GMing Dwindle pt2 Always be Rolling

 Dwindle is a weird beast. It is a lot more narrative than DnD. And often in narrative games, it is suggested that dice rolling is kept at a minimum. Often a single roll will tell you which way the outcome of the scene will go, and the players play out the scene towards that end. 

But Dwindle is a lot like DnD, because the "Game" aspect of it is designed to wear down the PCs' resources. To this end, the GM will need the players to continually roll for things.

In many games, it is easy for a player to simply state that they "Know a guy" and bring in an NPC that can give them a toe-hold on information, equipment, or access they need. But in Dwindle, that's a resource check. Going shopping for a new magic belt? Roll a few times on Wealth. Using your healing ability? Roll your class resource.

So my motto for Dwindle is to always keep the players rolling. They need to roll for negotiating, intimidating, seducing, everything. I may not have any consequences in mind, but when they fail or if they get some setbacks, we collectively decide what has gone wrong, and what that means for the story. This is what put the characters on an epic journey to keep the dying wish of a ship's cat. This is what caused a temporal anomaly in which the now deceased Bard had a one night stand with the Lady of Chaos. And she felt "Meh" about it. 

At the same time, when something goes right, and they get some bonuses, the group is happier and looks at it as a major win.

This is one of the reasons why I wanted a quick dice mechanic. So we can quickly gather the pool, throw everything, check for success, bonuses, and setbacks, and keep fleshing out the story.