D&D General If they thought they could get away with it...

[Thomas Shey]

I've absolutely had players, including some I still play with, who will under some circumstances exploit rules ambiguities and the like (the term a fellow GM familiar with the same people has used is "making 'convenient' assumptions). Some of the same people will, depending on mood, also point out such problem areas to bring it to my attention without exploiting. In some cases this is because they do or don't consider it an exploit.

Cheating is--more complicated. I cannot say with absolute authority that any of these people still do this. I do know that at least some of them have done so in the past, but it was a long, long time ago. My sense is they're far less likely to do so in a game with a functional metacurrency.

 

[Charlaquin]

Roughly 50% of all players cheat, and roughly 50% will try to exploit...though it's not the same for both groups as many players that would exploit, would "never" cheat".

Basically, I have found humanity in general to be: Always does the right thing always no matter what(25%), Always does the wrong thing no matter what (25%) and sits in the middle, mostly doing what is right with maybe an exploit and maybe maybe a cheat if they get a great opportunity(50%). So that is 75% you need to keep an eye on: this is why rules and laws even exist.

A vast majority of people only interact with others for one base reason: An Ego Boost. Most people lead dull lives and are 'put down' by nearly everything....they would privately think to themselves that they are a 'looser'. They are desperate for an ego boost: for someone to say how great and wonderful they are or anything nice. But they are unwilling to put in any work to get the praise. They love games as games can "prove" how great they are and give a huge ego boost.

Except when they play a game.....it does not just automataclly happen. Lots of times the game is too hard for them, or too complex for them, or even just beyond their understanding or abilities...or worse things. Not that they would ever admit that. The problem is, they don't get to feel great and don't get the ego boost if they just "play the game".

This leaves only one option for them: cheat. And you see it in nearly every game. Maybe it starts with a 'ok' exploit, but chances are to goes right to cheating.

What a sad world you live in…

 

[Charlaquin]

I wish to know how ENWorlders evaluate the statement.

I think you have their answer; They complain that the parameters of the question are not defined clearly enough and demand more specificity.

 

[bloodtide]

What a sad world you live in…

Not sure 'sad' is the right word.

 

[Charlaquin]

Not sure 'sad' is the right word.

seems pretty sad to me. Maybe bleak would be a bit more accurate? Grim?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

seems pretty sad to me. Maybe bleak would be a bit more accurate? Grim?

Fully agreed.

 

[CleverNickName]

In the 30+ years that I've been a Dungeon Master, I've seen all of those poll options at one point or another. But that's not a helpful response.

So to vote in this poll, I'm only going to consider my gaming group that I am currently the DM for, and the situation and factors that were in play in last week's gaming session: the PCs were doing a classic hexcrawl through a ruined village. Time-sensitive quest. We play on Roll20, and the game is configured such that no rolls are whispered (not even my own). So with all that in mind:

My players would definitely cheat if they thought they could get away with it. Heck, one of them was fiddling around with macros during the game, trying to design a display card that would make keyboard input look like a dice roll. It didn't work, and we all saw what he was trying to do.

They are constantly on the lookout for the next big rules exploit, too--the druid in the party finally unlocked 2nd level spells, and he is excited to try out the "rugburn" build that he read about on Reddit. But unlike cheating, I actually encourage my players to study, memorize, and pick apart the rules as much as possible. "Exploits" are a valid playstyle at my table.

So I voted "Definitely would do both things," but not constantly, and really only one of those is a problem for me.

 

[Clint_L]

In the 30+ years that I've been a Dungeon Master, I've seen all of those poll options at one point or another. But that's not a helpful response.

So to vote in this poll, I'm only going to consider my gaming group that I am currently the DM for, and the situation and factors that were in play in last week's gaming session: the PCs were doing a classic hexcrawl through a ruined village. Time-sensitive quest. We play on Roll20, and the game is configured such that no rolls are whispered (not even my own). So with all that in mind:

My players would definitely cheat if they thought they could get away with it. Heck, one of them was fiddling around with macros during the game, trying to design a display card that would make keyboard input look like a dice roll. It didn't work, and we all saw what he was trying to do.

They are constantly on the lookout for the next big rules exploit, too--the druid in the party finally unlocked 2nd level spells, and he is excited to try out the "rugburn" build that he read about on Reddit. But unlike cheating, I actually encourage my players to study, memorize, and pick apart the rules as much as possible. "Exploits" are a valid playstyle at my table.

All of that would drive me crazy. I couldn't play or DM with a group like that. But it seems to be working for you, so that's all that matters.

 

[Mad_Jack]

I had a level 1 player hit a goblin for something like 15 points of damage with a single longsword blow, non-critical, and on checking their sheet saw that they were equipped with a holy avenger...and had a strength of 24 (I noted that they had also given themselves both a fly speed and a burrowing speed).

Ya know, I'm definitely not down with the 24 STR and the magic sword, but I think if one of my players (especially a younger one) had decided to give themselves something as random as a burrowing speed, I might just let them keep it, lol...

 

[Lord Shark]

In nearly 44 years of playing RPGs, I cannot remember ever seeing a player cheat, unless you consider juvenile nonsense like making up deliberately overpowered classes back in the 1E days cheating.

And the definition of "exploit" is too vague. For some people, if I decide that I want my character to be very good with swords and therefore choose the Very Good with Swords feat, that's exploitation and powergaming.