Introducing the Vibe Check for D&D 5th Edition
Posted on October 21, 2024 by Monica Valentinelli
Hey, hey, hey! I’m back from Game Hole Con XI, where I ran lots of games, led an indie game design jam, and spoke on panels. It was a very, very busy convention for me, so if we missed each other (or didn’t have more time) feel free to reach out.
One of the things I like to do at Game Hole Con, in particular, is think about new ways to enhance the overall gaming experience of the games I am playing. Sometimes, I find that mysteries in Dungeons & Dragons adventures/campaigns can stall if people don’t roll well or if people don’t know a lot about the setting or their characters. Though it’s my job as a DM to supply them with information, I also want to empower my players to solve the puzzle. To accommodate and flesh out the knowledge a player receives, I created the Vibe Check, as a means of complementing the Insight Check.
Here’s how the Vibe Check works:
Whenever a player isn’t sure how they feel, either about X, where X is a situation, a clue, another character, etc. they roll 1d10 (a single ten-sided die). This is a player’s decision to roll this check that does not require the DM’s permission. If the result is a 5, the PC isn’t sure how they’re feeling about X and they either need more information or time to parse what they’ve learned. If the result is a 10, they feel strongly and positively about X. If the result is a 1, it’s the exact opposite. They feel adverse or negatively about X.
As the DM, once they tell me how they feel, I then reinforce their result by adding information, similar to other checks. “Yes, you feel strongly that [insert clue here].” Vibes (or feelings) are then relayed as information that they don’t necessarily have to act on. During the playtests, the PCs did treat this new addition as a personal “tell” rather than something they needed to share with the group.
What is your gut telling you? That’s what the Vibe Check helps codify.
During my games, I tried different ordered results, with 1 being positive and 10 being negative, and people jibed more with the opposite or more traditional meaning of “on a scale from 1 to 10.” The feedback that I got was overwhelmingly positive and a lot of players really dug it. I also wanted to use a d10, because I felt that a d20 offered too many results.
If I was publishing this in a game, I’d offer in-game examples and one of two tables to highlight how the scale works. The easiest way to relay results would be to attach a feeling or emotion to each number. 5, for example, is Indifferent. The other table I’d consider is a simple scale to show the strength of those emotions.
If you dig this mechanic, feel free to use it with attribution in your published works. You can also buy me a coffee. DMs are free to use this rule in your home games as well.
Vibe Check by Monica Valentinelli is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
