Adventuring Gear: Story Cubes

Once you become experienced with running games, you will be ready for more improvisational methods of game-running. And one tool that can aid you greatly in your adventurous free-styling is Rory's Story Cubes! These cubes are available from their home site, Amazon, or your local game shop. I recommend the three box set that includes the original set, a set of travel-related dice, and one for describing character actions.

How to Read the Dice

Reading the dice is a very abstract process and can be tricky at first. A series of disjointed images may not seem to have any meaning or association with each other. 

The way to start is to describe each image or things associated with the image with two to three separate words. 

So the image of a pill might be PILL/MEDICINE/DOCTOR. 

A man with a thought balloon over his head becomes THINK/DREAM/WONDER.

 A flower would become PLANT/FLOWER/GARDEN. 

So let's say we roll and get all three of these results together. Now we need to consider the context of the current storyline. 

If we assume that this is a roll to determine a random encounter on the road, we can start to get an idea of what this encounter is going to be about. Perhaps a doctor is gathering herbs by the roadside, or the group comes across a rare medicinal plant that provides mental clarity. Either scenario will work, and you have the inspiration for an interesting scenario or maybe just something to build atmosphere. With a little practice, it will soon become easy!

Methods and Uses of Story Cubes
I don't recommend rolling more than three dice at a time (four dice tops), and no more than one of the "action" dice should be included in the roll. A lot of images and keywords will just make things confused and cluttered. Don't feel beholden to every image on the dice, either. If two of the pictures you rolled have given you a great idea, don't feel forced to shoehorn the third image into your concept. The dice are there for a creative kickstart, something more naturally story-based than your standard numerical set.

The best way to use these is not for major encounters, which typically need planning and care to be enjoyable. The cubes are better suited for atmospheric world-building moments that wouldn't happen without an extra bit inspiration. Of course a roll of the dice before your game might give you the starting point for an upcoming encounter as well, and some DMs recommend them as a way of giving NPCs distinguishing characteristics on the fly. Whatever you end up using them for, I strongly endorse these unique dice as a storytelling tool and useful aid to your next action-packed gaming session.

Happy ventures!