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BESW
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Talk to the players.

There are mechanics and practices you can use to soften this up, but randomization will inevitably lead to occasional failure. I've got some links at the bottom of this post that you might be able to use in specific situations, but ultimately this is just a hazard of the dice-based RPG experience. It's not an experience to be trivialized though, so I've got a lot more to say:

Fudge it.

  • I once let players drastically decrease an enemy's armor by taunting her into a rage (despite having no game mechanic to justify it), just because the fight was going to be insanely harder than I intended otherwise.

  • Just fiddle with the numbers. Grant bonuses and penalties on the fly, etc. There's a link or two at the bottom about how to do this gracefully.

Fudging isn't useful in the long run, but if you just run into the problem once or twice per campaign then it's acceptable.

If you want a gentler game, change systems or institute houserules.

It's more or less possible based on the system, but in D&D 4e we were able to design PCs who never roll attacks (a warlord/shaman hybrid who granted attacks to others, and a magic missile wizard), and one who exploited Hammer Rhythm to never care if he hit or not.

Other people have similar problems.

Some of these questions aren't exactly your issue, but the answers might help!

If you want a gentler game, change systems or institute houserules.

It's more or less possible based on the system, but in D&D 4e we were able to design PCs who never roll attacks (a warlord/shaman hybrid who granted attacks to others, and a magic missile wizard), and one who exploited Hammer Rhythm to never care if he hit or not.

Talk to the players.

There are mechanics and practices you can use to soften this up, but randomization will inevitably lead to occasional failure. I've got some links at the bottom of this post that you might be able to use in specific situations, but ultimately this is just a hazard of the dice-based RPG experience. It's not an experience to be trivialized though, so I've got a lot more to say:

Fudge it.

  • I once let players drastically decrease an enemy's armor by taunting her into a rage (despite having no game mechanic to justify it), just because the fight was going to be insanely harder than I intended otherwise.

  • Just fiddle with the numbers. Grant bonuses and penalties on the fly, etc. There's a link or two at the bottom about how to do this gracefully.

Fudging isn't useful in the long run, but if you just run into the problem once or twice per campaign then it's acceptable.

If you want a gentler game, change systems or institute houserules.

It's more or less possible based on the system, but in D&D 4e we were able to design PCs who never roll attacks (a warlord/shaman hybrid who granted attacks to others, and a magic missile wizard), and one who exploited Hammer Rhythm to never care if he hit or not.

Other people have similar problems.

Some of these questions aren't exactly your issue, but the answers might help!

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BESW
BESW
  • 53.4k
  • 13
  • 198
  • 333

If you want a gentler game, change systems or institute houserules.

  • Most of the time, this is just the result of observational bias: it's easier to remember the natural 1s than the 10s and 12s because the 1s have a bigger impact. In that case, the player should probably suck it up and deal. Randomization is part of any dice-based game, and the system the group chooses will determine how cruel the dice can be.

  • Some systems mandate that natural 1s are automatic failures, but often that's actually a variant or house rule. For example, in D&D 3.5 it's a variant suggested on page 28 of the DMG. Regardless of the system's actual stance on the issue, houserules can soften the blow.

  • Change systems. Not all games have the massive randomization spread of d20 games. Games with dice pools have gentler probability curves, and some games go even further: FATE's dice pool is designed so that the majority of the time you'll be rolling between +1 and -1, making skill modifiers the major factor in success. Games that run on d%s also have potential for gentler randomization, though they can just as easily turn brutal depending on the specific rules.

However, I've had a player who rolled low more consistently than really should've been reasonable (every session for years), so I've thought about ways to help him out.

Change how you roll

  • Dice aren't perfect; most dice are slightly weighted just because of the way they're made. Try several different dice.

  • Some people think die rolling is a physical skill. Use a dice tower to take that out of the picture.

  • Try a digital roller. Read up on them, as some are more "truly" random than others, and there are a lot of roller programs and apps out there.

Don't roll.

It's more or less possible based on the system, but in D&D 4e we were able to design PCs who never roll attacks (a warlord/shaman hybrid who granted attacks to others, and a magic missile wizard), and one who exploited Hammer Rhythm to never care if he hit or not.