Warbringer
Explorer
entitled - no.
Know the roll, but not the outcone - sure (DM doesn't have to tell you what you need to roll)
Know the roll, but not the outcone - sure (DM doesn't have to tell you what you need to roll)
What I'm asking is: How does letting them try when the outcome is always going to be failure benefit them, the DM or the game?
As I just mentioned, there can be some circumstances where simply telling them one particular approach is impossible would discourage them from trying other approaches. Of course, you do understand that my method doesn't preclude a GM from sometimes doing things with a simple narrative. However, your approach takes my method of resolution off the table entirely. I prefer more options on the table when GMing rather than fewer.
Wait wait, we're talking about two different things.
As an aside: tough beans some methods don't work.
Well, the situational secret rolling implies that your players will metagame rather than roleplay the result of the roll
That does not make any sense to me. The very fact that you, the DM, is rolling for me suggests that there is something fishy and that whatever result you say cannot be trusted. Or are you rolling for me all the time? Otherwise: where is the difference?
In a word: immersion. Some players like having to figure out the right answer on their own. If you eliminated everything that doesn't work, it's the same as telling them what will work, which reduces it to just checking the boxes and rolling the dice. For myself and at least one of my players, one of the big reasons why we play TTRPGs instead of (just) video games is that a video game often has a "tell" on what actions are acceptable.What I'm asking is: How does letting them try when the outcome is always going to be failure benefit them, the DM or the game?
In a word: immersion. Some players like having to figure out the right answer on their own. If you eliminated everything that doesn't work, it's the same as telling them what will work, which reduces it to just checking the boxes and rolling the dice. For myself and at least one of my players, one of the big reasons why we play TTRPGs instead of (just) video games is that a video game often has a "tell" on what actions are acceptable.
It's a judgement call. See the rest of my post.But you don't need the dice for that. A player can, as I noted above simply say what they're going to do (which is what I require of my players before they roll the dice) and I can simply tell them the outcome. Letting them roll the dice leaves that slim hope that a higher number will cause them to succeed, which just results in more rolling and more of me having to tell them, "no, it didn't work", then comes the inevitable nat 20 on the skill and they assume it must work because a nat20 means "you win" and I have to once again tell them that no, it had no effect.