A stupid idea

[SirDogeTheFirst]

So, I am currently working on a mini-fantasy series, and I want to use D20 to determine how well my characters would fare when they are escaping from a strong monster, or fighting against a bandit ambush while escorting a carriage etc. Would this system work, or inconsistency of dice make the story unfun.

 

[AYM]

It's not stupid. It works very well.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

It works but you have to explain it well and stay true to the roll. Nat 1 = mortal wound or death.

 

[SailusGebel]

And another one.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

And another one.

 

[SirDogeTheFirst]

It works but you have to explain it well and stay true to the roll. Nat 1 = mortal wound or death.

It will be a short story, so I don't mind characters dying, and I think I will use the dnd damage rule, if damage is higher than your max hp, you insantly die, if its lower, character will be on verge of death if help doesn't arrive

 

[Voidiris]

So, I am currently working on a mini-fantasy series, and I want to use D20 to determine how well my characters would fare when they are escaping from a strong monster, or fighting against a bandit ambush while escorting a carriage etc. Would this system work, or inconsistency of dice make the story unfun.

@Rhaps has done something like similar to some degree and his story functions quite good,

 

[Rhaps]

So, I am currently working on a mini-fantasy series, and I want to use D20 to determine how well my characters would fare when they are escaping from a strong monster, or fighting against a bandit ambush while escorting a carriage etc. Would this system work, or inconsistency of dice make the story unfun.

Believe in the heart of the dice, let it guide your creativity, and decide the fate of your characters.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I mean you could do it, but I don’t think it’d be any good. You can’t really plan out any greater arcs or surprise twists if a character has a random chance to drop dead on the next page.

 

[LilRora]

It works so long as you have what it takes to stay consistent and resist the urge to change things up. If used well, it can be really fun to write around whatever the dice tells you to. I haven't tried that personally, but I know an author who did and if he didn't say it himself, it would be impossible to tell. Don't worry about any randomness, because that's what makes it fun.

You can also use dice in many other fun ways. For example, in some zombie apocalypse setting, you could do a roll each chapter to decide if a horde will appear out of the blue - so that's adding randomness into the world and where or how often events happen, not just their outcomes.

 

[QuercusMalus]

I wouldn't go purely based on the dice roll just because even if you are playing dnd, a gm has the ability to fudge the roll if it will improve the game/story.