Sheldon plays D&D with girls!

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Only complaint was the idea that the DM makes all the rolls. Where the heck does this idea come from?

It was a suggested method in 1E AD&D and maybe Basic. The idea being that every roll reveals meta-game (no, they didn't use that term) information. I'd seen one game played that way back in the day, but never ran or played in a game where all rolls were made by the DM. I did make some rolls in secret for the players when the occassion seemed to warrant it in 1E.

 

[delericho]

Only complaint was the idea that the DM makes all the rolls. Where the heck does this idea come from?

We did that for years, basically because that was how my first DM did it, and I therefore assumed it was just the way things were done. It wasn't until I went on to university that I encountered the notion that players should roll.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Just watched onDemand and the episode was awesome. Only complaint was the idea that the DM makes all the rolls. Where the heck does this idea come from? I think they did the same thing in the Community episode a year or two back. I have never played in a game where the DM made all the rolls.

I want to know what chart Sheldon and Amy were using at the end, I don't think it is in the Player's handbook of any edition.

I was just going to post that as well - is that some sort of California/Hollywood/West Coast thing? The DM makes the rolls for the players? I said on my Facebook page that if I demanded I roll all the dice as DM, my players would have thrown their dice at me - hard. My die-rolling luck is so bad, that we'd probably still be in combat from that attack in the goblin's lair from 2007. (And, yes, I remember that episode of Community, too, "I won at Dungeons & Dragons - and it was Advanced!")

 

[NewJeffCT]

Howard did a great job with the imitations, though. Nicolas Cage & Al Pacino were spot-on, while Christopher Walken wasn't bad, either. I've had a few DMs that did imitations like that, but he would never say, "the face on the tree looks like Nicolas Cage" and then do a Cage impression. He would have just described the face in the tree and launched into the impression and you could guess it was Nic Cage, but it would never be said at the table. (This one DM had a great recurring NPC that nobody figured out was an elderly Charlton Heston for months, and I had a snobbish nobleman NPC that was based on Charles Emerson Winchester from MASH)

 

[knottyprof]

I agree, the imitations were hilarious and Sheldon's response to them were just as funny. I know I am bias based off of the content of the episode but IMO one of the best episodes of the season. Only complaint I have is it looks like they were using 4th edition (my least favorite edition of the game).

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I was just going to post that as well - is that some sort of California/Hollywood/West Coast thing? The DM makes the rolls for the players? I said on my Facebook page that if I demanded I roll all the dice as DM, my players would have thrown their dice at me - hard.

Well, according to the 1E DMG p. 110:

"In many situations it is correct and fun to have the players dice such things as melee hits and saving throws. However, it is your right to control the dice at any time and to roll dice for the players."

So, you could point to this and remind them you have the right to roll their dice for them before they throw their dice at you.

 

[Super Pony]

Here is a Link to "The Love Spell Potential" episode on CBS.com for those who may not have access to it through their DVRs, etc.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Well, according to the 1E DMG p. 110:

"In many situations it is correct and fun to have the players dice such things as melee hits and saving throws. However, it is your right to control the dice at any time and to roll dice for the players."

So, you could point to this and remind them you have the right to roll their dice for them before they throw their dice at you.

ah, so I can say that I'm such a generous DM that I allow them to roll their own dice.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I was miffed at the 'DM makes all the rolls' too, but remembered it as an option, or whatever, from 1e. Not that we would ever have allowed it! But this is to point out that not all the rolls were 15+. The very last roll we heard about was a 14. More to the point, there were obviously a buttload of rolls that we didn't see. But yeah, it would have been nice to see the general reaction to some bad ones. Other than Amy's.