Which rolls do you the DM make and which do you allow your players to make?

msd

First Post

• Jun 21, 2004

• #1

I'm pretty new, so this is really for my edification...

I was reading part of the instructional text in Orcfest in which they suggested that there are various rolls which the DM might choose to make out of sight of the players. For instance, to avoid potential metagame thinking, they suggest that the DM might make spot and listen checks on behalf of the players.

This got me interested in what the norm out there is. How do you run things in your game? Do the players make all their rolls? Some of their rolls? None of them?

Thanks in advance,
matt

 

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heimdall

Dwarven Guardian

• Jun 21, 2004

• #2

At first I made the following roles: appraise, listen, search, and spot. However, with my players, they'll roleplay the bad roll just as well as the good one. There have been opportunities to meta-game but they've not done so. Hence they make their own rolls now. Starting with a new group I'd start the same way until I could assess. Easier to give a little later from a stingy stance than to take away from a generous one.

 

Afrodyte

Explorer

• Jun 21, 2004

• #3

I tend to let players roll their own dice. I pretty much let them initiate whatever rolls they want to, although sometimes I'll call for a roll in specific cases.

 

msd

First Post

• Jun 21, 2004

• #4

Afrodyte said:

I tend to let players roll their own dice. I pretty much let them initiate whatever rolls they want to, although sometimes I'll call for a roll in specific cases.

Click to expand...

Do you occasionally call for bogus rolls just to keep the players guessing as to what counts and what doesn't or do you just not have issues associated with metagaming?

 

Hypersmurf

Moderatarrrrh...

• Jun 21, 2004

• #5

heimdall said:

However, with my players, they'll roleplay the bad roll just as well as the good one.

Click to expand...

I presume you mean they'll roleplay the bad roll far, far worse than the good one... since playing it just as well as the good one would be roleplaying badly, rather than...

... wait, let me start over...

-Hyp.

 

Mouseferatu

Hero

• Jun 21, 2004

• #6

I make rolls only when I don't want them to know why I'm rolling. For instance, if I want to see if they see or hear something, or avoid something, but I don't want to tip them off to what's going on, I might make the roll myself. I'll also roll if I really don't want them to know how well they did until they see how the NPC/monster/situation reacts accordingly.

Other than that, though, I pretty much let them roll their own. (Heh; that sounds bad...)

 

heimdall

Dwarven Guardian

• Jun 21, 2004

• #7

Hypersmurf said:

I presume you mean they'll roleplay the bad roll far, far worse than the good one... since playing it just as well as the good one would be roleplaying badly, rather than...

... wait, let me start over...

-Hyp.

Click to expand...

Gah! I see your point. They'll roleplay the roll properly, whether the roll is good or bad. Nothing like having the argument between the ranger and the rogue where the ranger spotted something and the rogue didn't... "Do you see that?" "See what?" "That?" "What's 'that'?" "That over there." "No, I don't see 'that' if it's anything other than that tree." "What are you good for?" "Setting off traps that affects the rest of you while I escape unscathed." "Oh. Forget I asked."

 

D

DonaldRumsfeldsTofu

First Post

• Jun 21, 2004

• #8

Move Silently and Hide should usually be rolled by the DM. Not to prevent metagaming, but for reasons of suspense. Spot and Listen rolls done by the DM are usually done without the knowledge of the players in the one game I'm in. In the other, we don't really worry about it. And Appraise is a given

 

Last edited: Jun 21, 2004

Zappo

Explorer

• Jun 21, 2004

• #9

I let them roll everything, including spot and listen. My players don't metagame, and I often call for rolls for trivial information, so it works out fine.

 

Thanee

First Post

• Jun 21, 2004

• #10

I make the rolls, which would tip them off, when I do not want to alarm them, to keep the suspense. For example, with Spot, Listen or Sense Motive, sometimes Disable Device, Search, or Knowledge.

Other than that, they do pretty much all the rolls.

Bye
Thanee