage Worlds show how rolling itself can be fun. The former’s varied dice and the latter’s exploding dice and Bennies make each roll engaging.

Across these examples, meaningful rolls reshape situations or create memorable moments, while empty rolls add little and slow the game (I have probably called for all of those bad rolls myself at some point...) They …

• block information the players need,

• completely replace creative problem-solving,

• produce “nothing happens”,

• repeat until someone succeeds,

• slow down the game,

• or make competent characters look foolish for no interesting reason.

A failed perception roll that hides the only clue in the room is boring. A failed wandering monster check after the party spent three turns arguing in the corridor is exciting, because it changes the situation.

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The OSR Angle

Back to the OSR: It is full of rolls, but they are often used differently than in modern skill-check-heavy games. Instead of asking “Can my character do this?”, OSR procedures often ask “How does the world respond?”

Old-School Essentials is a strong example: wandering monster checks make time matter, reaction rolls can turn encounters into negotiations, morale rolls decide whether enemies keep fighting or flee, and treasure or encounter tables create surprises even for the referee. These are not permission rolls for every small action. They are world-facing rolls that make the dungeon feel alive and unpredictable. A reaction roll can turn a monster into a negotiation. A morale roll can end a fight before everyone dies. A wandering monster roll can turn wasted time into pressure.

So, I’d say embrace the randomness, but also remember the advice I gave in point 4 of the blog post below: “Embrace random tables mindfully.” Don’t stick rigidly to the random result if another choice clearly enhances your session. Often, during play, an experienced GM knows best what the group or the session needs at that very moment. So, perhaps, they’re more than just “referees”, but that’s a topic for a separate blog post in the future...

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Why Do my Players still Want to Roll?

Even if OSR teaches us to roll less often or at least more consciously, we should not forget why players love rolling in the first place: A die in the hand feels different from a result announced by someone else. It creates ownership over the moment. Quoting again Jamie Madigan, players often prefer rolling their own dice because it makes them feel more involved, even when the result would be just as random otherwise.

That is why dice become more than probability tools. They are part of table culture: favorite and “cursed” dice, dice jails, metal sets, glittery sets, and the little superstitions everyone pretends not to believe in. A system that removes too many player-facing rolls can lose something emotional, even if it becomes mathematically elegant. Rolling is not just randomization. It is drama, baby.

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The dice are your friends, but not every friend should interrupt every scene

The best role-playing mechanics do not force us to roll constantly. They make us excited when the moment finally comes. Sometimes that moment is a reaction roll that turns skeletons into uneasy allies. Sometimes it is a d30 from the DCC dice chain. Sometimes it is a desperate save, a pushed Year Zero roll, or natural 1 that makes everyone groan and smile at the same time. The dice are your friends, but like good friends, they know when to enter the room.

How do you use dice at your table? Do your players want to roll more, or do they enjoy a game where every roll feels dangerous? And which game makes dice feel best to you?

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