Keeping the players from looking around the screen

[SnowleopardVK]

I've just started running a new game with four other people recently, and although it's been fun so far I've had to deal with the annoyance of three of my four players constantly trying to peer around or over my GM screen to look at dice rolls I'm making, to try and see the details of enemies they're facing, to look at parts of the dungeon map they haven't explored yet, and so on.

Now I've partially solved this by insisting that one of the players who sits beside me at the table is the one who doesn't peek. That still leaves the problem of my other side though (it's a small-ish round table, each of the five of us has about two or three feet between them and the person on either side). Regardless of which of the other three players sits there, they try to look.

Does anybody have any ideas of how to either modify my table setup or screen to make it harder for them to peek, or of what to tell them to make them stop? Because I kept asking them to keep their eyes away from whatever I have behind the screen since it's information that I don't want them to know, but I had to tell each one of them that around 10 times over the course of the first session.

 

[diaglo]

roll in the open.

don't tell them what the total modified score is.

do it for nothing at all.

ask for rolls that mean nothing.

if they want to look. let them

but it doesn't mean they are looking at the thing you want. use bait and switch.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

roll in the open.

don't tell them what the total modified score is.

do it for nothing at all.

ask for rolls that mean nothing.

if they want to look. let them

but it doesn't mean they are looking at the thing you want. use bait and switch.

That's one solution to thwart their looking at the rolls I suppose, but I still keep things like dungeon maps and some info about their enemies back their. It doesn't stop them from trying to look at those.

 

[Numlock]

Tell them that the are ruining the game for themselves and should stop being so childish. If they continue give them Time-outs, just like little children deserve. Have another player control his character. Continue giving longer Time-outs if they continue this behaviour.

P.S. How old are they?

 

[Aeolius]

Hide a pentagram, bloody entrails, and a dead rodent behind your screen. I'm betting they never sneak a peek ever again.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

Tell them that the are ruining the game for themselves and should stop being so childish. If they continue give them Time-outs, just like little children deserve. Have another player control his character. Continue giving longer Time-outs if they continue this behaviour.

P.S. How old are they?

The three that keep looking are 18, 21, and (I think) 24 respectively. The one who doesn't look is 18.

The 24 is the worst from my own perspective. I'm very story-focused whereas he has admitted he doesn't care too much about story, he just wants to make sure he gets in lots of fights, deals damage as effectively as possible, and wins. That involves sneaking looks at my stuff and trying to mess with his own dice rolls, which is a horrible pain to deal with. He is, as you said, being childish.

Hide a pentagram, bloody entrails, and a dead rodent behind your screen. I'm betting they never sneak a peek ever again.

Wouldn't do a thing I'm afraid. They're all into the occult and they know I am too. They wouldn't be freaked out, they'd just question why I'm keeping that stuff on the table during the game. (Not to mention I don't really have easy access to entrails and rodents anyways.)

 

[Aeolius]

Wouldn't do a thing I'm afraid. They're all into the occult and they know I am too. They wouldn't be freaked out, they'd just question why I'm keeping that stuff on the table during the game. (Not to mention I don't really have easy access to entrails and rodents anyways.)

Earmarked Rachel Ray magazines and Twilight novels, then?

 

[Saeviomagy]

Every time you catch them looking behind the screen, the next attack on them is a natural 20.

Either that or just boot them from the game. Especially the 24 year old cheater.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

Hm, the punishing idea might work out. I don't really want to boot anybody though because despite the annoyance of cheating and looking past my screen the four of them have been interacting well and have been so far been having one of the most entertaining campaigns I've ever run. I don't want to mess up their group dynamic too much.

Not to mention the 24 is the more effective of their two melee fighters, and is the less-killable of the two healers (The other healer, a goblin cleric, has 15 AC and 8 HP as of 2nd level. He goes down fast). I'm pretty sure that aside from one random encounter in which a harpy lured the 24 year-old off the edge of the ship, the rest of the players would have lost every fight they've been in without him.

 

[Celebrim]

Wouldn't do a thing I'm afraid. They're all into the occult and they know I am too. They wouldn't be freaked out, they'd just question why I'm keeping that stuff on the table during the game. (Not to mention I don't really have easy access to entrails and rodents anyways.)

Taking him aside privately when you get the oppurtunity and tell him that every time he cheats, you will. Tell him that if he looks behind the DM screen, the monsters will increase, the traps will change, and you'll make a special effort to ensure foes single him out for damage. Tell him that if he fudges his rolls, that you'll fudge the DC's and the monsters hit points and attack bonuses proportionately. Ask him if that's what he really wants. Ask him if he thinks somehow his cheating is more jusitfied and more in the spirit of the game than the DM fudging things? Find out if he's doing it because you're doing it (or if he uses it as an excuse), and if so deescalate the war (even if you know he's lying, eat crow and try to be big about it). And after you've reached an agreement, if it continues, either tell him he can find another DM (if he's not a close friend) or shut the book in front of everyone and say that since people can't stop themselves from cheating you think maybe you should watch a movie tonight or play Settlers of Cataan (if he is one).

As for discouraging metagaming generally.

1) Don't fudge.
2) Throw important rolls in the open.
3) Roll for the players whenever possible - especially information gathering rolls like spot, listen, search, sense motive, and knowledge. Make them under stand why you throw things behind the screen. Oddly, I tend to roll the monsters attacks in the opinion, but the players rolls behind a screen.
4) Be fair. Don't meta your players either, especially to serve your own interests (like making your really cool villain seem more cool instead of getting one shotted). If you get a reputation for fairness and balance, your players will trust you more and you'll have fewer of these problems.
5) Be devious. Roll dice alot.
6) Be transparent when you can be. After the fight is over, occasionally let drop the stats of the defeated monster. Help fill the player curiousity AFTER it stops mattering so much so that they won't be as tempted to look ahead of time. Every once in a while I'll even block off a portion of my notes and let players read directly from what I prepared to prove that this had been planned weeks (and sometimes years) in advance. This works particularly well with NPC strategems that they think you are just making up on the spur of the moment (nope, the villain has an 18 INT and he's one step ahead of you) or with long running NPCs where exactly at the time they find out he's a villain, he just happens to be of perfect level to challenge them. By showing your successes like that and not being afraid of your failures, you can create the illusion of being made of almost all win. Of course, you have to have the skills to back it up.

Good players respect the screen. It's your job as the DM to help players become good players. Sadly, sometimes this means teaching good gamesmanship.