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<blockquote data-quote="Merlin the Tuna" data-source="post: 5109460" data-attributes="member: 55638"><p>Because fudging is something that really only works in moderation, just like it doesn't do much for a campaign to have nothing but cakewalks every encounter or to kill half the party every encounter.</p><p></p><p>Even if you design your adventure with all of the numbers pegged <em>exactly right</em>, there's still that 1/8000 chance that the main villain of the campaign will roll nat 1's on the first three attack rolls he makes, and the big climactic battle is a crock because Lady Luck is being a brazen strumpet. And then next week, she balances the karma out by being a saucy tart and showing us the other end of the spectrum -- that Level+4 solo crits on its first three attacks and smears the party all over the floor.</p><p></p><p>We play with the dice because they give us ups and downs. But that doesn't mean that we want to go all the way up into the stratosphere or down to the center of the earth at any given time. We're counting on that band in the middle 99.5% of the bell curve, and when we miss it, we make a save to disbelieve that we missed it.</p><p></p><p>I mean, yes, I guess I could codify a bunch of rules or use a different game for my fantasy RPG of choice to avoid ever having to fudge, but it's a lot easier to just say "That 8 is really a 4" and go on my merry way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Merlin the Tuna, post: 5109460, member: 55638"] Because fudging is something that really only works in moderation, just like it doesn't do much for a campaign to have nothing but cakewalks every encounter or to kill half the party every encounter. Even if you design your adventure with all of the numbers pegged [I]exactly right[/I], there's still that 1/8000 chance that the main villain of the campaign will roll nat 1's on the first three attack rolls he makes, and the big climactic battle is a crock because Lady Luck is being a brazen strumpet. And then next week, she balances the karma out by being a saucy tart and showing us the other end of the spectrum -- that Level+4 solo crits on its first three attacks and smears the party all over the floor. We play with the dice because they give us ups and downs. But that doesn't mean that we want to go all the way up into the stratosphere or down to the center of the earth at any given time. We're counting on that band in the middle 99.5% of the bell curve, and when we miss it, we make a save to disbelieve that we missed it. I mean, yes, I guess I could codify a bunch of rules or use a different game for my fantasy RPG of choice to avoid ever having to fudge, but it's a lot easier to just say "That 8 is really a 4" and go on my merry way. [/QUOTE]
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