Your d20...an inny or outy?

[Shiv]

I GM and play in roughly equal percentages.

I run my game at my home in my living room. Everyone sits in chairs and a sofa around a coffee table which holds the battlemat, minis, etc. I roll in the open on an end table next to my chair, at one "head end" of the coffee table. Most of the players can't see my table well enough to see my dice rolls, but the person sitting in the chair nearest my end table occasionally glances over.

For the occasional roll regarding something very important or dramatic (typically tied to whether or not a character might die), I get up and roll on the coffee table for all to see.

Most of my playing is done at a friend's house around a large dining table. He rolls behind a screen. And I'm fine with it. None of the other players has ever expressed a problem with this.

 

[Mark CMG]

As a GM I roll in the open only when there is no doubt that something secret might influence the roll. I prefer this method from my GM when playing as well. I tend to GM a bit more than play.

 

[Shiv]

This is me mostly.

While I prefer to roll behind the screen, I usually defer to what the group wants me to do. Interestingly, my current group changes their mind depending upon what we are playing. They like 4e roll out in the open, 3.x/Pathfinder they like some battles rolled out in open and some hidden (mostly boss fights hidden) and they like skill checks that I sometimes make for them hidden like Listen, Search, Move Silently, Hide in Shadows. In 1e/retro games, always hidden. Savage Worlds, out in the open.

I find this variance odd, but also oddly interesting. Have you ever questioned your players as to why they like to see certain games rolled out in the open and others rolled behind the screen? Is there a strong consensus between the players on these different games and how they want you to roll?

 

[catsclaw227]

I find this variance odd, but also oddly interesting. Have you ever questioned your players as to why they like to see certain games rolled out in the open and others rolled behind the screen? Is there a strong consensus between the players on these different games and how they want you to roll?

Yea, we've talked about it.

1. They like 4e rolled in the open because most of the rolling is done during tactical combat and (though I hate saying this) it feels more boardgamey and it is less swingy. Don't get me wrong, we like 4e combat as much as 3.x and 2e combat. For us we like the fiat that 4e has given the DM with regards to a lot of out-of-combat things, and since the combat is quite rules driven, so it can be done in the open.

2. They like 3.x combat mostly in the open, but due to the swingy nature and a lot of the save or die stuff that some things be done behind screen. Basically, I think they know that I sometimes fudge some 3.x rolls (not always in their favor) and they prefer the mystery of how the "story" unfolds this way. Not everyone's cup-o-tea, I know, but for us it works.

3. In 1e, they like everything behind the screen because that's how we all did it back in the day, even though we never played with each other back then. The game feels more story driven and mysterious that way to the players and that old school feel of wandering monsters and random treasure and stuff makes the game fun that way.

4. Savage Worlds? Not sure why, but we just learned the game, so we do it in the open so we can all understand things better.

Does any of this make sense? I know it seems all hypocritical and antithetical to a lot of other people's playstyles, but hey, we have a blast.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Basically always the GM. I always roll in the open, but I don't always say what it is for ("I rolled a natural 17, for whatever that was for...").

 

[SnowleopardVK]

I prefer to roll behind my screen, but I do it in the open because that's what my players prefer.

I've been told I'm a kind GM, accommodating to so many of their wishes. Except during my bursts of killer instinct.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

GM -- roll in the open.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm primarily a GM. I usually roll behind my screen, but really important rolls - dramatic ones, life or death ones - get rolled out in the open.

 

[TKDB]

I'm mainly a player, and I'd say my preference depends on the context.
For combat, though I've never actually paid much attention to it while playing, intellectually I'd say I prefer rolls in the open. I know I tend to get kind of worked up during high-tension, challenging fights, and I feel that, even though I totally trust my GMs not to fudge rolls on me, seeing the rolls out in the open would help me keep my suspicions under control when the adrenaline starts to get the better of my rational side.

However, for exploration and social circumstances, I generally prefer for the GM to make the rolls for the players in secret. Particularly for stuff that determines what a character is able to perceive or deduce, it really helps with the immersion for the actual outcome of the roll to be secret. Knowing what you got on such a roll colors your attitude toward the information you get from it, and even though a good roleplayer can more or less keep that meta knowledge out of how they play the character, it's still a lot easier to know only that your efforts to figure something out yielded X information, without knowing how good or poor your efforts actually were.

 

[contraserrene]

When I DM, I roll in the open unless I have enough notes/stats to require a DM screen, in which case I roll behind the screen because it's easier. Laziness always wins.

When I play, I prefer the DM's rolls to be secret, but only because That's How We Did It In 1980, not for any logical reason.