As a GM, How Often Do You Fudge Dice Rolls?

[Umbran]

The per-session/per-month divide doesn't make much sense. What if I run a game once a month? Are you assuming a "we play once a week, a long session on a weekend" group, or something? Otherwise, one person's "Once per session" won't match another's, and not much is being made clear.

 

[Boris2112]

Usually never. I will on occasion if I am trying to go in a certain direction, but even then I use the roll to determine what direction. Which I decide pre-roll so I guess my real answer is never. Example: In combat a PC is about to get injured so bad that he/she is going to die. Is it better to kill the player or have the party spend healing potions or have to abandon their quest to return somewhere for healing with a player that is on deaths door. Or have the PC die and then the party go through the process of encountering the players alt. and all that entails. I run an experienced group so a new PC encounter isn't a just "lets quest together scenario."

 

[TarionzCousin]

The per-session/per-month divide doesn't make much sense. What if I run a game once a month? Are you assuming a "we play once a week, a long session on a weekend" group, or something? Otherwise, one person's "Once per session" won't match another's, and not much is being made clear.

Math is hard.

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

I find it depends entirely on why I'm fudging them.

For example, I have had a few times where a commoner that was intended for pure humor would attack a PC and I'd roll a natural 20 and then confirm crit. Right about then, I usually fudge it as though I confirmed a critical failure instead and pull out something humorous.

However, I never fudge BBEG fights. Those are always rolled out in the open, no matter what the roll is. Since it's the end of the campaign, keeping secrets doesn't matter anymore.

 

[SirAntoine]

I voted occassionally, maybe once per year. I believe in doing it only in two situations:

1) A good player who cares a lot about their characters accidentally makes a huge mistake, like if they forgot to cast "Negative Plane Protection" even though they planned to in their discussions with the other players about how they would take on the head vampire, or if they walk into a trap that would kill their character outright and they had no warning in the same adventure that such a trap could exist.
2) If the dice seem to be the wrong approach to resolve something. In these cases, I may roll a die to see if it makes a good suggestion, but I will overrule it if I think of something better.

I believe this is great advice for people. I also believe in rolling many dice behind the screen only. There are many situations which make this more than called for in my opinion, but it's also a lot of fun to keep the players in suspense. Rolling behind the screen is actually a reliable way of doing that, which some DM's who prefer to roll all dice "out in the open" might have overlooked.

The determining factor is whether the players should know the probabilities involved, not the result; although rolling behind the screen also permits the DM to overrule, or fudge the dice when they want to.

Take the following examples:

Monster attacks. If the players see the monster needs a very low number to hit them, they will know to treat them as more of a threat. This discovery is better if it takes more time, seeing it in action a lot. Or if the monster needs a high number, they will not only know to treat them as less of a threat, they will be able to draw upon their knowledge of spells and other conditions that give penalties to the monster attacks. This is a game changer, because the closer to a natural 20 the monster needs to hit, each higher number makes an awesome change to the chance of a hit and monsters who need to roll a 17 or 18, for instance, can be neutralized almost by a simple spell whereas otherwise they would be hitting just often enough to pose a challenge.

Discovery checks. If the players search for traps, and they roll themselves, they know if they failed because they rolled poorly. The game will be more suspenseful if they are unsure if their search really ruled out a trap. And with something like the game's new spot checks, calling for a check can make them search for something they missed, which their characters aren't supposed to know anything about.
And if you let the players roll their searches for secret doors, they will know if they need to keep searching to rule out the possibility of one being there.

Damage rolls. Showing how much damage the monsters can do will let the players rapidly know this. Some of the same problems arise that do from monster attacks.

Monster saves. If you roll these out in the open, some of the same problems arise again.

 

[painted_klown]

I roll behind a screen, just to keep the players in the dark about the monster's stats. I also do not fudge, and never plan to.

I feel that the rolling of the die (and calling it as it is) is what makes an RPG have that RPG feel. That randomness of the roll adds to the fun, suspense, and tension IMO.

 

[SirAntoine]

Some DM's integrate the mechanics into their story, others integrate their story into the mechanics. The latter does provide a certain amount of greater game like feel, but don't feel like you need to hide your choice to fudge the dice rolls. It's still playing by the rules.

 

[Manbearcat]

Never. *








* I was going to include /ever/ after /never/ but I was shooting for my shortest post on these boards ever! Errr...Crap!

 

[Zak S]

I don't fudge. I think over time it makes players play less thoughtfully since they assume they can only die when it's "ok". They like a challenge and they like to be kept ont heir toes--like playing a video game on hard mode.

I think if you do fudge, it's just important to realize that you did because you were using a rule that included a result that wasn't actually one of the results you wanted in that situation.

So: if you fudge, it means you probably wanna rewrite that rule or not use that rule in that situation, so next time you won't have to fudge.

I roll right out in the open because I can't think of any reason to hide the rolls--when it's a big dangerous roll I often go "Ok on a 6 or more you die" and then shake shake shake...everyone gets super-involved.

 

[Gilladian]

I used to roll behind a screen, but my current setup makes that hard, so now all combat rolls are in the open and I only roll discovery rolls behind my hand. It makes things much grittier.