Resolving Conflicts
IC conflicts can be talked through, or players can use dice or other methods to determine outcomes.  Dice rolling can be useful as it allows for degrees of success.  Take a number from 1 to 100:  say any number greater than or equal to 50 is successful and any number under 50 is a failure.  The lower the number, the worse you fail, and the higher the number, the better you succeed.  These results give you some notion as to how you direct your role play, and they have the added benefit of telling you how well you did without dictating the actions of others.  Remember, you control your own character’s actions, never the actions of others.
In general, the more a characters’ reaction matters to the story, the more important it is to talk things out before hand.  Players might not like having their character’s emotions and fate resolved by a die roll.  Suppose my character’s back story involves losing her father at a young age and now she has a problem being alone with men.  Another player says he’s a therapist and he’ll cure me if he rolls well, and he does!  I’m cured?  Chances are I don’t want to resolve my backstory issues in such a trivial manner and I’m going to ignore this whole interaction.  The therapist wants to get involved, but he should really ask me OOCly about my story and about how he can take part in it, or I should take the initiative to tell him OOCly how I’d like the story to proceed. Â
When you don’t want to know the outcome of an interaction before hand, rolling dice is a good way to proceed.  Dice are also good when outcomes are contested:  when two players want the same thing.  Combat is a great example of a contest where players don’t like to know outcomes before hand.  Dice are rolled and the battle is played out blow by blow.  Even then, OOC communication can really add complexity to the battle:
Maybe Timmy gets lucky and disarms Swordswinger with a lucky turn of his blade.  Swordswinger is forced to yield, retrieving his weapon from the mud he says, “I shall not forget this humiliation, Toothsmith.  Be wary for our fates shall cross again.† Again, the relationship and interaction is deeper but Swordswinger and Timmy have the same essential characters.  Swordswinger is a combat monster and Timmy wants to be a dentist.
Swordswinger loses in each scenario, and there are a million other ways this scene could play out, but the key is the story continues in a manner that’s satisfying to everyone.  Swordswinger is all about swinging swords, but he can still lose.  He doesn’t have to lose because he’s completely outmatched, either.  Either result above gives Timmy and Swordswinger a story to build on.  If Timmy refuses training, Swordswinger still has a connection to him when they meet later in a bar.  (“Toothsmith!  Are you ready to put down your drills and join me in the warrior’s life?  Everyone!  This boy has more raw promise than any student I have seen, yet he refuses to take up a blade!â€)  Likewise, if Timmy got lucky Swordswinger can glare menacingly at him whenever their paths cross.  It’s up to Swordswinger to decide how his character will react.
No matter how you chose to resolve conflicts, it’s important to create a story that you and the other players are happy with.  Dice rolls and OOC communication facilitate the creation of a shared experience that everyone can enjoy.
IC conflicts can be talked through, or players can use dice or other methods to determine outcomes.  Dice rolling can be useful as it allows for degrees of success.  Take a number from 1 to 100:  say any number greater than or equal to 50 is successful and any number under 50 is a failure.  The lower the number, the worse you fail, and the higher the number, the better you succeed.  These results give you some notion as to how you direct your role play, and they have the added benefit of telling you how well you did without dictating the actions of others.  Remember, you control your own character’s actions, never the actions of others.
In general, the more a characters’ reaction matters to the story, the more important it is to talk things out before hand.  Players might not like having their character’s emotions and fate resolved by a die roll.  Suppose my character’s back story involves losing her father at a young age and now she has a problem being alone with men.  Another player says he’s a therapist and he’ll cure me if he rolls well, and he does!  I’m cured?  Chances are I don’t want to resolve my backstory issues in such a trivial manner and I’m going to ignore this whole interaction.  The therapist wants to get involved, but he should really ask me OOCly about my story and about how he can take part in it, or I should take the initiative to tell him OOCly how I’d like the story to proceed. Â
When you don’t want to know the outcome of an interaction before hand, rolling dice is a good way to proceed.  Dice are also good when outcomes are contested:  when two players want the same thing.  Combat is a great example of a contest where players don’t like to know outcomes before hand.  Dice are rolled and the battle is played out blow by blow.  Even then, OOC communication can really add complexity to the battle:
- Lord Swordswinger: Â ((Are we going to do this? Â My character is all in plate armor and carries a fancy sword. Â Dueling is his thing!))
- Timmy the Toothsmith:  ((Timmy has never even picked up a sword before…he’s all about becoming a licensed dentist.  But you called his girlfriend ugly so we gotta go at it.  It will be fun!))
Maybe Timmy gets lucky and disarms Swordswinger with a lucky turn of his blade.  Swordswinger is forced to yield, retrieving his weapon from the mud he says, “I shall not forget this humiliation, Toothsmith.  Be wary for our fates shall cross again.† Again, the relationship and interaction is deeper but Swordswinger and Timmy have the same essential characters.  Swordswinger is a combat monster and Timmy wants to be a dentist.
Swordswinger loses in each scenario, and there are a million other ways this scene could play out, but the key is the story continues in a manner that’s satisfying to everyone.  Swordswinger is all about swinging swords, but he can still lose.  He doesn’t have to lose because he’s completely outmatched, either.  Either result above gives Timmy and Swordswinger a story to build on.  If Timmy refuses training, Swordswinger still has a connection to him when they meet later in a bar.  (“Toothsmith!  Are you ready to put down your drills and join me in the warrior’s life?  Everyone!  This boy has more raw promise than any student I have seen, yet he refuses to take up a blade!â€)  Likewise, if Timmy got lucky Swordswinger can glare menacingly at him whenever their paths cross.  It’s up to Swordswinger to decide how his character will react.
No matter how you chose to resolve conflicts, it’s important to create a story that you and the other players are happy with.  Dice rolls and OOC communication facilitate the creation of a shared experience that everyone can enjoy.
