Finally! A post about VTT stuff from the VTT DM!
I’ll take care of the cons of digital dice rolling right up front: You lose that awesome visceral sensation you get from rolling actual dice, in person with other people, and cheering as you see that last tip-over on an edge puts the 20 on top.
That’s pretty much it. And it’s a big one, I know. But digital dice on a VTT or DnD Beyond have a lot of great things going for them.
For one, when the rolls are made publicly, that is to say, showing the result of the roll in your VTT off choice, there’s still a lot of excitement! You hit that ‘enter’ button or click your mouse and…what’s it gonna be?
Secondly, with those public rolls you can’t fudge the result. (Granted, DMs can do “whisper rolls” where only they can see the result–and thereby fudge the result. I almost never do whisper rolls and when I do, I actually use the result.) Public rolling is the way to go. I’ve actually recently heard about a player in a VTT game that REFUSED to roll virtually. They’d roll physically and tell the other players the result. What happened? The had stats of 18, 18, 18, 17, 16, and 15. During one combat they got multiple crits IN A ROW and made every saving throw. Now, statistically that IS possible…but really IMPROBABLE…and he can’t prove he wasn’t cheating because no one could see his rolls.
Another benefit? Automatic rolling of Advantage and Disadvantage! It cuts down on combat time and improves game flow! Who doesn’t want that?
And, finally, automatic damage rolls! You can roll your attack, including Advantage and Disadvantage, AND damage all at one time. Granted, you can roll for your attack and damage at the same time with physical dice–that’s part of why this is listed last–but doing so with the Advantage/Disadvantage is great and it all can happen at the click of a button.
If you don’t know how to do these rolls on your VTT, google it or peruse its forums. It’s worth the extra effort once for less effort for the rest of time.
Know another way that digital dice are great? Put it in the comments!