Into Battle with a Halfling Sorcerer from Roll Player
Get to know a character through the dice drafting, card collecting, and minion fighting mechanics of Roll Player.
Onto another adventure in Roll Player! Or not exactly… It will be a little time before Roll Player Adventures comes out, but I still feel like the character creation process offers its own mini-adventure. The random setup introduces the basics of an individual, and then it comes down to filling in the details. Follow along in the footsteps of another play!
Game Overview
Game Name: Roll Player
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Keith Matejka
Artist: JJ Ariosa and Luis Francisco
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
The starting dice are always rather interesting. This time, I pulled a veritable fortune in coins. This halfling looked pretty good! All except for that alignment… Although it tied into her back story and would play a role later on. I had a few ideas in mind for how to strategize. Yet a big part of the fun is just randomizing the components!
First Play
July 26, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
June 18, 2025
Expansions
2
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
28
Play Time
35 Minutes
High Score
44
Game Area
26" x 20"
Low Score
0
The Cascading Effect of Decisions
Each play starts off with 6 random dice drawn from the bag. Their rolled values set things in motion for meeting the goals of each row. But here’s where it gets interesting… Outside of setup, placing a die in a row activates the corresponding action. So a strength die allows any placed die to be flipped to its opposite side, like a 1 to a 6.
The starting placement of the 6 setup dice actually dictates which actions must be given up during the course of play. So interesting! You, as the player, must start trying to match up values and colors while also planning which actions will be minimized. It’s not as easy as it may sound, either, because different actions affect different classes.
For instance, I often find the monetary discount associated with the charisma dice to be fairly minimal. I like to collect coins in other ways. However, I’ve had characters who benefit the most from placing 3 charisma dice during play. And once begun, the rest of the dice fall into place in unique ways with the way the draft works. It’s all quite interesting!
Evenly Matched
As she began her journey, the first minion that looked reasonably beatable turned out to be a giant rat.
The name was misleading… To a halfling, this rat was monstrously large and rather imposing. To battle!
I really enjoy these combat mechanics. The various totals indicate levels of success or even complete failure. It comes down to figuring out when to take the risk.
Fortunately, the halfling’s dice worked out since she had a lot of blue dice already. It pays to stock up on class dice! In this case, she was a sorcerer focused on the blue hue.
A Proud Ending
What a way to end! The interesting thing about my recent plays with the expansion has been my complete avoidance of skills. Coincidence? I think some might come in handy.
The only small failure was on the alignment card, where I lost points for the first time. But even with that, my final score was my best yet! How did I do it?
I focused heavily on traits, mainly because the sorcerer ability allowed me to reroll a die when I purchased a trait.
Loyalty paid off quite nicely, too! I completed all of the attribute goals and gladly took that bonus.
The Benefits of Text
As much as I adore beautiful artwork, the monster cards are actually intriguing with just words. There are the bonuses as the main focal point, but what about the titles?
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I love this aspect! I like to picture what the final showdown would look like.
Here, it wasn’t exactly easy. What does another dimension actually look like, after all? Ha ha! Yet I could see the halfling making her way through the poisonous fumes.
As for the flame sword? It was a fantastic flurry of activity as she dodged at the last moment to defeat the demon!
Collecting the Minions
That zombie must really like me! I think I’ve picked him up during most of my plays with this expansion. At least he isn’t as terrifying as some zombies, though!
With every defeated minion, 1 of the 3 monster cards is revealed. This provides information about the bonuses.
Since the final monster battle is a question of life or death, I’ve tried to focus a lot of my strategy on the minions.
There’s no surprise what happened with the demon. Long time no see, non-friend. Ha! I may have gone overboard with the dice, yet I wanted all those points. All of them!
Session Overview
Play Number: 8
Expansion: Roll Player: Monsters & Minions
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Required Play Space: 26″ x 20″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 30 Minutes
Outcome: 44 Points (Win)
My best outing yet! But I wanted to share a little cleanup secret… In between plays, I used to try to grab all the dice. Now, I just clear off the character board and then lift it straight up. Voila! Much easier to wrangle the dice up!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
9
Victory Conditions
Score 40+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 35 points.
Score at least 40 points.
Score at least 45 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you like most about Roll Player? I might move onto trying out some other games soon, although it’s tempting to create a character in just 30 minutes! Are there any solo board games you enjoy playing many times in a row? I was proud of this attempt that put me in the highest scoring tier, although I must give some credit to the luck of the dice!
Yeah, I like that cleanup tip!! So practical!!
Glad to see the continued enjoyment with the game! 🙂
Thanks, Derek! Cleanup wasn’t particularly difficult, but a few of my player boards had a rough time during the punching process. All of that shuffling around while I tried to gather the dice made me think I might cause some damage. Then it dawned on me… Leave the dice! Ha ha!
Every time I feel like I might have a solid strategy, something gets thrown into the mix to make me question what I’m doing. Setup is actually a lot more intriguing than most games: It’s less about putting out the components and more about setting things in motion. Awesome, awesome!