The Dragon’s Breath #7

19 March 2003

Playing the Numbers I:
Of Rolls and Roleplaying

By Scott Holden-Jones

On the surface, especially to a new player or a casual observer, 3E D&D seems to be primarily about numbers. My wife is convinced that I do little in my editing and development work aside from balancing numbers and NPC statistics. Yet even among veteran players this perception occurs. Mind you, this (mis)conception is easily understood: older editions of the game lacked comprehensive rules for adjudicating skills, instead relying on arcane-seeming charts or THAC0 rather than relatively simple bonuses and DCs to determine the success or failure of attacks, saving throws, and the like. The latest incarnation of the game appears too interested in finding ways to quantify everything. "D&D is turning into Rolemaster," a friend told me about a year ago.

That’s not to say I don’t think 3E is a good system. I truly believe it’s a great system. Yet what frequently seems to be missing from 3rd edition play, I fear, is the fact that all of these numbers are still supposed to provide a framework for constructing unique and interesting personae. Too often I hear or read about some character’s "broken feat chain" or of how someone’s archer can "smack down your tank" ("Uh, ‘tank’? WWI minis are down the hall, son, third door on the left"). Only rarely do I hear people talking about their amazing conversation with the Queen of Faerie or of witty exchanges with an invincible dragon (as opposed to the simple exchanges of damage dice). Am I — maybe just a little — living in the past?

No, dammit! <twitch, twitch>

Numbers are useful and fun, but only if they’re handled well. If they’re not, they simply get in the way of the role-playing, in the way of the words, in the way of the character.

We don’t use the terms role-playing and character without reason, and the similarity between the gaming table and the stage is nowhere as apparent as here. In theatre, actors have no other recourse than the mere words on the page to "find" their characters. From the myriad actions and the nuances of emotion those words (might) suggest, a good actor draws something from the script and gives life to those few scribbles on a page; she imbues those words with substance and meaning. Together, the actors make a living, breathing story.

Let me stretch this analogy a little further: As a director, I may watch a production as it evolves, may prod and tease and coerce things in certain directions, but each individual actor in the cast is responsible for digging into those little marks on the page and finding motivations and emotions and for doing so in such a way that they are both apparent and convincing to the audience.

In role-playing games, the GM may be either director or audience, perhaps shifting from one role to the other at times or even acting as both at once. And the players may at times direct a little, as well. (Yet remember: the director is every bit as much a part of the show as the actors we see on stage.) The point is, though, that as a gaming group, we use words to create a story, one with interesting and generally heroic characters.

Of course, in RPGs, we don’t have our actions scripted (well, unless we’re playing Dragonlance . . .)*, nor, one hopes, would we want to. We instead have the singular privilege of creating our own story as we go; this privilege is mostly a blessing, but perhaps a little bit of a curse, as well. And, of course, words — not numbers — are what we use to build that story. One of the easiest ways to "get inside the character," whether PC or NPC, is to construct a set of perhaps three or four phrases — oaths, curses, witticisms, what have you — that represent that character’s background, world-view, and education.

Now here is where it gets interesting: this is where RPG character (i.e., numbers and stats) meets theatrical character (i.e., persona). Often, the cues that help us determine these phrases will be those letters and numbers on the page, perhaps coupled with what have become fantasy standards for race and profession, all fused together and tempered by our fertile imaginations.

Let’s say I’ve created a dwarf paladin with Int 8, Wis 13, and Cha 13. Well, chances are his typical statements will not be particularly verbose or witty, even though they might have a certain sensibility and a certain charm. As role-players (read: story-builders), however, we must also keep in mind the fact that a dwarf paladin saying "By Clanggedin’s Beard!" is very likely doing so in a very different way than a dwarf rogue.

In Part II of "Playing the Numbers," I’ll take a closer look at creating a character from a theatrical perspective, using the numbers on the page as cues. Part III discusses using these tactics from a GM’s perspective: methods of using scores (high, low, and median) to construct memorable and effective villains and NPCs.

* Author’s note: Don’t get me wrong — I’m a big DL fan. Just having a little fun . . . .

Next Week: In The Dragon’s Breath #8, Scott shows how there can be more to a dwarven paladin than merely "By Clanggedin’s Beard!" For some strategies to develop your character’s personality through different phrases, be sure to catch "Playing the Numbers II: Of Dice and Dialogue."

PAST ARTICLES are here.

To discuss this and other articles, come to the Dragon's Breath forum on our message board!