Classy Way to Ask For An Explanation?

[sjmiller]

Sounds like the old roll the dice and roll them again if you don't like the result, sometimes known as 'cocked dice'.
It happens sometimes - dice are cocked, one falls on the floor = reroll or call of 'take it!' before trying to find it.

Cocked dice, at least around here, means that the dice in question are not flat on the table when the roll is complete. For example, a die is cocked if it lands in the crease of an open book, or if it is half on a stack of papers. Rolling the dice and then rerolling if you don't like the results is called cheating, not cocked.

one definition of cocked is: To tilt or turn up or to one side, usually in a jaunty or alert manner.

To me, at least, that is what cocked means when it comes to dice.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

...wow. This isn't intended to be a flame (no, seriously), but I don't think I'd ever invite you back to my table after you tried to call me on "cheating" exactly one time. And I just mean that to say, "Wow, this hobby has enormous depth and variation to it".

Most of the time, my DMs are also my friends... And I trust that they aren't 'cheating'... But since they are my friends, I also know that some of them do not have complete rules mastery... Sometimes, I will call my DM on a rule that he's using or a roll that he's made. To the tune of, "Are you sure that's right? blah blah blah... It might be more like this..."

And... If I were to get disinvited from someone's game for that... well... let's just say that there would be some hurt feelings.

I'm of the school (clearly) that says "DMs, by definition, can't cheat".

Clearly, you have not played with the right (or wrong, as the case may be) DMs, if you believe this. There are some DMs who cheat. They make arbitrary and malicious decisions designed to thwart the fun of their players or otherwise place themselves above others. Those people are cheating... And they suck.

Later
silver

 

[Doctor DM]

Ha, my players used to cheat like *@%!^$#'s when I wasn't watching. One day I got pretty mad about it and yelled at them, and they don't do it anymore.

I also had them swear on the PHB on everything that is Dungeons & Dragons, not to cheat.

Give a couple warnings, but I would not worry about being nice about it.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Why should he be special or above the rules if I am not?

Cause he is the dungeon master!
He creates worlds.
Every potion you drink, he made.

 

[SavageRobby]

You know, the more I read this board, the more it seems like a lot of people have bad blood or an adversarial attitude towards their GM, or perhaps just GMs in general. Is this a common phenomenon?

 

[Jedi_Solo]

You know, the more I read this board, the more it seems like a lot of people have bad blood or an adversarial attitude towards their GM, or perhaps just GMs in general. Is this a common phenomenon?

It's not just DMs and it goes both ways. There are cheating players out there (I've played with some of them) and there are cheating DMs out there (I've been lucky so far in this aspect).

My DM is my best friend but he's not infallable when it comes to rules. Sometimes spells get confused. Sometimes rules get misread.

And yes; sometimes he knows of something that is going on that the players are not (yet) aware of.

I see no problem with asking with a player or DM "are you sure about that?" Asking for verification is not the same as accusing them of cheating. Cheating is (traditionally) intentional - mistakes are not. I, as a player, would be satisfied if my DM looked at his numbers/spells/character sheets for a few seconds and said "Yup, that's right." At the very least that would verify that the odd results are intended (if possibly based on a few lucky rolls).

 

[Mercule]

And I am not obligated to play in his game. If he has the right to question me, then I as a fellow player also have a right to question him. Why should he be special or above the rules if I am not?

Eh, DMs make mistakes. It's part of being human. DMs might make math errors or errors in judgement. If you can point that out, or raise your concerns in a polite manner, that's fine. He might correct his mistake or might decide it's too minor to quibble.

On the other hand, the DM may know more about what's happening than you do. If that information impacts the combat (or whatever you're doing), then trying to badger the DM into revealing all modifiers is pretty much counter-productive to the game -- the player(s) should be trying to figure out what's going on in game, rather than brow-beating the DM.

I've got one player who is very experienced and good at tracking all the game play stuff he needs to. On the other hand, he's also very quick to jump at anything that doesn't add up to exactly the statistics of which he's aware. This wouldn't be bad, if he just said, "Hey, could you check your math, that doesn't sound right to me." Instead, he's passive-aggressive about it at will say things like, "So, they open the door, move, and attack?" and continue to say, "They can't do that!" when he is assured I haven't forgetten anything and am completely aware of what I've said. If I'm extra lucky, I can get a huff or a pencil tossed onto the table. Maybe even a, "Well that design sucks."

It ticks me off to know end, but he keeps it just low enough to avoid getting booted. Most of the time, I almost totally forget about it by the next session.

Anyway, the short response is: If you want to treat the DM like just another player or an opponent, play DDM. If you agree to play D&D, the DM is more of a referree.