I get the idea of seeing dice rolls, since that is what happens on a table top game. Maybe a "quickroll" option, where you just see a die already cast with the number rolled, instead of a distinct window and the animation of the roll.
Yes, I get the idea of bringing the log to life a bit more. It's not a bad idea, but the full dice rolling might just be a bit of an over-reaction to hidden rolls, so something more in the middle, or as you say, allow options.
