What is the dice tower?

[computertrucker]

Exactly what is it? and how does it work?.. I just turned it on.. not sure what it does. I thought I read somewhere it hides rolls or enable players to hide rolls to the GM is this correct? and if so how?

[tdewitt274]

It would be the same effect as the player tossing a die over the GM screen. They get to roll the die, but the GM gets to see the result.

The player drags the dice over the tower and drops. I think it shows the shadow for the player, but only the results show in the GMs chat window.

[mattcolville]

It's for stuff like, in D&D, skill checks where your character wouldn't know how well he was doing.

For instance, simple example, search for secret doors.

In real life, the player rolls, tells the GM the result, and the GM says yes or no, you found a secret door, you didn't.

But the player knows the result there. So he knows, for instance "wow, that was a really good roll. There *probably* isn't a door there." Or "wow that was a crap roll. There could be a door there. I'm going to sit here and wait until the GM gives me another roll."

Some people find that behavior unrealistic. The character doesn't know how well his User rolled. That's what the dice tower's for. The player rolls the die, only the GM sees the result. So the player has no idea if he rolled well or not. Some people find this a little more immersive as it focuses the player on the GM and his descriptions of the world rather than the result of the die.

It's worth noting, in original D&D...the GM was supposed to make ALL the rolls, for this very reason. Die rolling was something Gary et al thought only the GM should do. That idea didn't last long outside their specific gaming ecology.