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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 6119992" data-attributes="member: 22424">Is it possible for the DM to cheat? Absolutely. Whatever game you're playing almost certainly has rules (either those in the books or those agreed by the group around the table). If the DM breaks those rules, he's cheating.Is it permissible for the DM to cheat? That's going to depend a great deal on the group. Some groups of players will demand a no-fudging policy because they want the challenges to be 'fair' - both in that that way they know the DM isn't deliberately out to get them, and also that they'll know that when they win it's a real victory (rather than because the DM decided to let them win). Other groups will have no issue with the DM changing rolls, rules, or whatever else on the fly.Personally, my preference is for a no-fudging policy to apply to the game, but I wouldn't insist on it. YMM (and is quite likely to) V, of course.I'm always a little uneasy about "story trumps rules" as a justification for fudging. Because that suggests that the DM has a clear story in mind, which can (but, importantly, doesn't have to) lead to railroading and other forms of abuse. If the DM truly has a fixed story in mind, I'd generally rather he just write it up and email it to me.But I feel it's important to restate: I consider that a warning sign, not a deal-breaker. Because just as I've seen that approach lead to problems, I've equally seen it turn out just fine.Probably. It's those freak results, both for and against, that will give the players stories they'll tell and retell. The PCs are expected to win just about every combat they ever get involved in - and they'll generally not bother telling you about that time everything went exactly as expected.If the encounter is too easy, then in general you absolutely should let the result stand. Let the players have their win, and bulk up your next encounter. Remember, you can always get another bad guy.I tend to agree with this. Although with the caveat that some systems are good fun apart from a few bits that just don't work right (very few games get as much playtesting as 3e, and it turns out that that's not the most robust of systems, so what does that say about the rest?). So it often is worth the DM patching up some stuff on the fly, rather than seeking for a non-existent "perfect system".</blockquote>

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