interrupts aka cutting word, divine intervention.

jasper · Feb 22, 2017

From another thread...
Divine intervention, cutting word, BI. I use poker chips with a special marker. That way if I don't hear the player call it they can throw on the board to get my intention...
Ok I t was brought to my attention last Friday I been running Cutting Word, and Divine intervention wrong at my AL table.
I do allow a player to change the roll after it been announced. Now I know the player need to declare they are going to use Cutting word/etc before I announce the hit or miss.
So how should I run it?
ASK before each throw if a player want to use their interrupt.
Ask before I declare damage.
Just let the player change the dice after the fact because it slows down the game to wait for the player to decide if he going to expend his interrupts before each roll.

KahlessNestor · Feb 22, 2017

They can call it after the attack, before success is determined, or before damage is dealt. Seems rather open to me. I have no problem allowing it whenever.

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kalani · Feb 22, 2017

If you want to keep some mystery to your rolls, this is how the order of operations should go:

1) You roll the dice, and call out the dice roll sans any modifiers (aka the unmodified dice roll itself). If there is a player with the lucky feat, call out both dice rolls.
2) Player decides whether to use Cutting Words, Shield, Portent, and/or Lucky, etc.
3) Dice rolls are modified (add effects of 2) above, as well as the monsters own to-hit, save or ability score bonuses) and the results given.

Personally, I tend to roll out in the open (but don't tell them the final dice number until after the players react to the dice rolls themselves). Saves me the effort of calling out the dice roll(s), as the players see the rolls for themselves. I also err on the side of the players as a rule, so I don't strictly require players to announce their effects at step 2, especially if they are newer players (although by RAW they should).

RulesJD · Feb 22, 2017

Do players get to hide their rolls from the DM and wait to see if the DM will use some special monster ability?

No?

Then no, I don't hide my DM rolls either. I tell them a number to hit, they can decide whether they want to react. Anything else just slows down the table.

Motorskills · Feb 23, 2017

Portent is called before the dice are rolled.

I'm pretty lenient with my players, but equally I expect them to play fair, and to jump in quickly with interrupts, rather than me have to slow the whole game down just to cater for the possibility.

Undrhil · Feb 24, 2017

I have a character with the Diviner Portent feature and the Lucky feat. I have gotten quite quick at telling the DM when I am replacing one of his die rolls. I just dislike when the DM gets in a hurry and starts throwing attack rolls from a bunch of mobs at once without announcing that that is what he is doing.

jasper · Feb 24, 2017

Underhil would you be fine if the DM allowed you to use portent after he called a hit?

Undrhil · Feb 24, 2017

jasper said:
Underhil would you be fine if the DM allowed you to use portent after he called a hit?

Sure, but I don't expect them to since the featurest is pretty clear about the timing of it.

jasper · Feb 24, 2017

Undrhil said:
Sure, but I don't expect them to since the featurest is pretty clear about the timing of it.

The trouble I have at tables are people not paying attention, or the background noise of other groups make it hard for the players to hear.

Pauper · Feb 24, 2017

I don't see a problem in tweaking the use of the ability to compensate for your surroundings -- as long as the table as a whole (and you as DM) don't think the player with the ability is abusing it, go for it.

On the other hand, if the player with the ability is simply not playing attention and expecting you as the DM to make it up to him by letting him use the ability in a non-standard way, I wouldn't let that fly -- the player took the ability, it's up to him to pay enough attention to be able to use it effectively.

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Pauper