D&D General "When I DM, I Try to Make Sure to Lay Eyes on Every Roll My Players Make to Confirm It" (a poll)

[R_J_K75]

I'll admit, I got no small degree of schadenfreude from watching him have to finally take the dice rolls he got.

Dice rolls, almost exclusively. I eventually started recording the numbers he was giving me during session and realized that the only time he "rolled" below a 16 was on initiative rolls.

Back in 4e, I suspect he might have been deliberately getting the rules wrong to inflate his AC, but considering the quantity of options and how they interfaced, it could've just as easily been legitimate or a legit mistake.

I love when my players roll a Nat 1. And they always laugh, tell me then hilarity ensues. We played this Tuesday and the PCs were travelling down a river with Tiggly the Gnome on a flat bottom boat, So a Wereshark jumps out of the water in sharkform. lands on the deck in human form, He then commences to drink a hand keg of Old Swift Water 89. So the Paladin decides to attack him. H rolls "really naughty word". Even with the bad roll I ruled that he hit him with Brody the wereshark just blowing it off. he says "With the lake choppy waters I see how you sword could accidently cut me.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

At our table, we have rolled completely in the open for the last 5 years or so - as DM, I find this is liberating for me as DM as the dice fall where they may and the players are all fully aware. And it isn't anything to do with me not trusting the players: we're only really looking at the dice to cheer (or groan) for crits. As a DM of 5e, I have found that I have no need to roll behind the screen and have gladly left "secret" rolls in the past - they just don't add anything to our game. If I'm doing my job describing the environment sufficiently, the players are able to make informed decisions for their PCs and have the opportunity to change tactics (or not) as they see fit when an ability check with meaningful consequences is called for. Of course, I now play online 95% of the time and all rolls on the VTT are made public.

I've only had one player in the last 7 years, to my knowledge, cheating on rolls in person - they had hard-to-read dice that they would often snatch up quickly and bring them close, squinting to read, before announcing a high-teens result. They almost never sat right next to me so my suspicions were not confirmed until a few players let me know independently.

 

[Nikosandros]

I used to vaguely check on the players' rolls, but then we switched to online gaming and - in general, they just roll physical dice at their homes - so they can cheat to their dark hearts' content...

 

[Art Waring]

Thankfully my current players are all honest, and we often have surprising things happen on nat 1's so we dont currently have this problem.

Back in the college days you would see some players fudge rolls or try to reroll saying it was cocked, but these tables were often mildly adversarial games where for some reason people were acting like it was a competitive game. Much less so these days.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I only ever look at a players rolls when I think they need help applying bonuses correctly or when they want to show everyone the improbable roll they just rolled.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Nah, FALSE, I don't even bother confirming their rolls.

 

[Maxperson]

I will watch player rolls when the roll is important. Not to check up on them, but just because it's fun to watch and see if they succeed or fail as the die bounces and settles.

 

[gnarlygninja]

I've been in groups where it was necessary to keep people from cheating, but for the past few years if I'm watching a roll it's because that player is slow and I can figure out the result faster than them.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I have never once used a screen in 35 years of DMing. I don't like a wall between me and my players. It makes me feel disconnected to them. They can see my dice if they like. Most don't care to look, and I don't look at theirs either. Though we both sometimes point to crits.

I have had a few cheaters over the years. One who liked to tip his d20 when no one was watching and then point to his "crit". (Someone spotted the behavior). Another that would sweep his dice away quickly and then claim a high roll. (Someone saw him roll low and then do it). Aside from finding it eye-rollingly silly, I don't really care all that much. I left it to the players to sort it out with them.

 

[delericho]

I used to do this. Nowadays I don't play with players I don't trust not to cheat... or at least, not too badly.