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<blockquote data-quote="tabletopreloaded" data-source="post: 8958086" data-attributes="member: 7040229">From the DM's point of view, sure. But this is why I said that public, stakes-declared rolling reduces player uncertainty <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> If they know what the possible outcomes are in advance of every roll, there can be no immediate surprises from the players' perspective. When a monster strikes for heavy damage, did it just a lucky hit, or is it really that powerful? I'd rather my descriptions tell them than my dice:&quot;The demon lurches forward with an otherworldly grin. Raising his monstrous, solid-marble club fifteen feet into the air, he crashes down on Gryfyth's sprawling, incapacitated form . . . &quot;* The dice roll behind a DM screen. * I count the damage up: 36 bludgeoning damage, which is enough to finish off the PC. But this scene is merely a fearful introduction to the BBEG's demon-accomplice. This guy should not be killing a player, and doing so now would derail the party right before it reaches the town and restocks their supplies. So for the first (and hopefully last) time in the campaign, I change the dice.&quot; . . . delivering a crushing blow to the helpless fighter. His party can only watch in horror as the weight shatters his plate armor, grinding his bones down in a single blow to ashen rubble. Gryfyth is alive--his HP reduced to just 2HP--but he won't be battle-ready for a long, long time.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="tabletopreloaded, post: 8958086, member: 7040229"] From the DM's point of view, sure. But this is why I said that public, stakes-declared rolling reduces [I]player[/I] uncertainty :) If they know what the possible outcomes are in advance of every roll, there can be no immediate surprises [I]from the players' perspective[/I]. When a monster strikes for heavy damage, did it just a lucky hit, or is it really that powerful? I'd rather my descriptions tell them than my dice: "The demon lurches forward with an otherworldly grin. Raising his monstrous, solid-marble club fifteen feet into the air, he crashes down on Gryfyth's sprawling, incapacitated form . . . " * T[I]he dice roll behind a DM screen. *[/I] I count the damage up: 36 bludgeoning damage, which is enough to finish off the PC. But this scene is merely a fearful introduction to the BBEG's demon-accomplice. This guy should not be killing a player, and doing so now would derail the party right before it reaches the town and restocks their supplies. So for the first (and hopefully last) time in the campaign, I change the dice. " . . . delivering a crushing blow to the helpless fighter. His party can only watch in horror as the weight shatters his plate armor, grinding his bones down in a single blow to ashen rubble. Gryfyth is alive--his HP reduced to just 2HP--but he won't be battle-ready for a long, long time." [/QUOTE]

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