Dealing with Player Cheating

[Droid101]

I've been a player where I have had to fudge my rolls.

It would have been a TPK if I hadn't. But then again, I only did it that one time. And it was damned Heroic, and everybody had fun that session. So obviously it's a completely differen't situation.

In my group everybody rolls on their book. The only time you pull your die off the book without letting anyone see is if you missed and are angry. If you hit, you have to wait for the DM to look at your die to confirm and ask questions (did you take into account the -2 for this, or the +2 for that).

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

My gaming group tends to have collective hot and cold runs at the table, which basically means that if someone was cheating, we probably all were.

Of course, we generally wind up in a "Who gets to go last?" Initiative competition ...

I guess we're lucky that everyone is an adult around the table.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Increasingly, I am finding that this advice seems to be the best: talk to them. If you speak with players (or GMs) about the kinds of die rolls, the kinds of crappy campaigns they make, the kinds of picking on characters, etc., I really think it works more and more. Just talk to the players or GM and you have a pretty good chance of getting your point across without having to fret about it for so long.

On the other hand, this past Christmas I gave a player a huge d20 when someone jokingly said they were a dice cheat.

 

[FCWesel]

On the other hand, this past Christmas I gave a player a huge d20 when someone jokingly said they were a dice cheat.

Those HUGE D20's are great, got a couple of them myself. I often use them on the table when I want a roll to go out in front of the players. When ever I get that in my hand I want to have everyone roll it, just cause I like the die. Reminds me of the old days when we all had just the one set of dice to use and share.

 

[kingamy]

So my advice is three-part:

1. Stand over the "rolling surface"
2. Ask for a specific number
3. Encourage the entire group to watch for the result

And do this for all the players, not just the suspected cheater.

I think the key bit here is that unless you want to create a "scene," apply these sorts of conditions to everyone. Whatever sort of anti-cheating rules you create, don't aim them at anyone in particular.

Mike Haakstad

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Start off with a speech about how if a player feels that he has to cheat, then don't be surprised when playing has lost its challenge.

Then proceed to give them situations where cheating gives no bonuses.
Such as a combat that starts out of range of a melee charge for the persons who go first.
Or a creature so ridiculously easy to hit, that the wizard can pound it good.

Or better yet, a Nilbog.
It's a reverse goblin, damage heals it.
Healing kills it.

And if that doesn't work, fight fire with fire.
Crits every round against the offender. And then a snide remark after combat.

 

[Zephyrus]

I had a player who I thought was cheating and my solution (partly because It was annoying and began to make me angry). So I started to sound exasperated at the frequency they were seemingly rolling so well and joked about buying him dice (which I did end up doing but made a big show of it being a extension of my exasperation at their rolling) not that it totally fixed it but eventually he stopped having 'as-hot' dice. Expecially since we play most often in Eberron and Action Points can be used to save the day or help bump that roll that you absolutly want to make.

That might in the end be a solution. Impliment an Action point system. the importance of the actual dice result becomes less important (and thus less inclined to cheat by extension) when a action point can be used to increase the result by a additional d6 (or d8 with a feat). Once we started to remember to use action points the 'hot dice' stopped being so hot. Still generally did well but dident come across as blatently as before. Using tokens (given to the GM when used) to keep track of the action points provided the physical reminder.

And if that all fails target that players character so that they get picked on. Even if its a gamer girl I would rather be stuck DMing one player or work things out after the game and have them not like me as much than have them soil my and the other players fun by cheating so much.

 

[Hypersmurf]

3. Accept the person's declared rolls. If it is a hit on a monster, state the attack hit and allow them to roll damage. Record nothing and immediately go to the next person. Unless the person is oblvious, it should occur to them in short order that their rolls are being discounted by you. If they ask why, state you will discuss it after the session. If it is a saving throw, don't state the target DC. Let them state what their dice result is and then announce that they take X damage. Don't explain how you calcuated it. If asked why they took full damage when a lesser roll by someone else resulted in half damage, state you can discuss it after the session but the damage is what the damage is. Unless the person in question is dense, they should pick up that their rolls are ruled upon in an arbitrary and inconsistent matter. When the discussion comes up, state your concerns and discuss. Let them know that you don't intend to supervise their rolls (we are all adults here, I assume) but as long as you feel they are not being forthwith with the dice, your adjudications will continue to be arbitrary and inconsistent in response.

"Natural nineteen! I hit, and that's a threat, so..."
"No, you miss."
"What? But that's a 25... Bob hit it with a 21!"
"Bob didn't pick up the ruby off that shaman last session. You miss. Next..."

----

"Reflex saves, everyone."
"21." "19." "20."
"Okay - Bob and Frank, 14 damage. Charlie, 29."
"But... I rolled higher than Frank!"
"Ruby."

-Hyp.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I don't understand why this has become such a problem. Just announce at the start of the next game that all players must roll their dice out in the open and not touch them once they've stopped rolling.

Voila! Problem solved.

 

[Christopher Lambert]

I had a player who always rolled lucky in D20 Modern. (I was a player in that one, too.) He used a lucky D20. He's now a DM, but since he uses a computer to roll his dice...

I have a player like that in my current D20 Modern campaign. I need to police him better, just to be sure.

There was one more player who I know was cheating, however, in multiple campaigns. He would tell us "I so hit that AC!" and, of course, would immediately pick up the dice. So many critical hits! To correct the situation, one time when I was GMing I made him sit right beside me, and his girlfriend also reported on his dice rolls. (He also played a CW samurai - not in a campaign I was running - who valued his swords more than his life. Literally. As in our party risked our lives to save his, yet he wouldn't try to escape because neither of us had his swords. Another reason to hate that class!) He's since been thrown out of the group, but none of us have informed him of this yet.

There was a player in a DnD game who couldn't help but roll a "6". He broke records (probably) doing that. He also rolled above a 10 for Initiative maybe three times in his career (from 1st to 4th level).

And finally I have a player who couldn't make a dice roll to save his life (literally) until he reached 8th-level. No wonder he played a paladin in my DnD one-shot and used a flamethrower in my D20 Modern. (He took an AdC that gives additional action points per use - the daredevil - and, of course, he had the fewest APs when he reached 8th-level. He also made sure he has the highest Defense value in the party, which, unlike DnD, is more than just manipulating your magic items.)

His luck was bad. Let me give an anecdote. I was running Adelie 14, an adventure set in Antarctica, and I usually rotate my dice (I've got about 7 d20s ... they don't all look alike, though). However, this time I just grabbed a D20 and used it. It was rolling really lucky (the NPCs had attack bonuses of +5 and had to hit Defense values of 17-24, but I hit a lot). Meanwhile said player was rolling terribly. (He couldn't use his flamethrower at the time.) So we traded dice. My luck fell, his didn't get better, and any time I rolled his dice against him I rolled high. Good thing he worked on his Defense score!) Even when he rotates dice his luck is always terrible!

Luck streaks happen in every group, unfortunately.