This is intended as a quick brainstorming (although practical tried-and-true examples are welcome too, of course ;) ) topic for how to use dice in creative ways within games ... to allow them to add the spice that is variety and elements of mystery without completely removing the player's sense of control in the game nor adding too much chaos.
For example, most folks who frequent these forums aren't big fans of the old "roll-and-move" mechanic -- roll a single 6-sided die, move your pawn that many spaces. However, I've seen "fixes" and "patches" and other approaches that change this up a bit -- move your pawn *up to* that many spaces ... move your pawn foward or back that number of spaces ... have more than one pawn, and pick which pawn will move that number of spaces, etc.
In my piecepack game called "Siege by Number" (link) -- a tactical combat and get-your-commander-inside-the-enemy-base type game -- I used a mechanic where the player rolls up to 4 dice, depending on how many pieces he has on the board. Then the player can "spend" each of the dice to move a piece. The piece is allowed to move up to the number of spaces shown on the die that was spent.
In some of my current in-process designs, I find that I want to give randomly-generated ratings to different pieces/units in the game, but still give the player a bit of control over that. In one game, I allow the player to roll a number of dice, count all the pips showing, then distribute them among the various ratings. In another game, the player rolls a numbre of dice and can apply a single die against each rating.
Games involving combat have employed many interesting techniques -- from custom dice, to each unit getting to roll a different number of dice and summing the pips for each, to each unit getting to roll a different number of dice and counting the occurances of a certain number for each, etc.
So ... what else comes to mind and/or what have you seen that seems a clever dice-based mechanic?
-Bryk
I found the initiative method in Victory Games' Civil War rather interesting. Both players roll 2d6, with the higher roller gaining the initiative. Each player may then spend a number of command points equal to the difference of the two rolls (command points are limited each turn, so once spent they're gone...generally), with the player having initiative going first. If both players roll the same number, there's a chance the turn ends, and if it doesn't a new batch of command points are added to each player's pool. The chance of the turn ending increases each time the same initiative number is rolled, until it becomes automatic.
What I liked about this mechanic is that it not only determines initiative, but it determines by how much your generals "got the jump" on the enemy. If I roll a 10 and you a 4, I can really put together a coordinated attack, but if I roll a 6 and you a 7, neither of us are going to be doing much more than reinforce.