D&D 5E Dealing with a Cheater At An Open Table

[Ralif Redhammer]

As the title would suggest, I have a player fudging their dice rolls at my AL-ish open table. And I finally called him out on it officially last night.

He had taken to shielding his dice with his hand when he rolls, which is generally a sign of cheating in and of itself. But I’d seen several single digit rolls turn into over-20s over the past few months. I’d given a few gentle warnings prior, but last night was the final straw. I calmly told him that what he was doing was not fair to me or the other players, and that I needed to be able to trust my players. I told him he was welcome at the table, but that I needed to know that we’re square here.

He took this as well as anyone called out on their cheating would, and better than many. But I still feel a bit off on it. You see, he’s got some physical (including visual - he uses oversized dice, which made the cheating even more incomprehensible) and likely mental disabilities.

The hiding the dice part was what convinced me to say something – that showed me that he knew what he was doing was wrong. And yet, I still feel a little guilty calling him out on it.

A cheater at the table isn’t anything new in the world, but I guess I’m looking for people’s thoughts on this. Have any of you been in a similar situation?

 

[WarpedAcorn]

From what you wrote, you handled the situation the best you possibly could. Stating that he needs to roll the dice where it is visible to the DM is an easy way to solve this "problem". Having to call a player out in a game is no fun for anyone, but ultimately its the DM's responsibility to play the role of the police in this situation. Handling it calmly and quickly is the best way.

I've been fortunate to have only had one intentional cheater at my table. When I was in High School there was an older guy that we played with briefly that was roll his dice and pick them up seemingly before they stopped rolling. He always rolled high. His stats were basically straight 18's. The first time it annoyed me. The second time I wrote down what he rolled every time. The lowest he rolled all night was a 16. The third time I used my previous list of his rolls for every monster that attacked him. We stopped playing with him shortly after that. I should have confronted him at the time, but didn't want to create a scene.

 

[jaelis]

A cheater at the table isn’t anything new in the world, but I guess I’m looking for people’s thoughts on this. Have any of you been in a similar situation?

Obviously, the best way to handle it is to scream at the player and throw dice at his head. But what you did seems ok.

 

[Sacrosanct]

We had a player who would roll, and if it wasn't good, lean forward like he couldn't make out the number, squinted, and then would suddenly swoop up the dice in one hand while declaring "16!" or so. We bought him a set of one of those giant sized dice and made him use them.

But really, you shouldn't feel bad. You weren't mean about it, and you're not emotionally responsible for anothers' improper behavior. Lots of people want to play in AL (or in general). If a player wants to cheat, they need to go somewhere else and let honest players play.

 

[LordEntrails]

Given that he seems to have taken it wells tells me you have no reason to feel guilty.

If someone has challenges, or disabilities, you give accommodations for those needs. But cheating is not a beneficial accomodation for any challenge or disability.

IMO, you have done them a favor by not allowing a disability to be an excuse for an unacceptable behavior.

 

[aco175]

I'll admit to having a few rolls declare my way as a player in my youth. I even have fudged a few rolls as a DM as late as last night. Most of the DM fudging is to save the PC from being killed or to keep a monster alive one more turn and make the encounter a bit more of a threat. I think player roll cheating is something most people grow out of and learn that missing an attack is ok and that having a 8 stat is ok as well. When things are chronic, you need to say something.

 

[iserith]

I have not had a cheater at my tables so far as I know. If the cheating player was otherwise a good person to have in the group, I'd take him or her aside and explain that "winning" in D&D isn't always about the success of the character or the group, but the outcome of the story created during play and the fun the group has while playing. I will also explain that I think it's part of my role as DM to make sure that failure is fun for the player, even if it sucks for the character, so don't be too concerned about failing. I would also explain that, in general, the goal of any game is not necessarily to win at any cost, but to - win or lose - be invited to play again in the future. Hopefully this reduces the urge to cheat while aligning the player with the goals of play that the group shares. Subsequent cheating after this discussion would result in no further invitations to play.

If the cheater doesn't have any redeeming qualities, then I'd just turf them out and find someone better. I'd certainly take the time to explain why, too. It's a disservice to avoid telling someone why they suck since they might not know their behavior is socially unacceptable. Telling them honestly gives them an opportunity to be better in the future.

 

[Charlaquin]

Seems like you handled it very well. In my home games, I usually don’t sweat dice fudging. If the result of the die roll is important enough to you that you’re willing to cheat, it’s clearly more important to you than it is to me, so I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. If it’s happening constantly, I might mention privately that I see what you’re doing. Usually that’ll get players to stop, or at least hide it better. At an AL-like open table game though? Yeah, that’s unfair to the other players and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. And it sounds like you did exactly that, and handled it maturely and respectfully. You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Thanks all for your input. I'm feeling better about my call, and really appreciate it. We'll see what happens next week. I hope this results in a real change for the better. I do try to take the open, welcoming part of the AL creed to heart.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I think what you did was the right call and admirable.

If you want to take it further, pull the player aside and talk one on one. Maybe ask why they were doing what they did. It could be that the player feels pressure to "do well" and feels like they are letting the other players down if they don't. They might feel this way even if there is no actual pressure from the rest of the table. Take time to reiterate that we all make mistakes and you're happy to have them there no matter what numbers come up on the dice.

I find that a gesture of friendship goes a long way to taking the "sting" out of a rebuke, even a deserved rebuke.

P.S. At my home table that gesture would be beer but that might not fly at AL.