The problem
The problem I had was: What do I do with all the "useless" rolls?
Other answers on this question attempt to give these useless rolls a not-so-useless purpose. My answer attempts to solvehelp you reduce the root causerolls which you think are useless.
The useless rolls are a result of the problem you describe in your question: players arepicking up the dice and start rolling for skill checks that might not evenweren't called for. As the Game Master, you are the adjudicator. That means that you decide if the intention of the players must be appropriaterandomly determined through the use of dice.
As you are all new to table top RPGs, it's possible that there is the idea within your group that all actions must be determined through the use of dice. PerceptionPathfinder is only a mild issuevery mechanical RPG, and oftenhas a rule or throw of the dice for most things you can think of. But it's not even an issue at all, but by instructing your playerstrue that you (who are all first-time table top players)have to pick the skills from their character sheets and roll them,for everything.
The fact you might be pavinglabeled the wayrolls "useless" is an indication to bigger problemsme that you want to avoid these rolls, as their actions become more complexyou're getting to adjucatethe point where you have to keep saying there is nothing of interest in the room. Again, other answers try to give new purpose to those rolls, but I'll go into how you could avoid having these rolls in the first place.
The style of play I am about to describe is one of the methods you can play the game, and mix fiction with mechanics. This is only one ethos of many you can follow to play the game, and it has really worked well for me in my campaigns.
Turn it aroundAdjudicating actions differently to reduce the number of useless rolls
Players shouldn'tTo address your problems of having too many "useless" rolls, let's look at how we can reduce rolling in the first place. Consider letting the players only do one of the following things:
- ask a question about the game world, or;
- state their intended action(s) and their approach.
Doing this, players don't state the skill they want to use for a given situation, they should state their intentions. As the Game Master, you know how that intended action can be adjucatedadjudicated, and you willcan (or not!) request the player to make a Perception / Diplomacy / Bluff / Whatever skill check.
Instead of the player sayingThey used to state
I want to roll a Perception Check to look around the room.
I
I want to roll a Diplomacy Check to tell the guard to calm down.
I
I want to roll a Stealth Check to sneak past the sentry with these clothes I found.
You should teach them to describe their intentions and approachesNow they'd state
I want to look around the room. What do I see?
I
I want to unsheathe my sword and tell the guard to calm down.
I
I want to use the clothes I found to sneak past the sentry.
Upon which you might (or not!) request the player to roll for a check. Remember that it is up to you to determine ifWhen a result should be randomly determined. If an action as described is simply impossible, or extremely hardplayer has stated their intention and approach, don't make them roll! Rolls without a true purpose only bog down on the pace ofask yourself the game.following questions:
- Is the action possible? Does their approach actually bring about their intention? If you determine the action is not possible, the action fails and you do not require a die roll.
- Do I need to use the game mechanics to figure out what happens? If the action can't actually fail or failure is extremely unlikely, the action succeeds and you do not require a die roll. If the action can fail, but failure carries no risk or cost and the player can freely try again and again, the action succeeds. But, if the action can fail and failure somehow changes the characters' situation, you need to use the dice.
- How do I determine random success? The player's stated approach should clue you in to which ability score, skill, attribute or ability should be used to determine success. This is the part where you crack the book and roll the dice.
You see a mural that depicts the battle of your ancestors. [You roll Perception Check behind screen, succeeds] You also see a key lodged between two bricks in the wall.
You
You pull out your sword and tell off the guard. Roll for an Intimidate Checkan Intimidate Check Initiative.
You
You put on the clothes you found in an attempt to blend in with the crowd. Roll a Disguise Check.
- How do I describe the result? By letting the players state their intention, you know what success looks like.
Note how in the last two examplesstep 3, you asked the player to roll a differentdifferent skill than what I described in the very first example blockthey stated. Players often look at their character sheets, find a skill that is highly trained and try to use that over something else. They might try to use Acrobatics instead of Climb, or Intimidate instead of Bluff. MakeBy making it a rule of thumb that they are not allowed to ask for skill checks. Only let them, and only state intentions or ask you questions about the in-game world. And, you can (or not!) ask them for a skill check. This can eliminate a lot of "useless" rolls.
The Angry DM has a very good article on adjucatingadjudicating actions. It has helped me with a situationsituations like this.
