Tabletop and computer-driven role-playing games are like siblings. One came before the other, and the younger sibling based much of themselves on what they saw the elder do. The creators ofthe very earliest cRPGs, such asFalloutand the originalBaldur’s Gate, borrowed the same dice mechanics used to settle combat encounters and determine skill checks and dropped them straight into their games. However, rather than designing UI or physics in-game dice, the results (along with any modifiers) would simply be printed in a sidelined dialogue box or completely tucked away behind the scenes.
However, there is a thin slither of games that not only take inspiration from the elegant randomness of the dice roll but display them proudly during gameplay. Since there is traditionally a lot more repetition in cRPGs (mostly related to combat encounters, especially witha large number of combatants), most of these games only show the rolling of the dice in skill checks, but in many cases, dice are still being used behind the scenes. While there are great games that tuck away rolls entirely, this list concerns games that feature visible dice rolls as an integral part of gameplay.
A Lockpicking Skill Check In A Primarily Skill-Based Open World RPG
Theindie Elder-Scrolls-like open-world RPGDread Delusionpays respects to the tabletop mechanic by using a simple 1d6 system for lockpicking. While there is no fancy roll effect, a result drops next to the lockpicking UI that some players have interpreted to mean that the locks have square keyholes, thanks to the setting’s bizarre, psychedelic makeup (although the giant, floating lockpick pick-ups scattered around the Oneiric Isles should disprove that idea).
Par for the course of an RPG, the lockpicking skill is guided by a skill modifier and an upgradable “guile” attribute, but since the rest of the game’s challenges are mostly skill-based, the rolling mechanic has been somewhat divisive in the community.Dread Delusioncreator James Wragg stated that the dice rolling went indue to his fondness for dice checksin other games. Persuasions and a few other skill checks are handled by dice but are done more or less under the hood.
4Betrayal At Club Low
Dice Rolls For Bizarre Skill Checks Galore
While most RPGs deal with pseudo-random number generation to determine dice outcomes,Betrayal at Club Lowuniquely flaunts its dice drops in a series of bizarre skill checks (one of which involves DJing a set with pizzas for discs).Club Lowtasks the player with rescuing their friend from inside the walls of the titular club, but they are free to get up to as many shenanigans as they can from start to end.
As surreal as the scenarios and scenery can be,Club Lowsomehow manages to portray more down-to-earth characters than somepainstakingly beautiful AAA-rendered open-world game, thanks in part to the considered cause-effect nature of its design. The result of small events can carry over to later moments in the story, expressed by a widened dice pool. However, the typical character growth is present, as the player is able to increase their odds by buying skill increases or finding “pizza dice.”
3Citizen Sleeper
Turning Random Roles Into Tactical Decision-Making
Because there is a very constrained amount of combat inCitizen Sleeper(in other words, no random encounters or dedicated combat engine as would be expected of agritty cyberpunk RPG), there is more of a focus on narrative decision-making and critical resource management. The game sets the player in the body of a “sleeper,” a kind of slave robot with a cloned human consciousness typically regarded as a second-class citizen who finds themselves on a highly-populated space station.
Rather than reacting to each skill check, dice are rolled at the start of each day and serve as resources that the player can allocate to boost their chances of success. This mechanic introduces strategic planning and resource management that simulates the very human challenge of deciding which activities to prioritize and which to invest less effort into. The tension and drama intensify when two crucial needs vie for that limited pool of energy.
2Disco Elysium
A Revolutionary Game With An Unusual Return To Tradition
Inspired by cop shows likeTrue Detectiveand legendary cRPG classics likePlanescape: Torment,Disco Elysiumset a new bar for what is possible in the RPG space. With a plethora of skills and barely any combat to speak of (besides the background class conflictbetween the bourgeoisie and the proletariat), Disco Elysium is able to demonstrate its skill check resolutions with a 2d6 dice system built into its dialogue UI.
Because of the low number of random encounters, the few fights (one of which is a painfully uncomfortable office chair) become tense encounters and highly memorable. Additionally, the game does not lack the complexity and depth expected of a cRPG, but the checks are spread across more unusual tests of the cop’s capabilities, including crime scene deductions, karaoke, and holding back primal masculine urges to lash out during a professional dressing down.
1Baldur’s Gate 3
The Best Emulation Of A True Tabletop Experience
Being that tossing delightfully elaborate dice across a table is an integral part of tabletop gaming, it makes sense that the mostfaithful adaptation of the tabletop role-playing game,Baldur’s Gate 3, would embrace the aesthetic and concept of dice enthusiastically.
Everything, from dialogue to perception checks, is settled with the 5EDungeons & Dragonssystem, as far as it made sense to do so, making dice rolling a central feature. However, so as not to overwhelm the player with numbers (and because those types of rolls tend to be the least impactful and the most repetitive), combat dice rolls are largely hidden.
