Fudging dice rolls

[godawful]

DMs - do you fudge your dice rolls? How often?


As a corollary, do you use a DM screen? Sometimes? All the time?

i used to, but now when the monster is about to land what is probably going to be the killing stroke, i throw the dice right out in the middle of the table for everyone to see. i'm just evil like that.

yes i use 2 dm screens, a d20 one and the oldschool ad&d one with the 'erol otus' artwork on it

 

[Hussar]

Don't fudge and do 99% of the rolls in the open. About the only thing I don't is search checks.

If the dice gods determine today is your day, then, your day it is.

 

[Illirion]

In the beginning of my campaign I could have killed 3 level 1 characters, but I chose to fudge. The encounter went a little wierd because I kept rolling these amazing results and the party didn't really have a lot of luck with the dice. So I chose to fudge, but the players still don't know I did it, they think they were just really lucky. I don't fudge anymore cause they're higher levels now and they can handle themselves a lot better. They've actually become extremely hard to kill now.

I always set the PHB up straight so I can refference those handy combat rules when I need to and it doubles as a DM screen, but I'm starting to roll a lot more in the open lately. Haven't really found a style that works best for me yet.

 

[amethal]

I used to make all the rolls out in the open.

However, one of the PCs is getting into the habit of casting Omen of Peril, (Spell Compendium) and it takes all the fun out of it if I roll that one in the open. So, its the exception that proves the rule.

I fudge in order to avoid "undramatic" character death. I also "hand wave" certain unimportant rolls and have NPCs "take 10" a lot.

I don't use a DMs screen and never have.

 

[Piratecat]

This is exactly how I DM as well.

And I as well.

 

[Mr Jack]

I increasingly try to never fudge. In fact I'm moving to using rules variants that make it more difficult for me to fudge.

I've only ever fudged recently when I've badly misbalanced an encounter and it is clearly unfair.

 

[tzor]

A long time ago I used to on rare occasion fudge the rolls against the party's favor. This used to happen when I completely uderestimated the potential of the party and they were about to kick the enemy without a single injury. Final parting shots, or BBEG egress rolls were fair game.

 

[hong]

I don't fudge. I proactively manage risk and uncertainty levels using the full range of available instruments so as to deliver an enhanced quality experience for all stakeholders in the enterprise.


Hong "trust me, I'm an actuary statistician" Ooi

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I'm a big proponent of making things dramatic where appropriate. I've also been DMing long enough that I have a pretty good sense (though I'd never claim it was perfect) of what my players find fun and exciting.

I've fudged rolls in the party's favor, but I've also fudged rolls against them. In both cases, it was to prevent something from proving woefully boring or anticlimactic. I try to make sure it evens out over the long run, however, and I never fudge to stupid degrees. (I won't cheat the players of a hard-earned victory, for instance--but then, I wouldn't anyway, since that doesn't fall into the non-dramatic category.)

In either case, I fudge only rarely. 95+% of the time, I prefer to let the dice fall where they may.

I use a screen if we're sitting at a table. Usually, we're just spread out on chairs and sofas, in which case I just roll in the plastic case I keep my papers and dice in. In either case, the players cannot see the dice. Sometimes--such as on particularly important rolls, such as a life-or-death save--I'll roll in the open to heighten the tension.

This sums up my DMing as well.

Even if I were to roll in the open I would continue to use a screen for the purpose of concealing my maps and notes.

 

[lukelightning]

I don't exactly fudge rolls as in "I rolled a 18, I'll call it a 15 because I don't want to kill the PC." But I do sometimes think of ad hoc circumstance modifiers to help the PCs, mostly because I want the game to keep going.