D&D General Should players be aware of their own high and low rolls?

[CreamCloud0]

I realize the topic has spiraled away from your original intention, but I don’t quite follow how players are acting on assumptions of how a roll goes. You seem to be implying that they see a low number on the die and assume failure and then just start declaring actions as if they failed. But why let them do that?

That’s precisely why you should explain that it was actually a success. That’s also an argument about why you should share the DC in the first place.

If you just say “whoa there, cowboy… I know you only rolled a 4, but the DC was only 10 so your +6 actually gives you a success. Now what do you want to do?”

I think the dice do offer players opportunities to roleplay if they’re aware of what the dice are saying.

Not ‘acting on assumptions of how the roll went’ but ‘acting on assumptions based off how the roll went/acting on the numerical results rather than the described consequences‘

You’re trying to sneak across a courtyard, you get a 3 but the DM describes you as a shadow on the wind: suppose the guards didn’t notice you but a manservant looking out the window did,
If you had known you got a 3 and you heard that ‘shadow on the wind’ description you could immediately spot the discrepancy and would probably try taking out the guards or abandoning the attempt, they might also continue but the player they’re going to be on high alert all on information they and the character doesn’t/shouldn’t have.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Not ‘acting on assumptions of how the roll went’ but ‘acting on assumptions based off how the roll went/acting on the numerical results rather than the described consequences‘

You’re trying to sneak across a courtyard, you get a 3 but the DM describes you as a shadow on the wind: suppose the guards didn’t notice you but a manservant looking out the window did,
If you had known you got a 3 and you heard that ‘shadow on the wind’ description you could immediately spot the discrepancy and would probably try taking out the guards or abandoning the attempt, they might also continue but the player they’re going to be on high alert all on information they and the character doesn’t/shouldn’t have.

But why would you describe a three thusly? I wouldn't; I would describe it as a clumsy attempt.

 

[CreamCloud0]

But why would you describe a three thusly? I wouldn't; I would describe it as a clumsy attempt.

The point is it offers options to how that roll resolves beyond the immediately obvious, that 3 could still be described as a clumsy attempt when the player is blind to their own roll but it doesn’t have to be.

 

[Oofta]

If a player rolls a 3 on their stealth check but the guard rolls a 1, I wouldn't tell them anything. Perhaps the guard stepped away from their post for a moment or was asleep. All they know is that there's no immediate response to the fact that they were not particularly stealthy.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I have a different perspective. If my character doesn't know about a creatures vulnerabilities, then I roleplay them like that. To me, that's the whole point of what roleplaying is - trying to put yourself in the shoes of someone else and imagine how they would act. Otherwise, I'm just going to wreck every encounter because I've been playing the game for more than 40 years and I own almost every book.

To me it makes no sense that my character who has never heard of a troll would instantly shout, "We need fire or acid!" So yeah, this can take a little more effort to roleplay as a character trying to figure out something that you, the player, already know, but it's not really hard. And for me it's plenty fun imagining how this character would approach the problem.

The thing that I find completely un-fun is pretending to not know what is essentially the answer to a riddle. It would be like coming across a door that says "Speak, Friend, And Enter" and everybody roleplaying having no idea what the answer is.

There are a million ways we can roleplay our characters, and we all find different aspects fun. Skipping over one of the aspects we don't find fun doesn't make it not-roleplaying.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Gygax isn't God. Neither are you. Why should I take your pronouncements about D&D's rules and principles more seriously than his

Gygax didn't play the last few editions, he wasn't even alive anymore when current rules came out... I would say ANYONE alive in the hobby has a pretty good chance of getting modern D&D better then him

 

[GMforPowergamers]

You’re trying to sneak across a courtyard, you get a 3 but the DM describes you as a shadow on the wind: suppose the guards didn’t notice you but a manservant looking out the window did,
If you had known you got a 3 and you heard that ‘shadow on the wind’ description you could immediately spot the discrepancy and would probably try taking out the guards or abandoning the attempt, they might also continue but the player they’re going to be on high alert all on information they and the character doesn’t/shouldn’t have.

this is my biggest annoyance about rolling... when a player assumes a low roll failed. If I got a 3 and the DM described me getting past (as you said a shadow on the wind) I would assume that meant the gaurd had a low perception (maybe an 8 wis untrianed) and had penelties... so my 3 made it.

I have a house rule of DC11 or less you auto pass if you are prof. However the number of times I have seen someone roll low and say something akin to "shoot must have missed it rolled a 4" only to have to prod "What is that with modifiers" and hear it is like a 14 or something against a DC 13...

 

[Bill Zebub]

Gygax didn't play the last few editions, he wasn't even alive anymore when current rules came out... I would say ANYONE alive in the hobby has a pretty good chance of getting modern D&D better then him

Gary DM'd a session of 5e for me and some friends. He just....sat there. Blank look on his face. Didn't say a word.

Worst DM ever.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

If a player rolls a 3 on their stealth check but the guard rolls a 1, I wouldn't tell them anything. Perhaps the guard stepped away from their post for a moment or was asleep. All they know is that there's no immediate response to the fact that they were not particularly stealthy.

ditto...

I MIGHT if I felt we needed a moment of levity make a joke... "In a dark hallway SOMEHOW you managed to find every lit area, but nobody seems to have noticed"

 

[Oofta]

ditto...

I MIGHT if I felt we needed a moment of levity make a joke... "In a dark hallway SOMEHOW you managed to find every lit area, but nobody seems to have noticed"

Maybe the guards were just illusions because of budget cutbacks since a musky guy took over the company.

On the other hand it could be a ruse. It's the Star Wars storm troopers not being able to hit the broad side of a barn while the protagonists were escaping the Death Star. Someone wants them to get past for some reason, just like when the Millennium Falcon had a tracker on it.

I try to avoid giving people more information than their PCs would have.