When to Roll the Die...

A little thought for today: Roll the die only when it's interesting. Too many GMs tell their players to roll the die for too many things: "I try to open the door. -Roll"; "I look for a clue. -Roll"... If it's important whether there's a success or a failure, it's a good place to roll. If, by not opening the door, a monster will ambush the PCs, it's a good time to roll (unless the next room is boring, then you should make it a failure), but usually it isn't that. Usually, it's rolling just because the rules say so.

If it's not interesting to fail, or to succeed, don't roll. Just don't roll the die. Rolling and calculating takes time and energy and creates a distance from the story (we break the in-game when we get to the mechanics), so think hard before any such a roll if it's really that important or interesting.