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DMs, how do you fudge?
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<blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 8593409" data-attributes="member: 93670"><p>Misdirection, illusion through guided assumption, deception, & showmanship don't work as well if the audience is told how it was employed to draw out desired emotions or play off expectations. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/447454.Monsters_and_Magical_Sticks" target="_blank">This is a great book</a> on it because it includes sources where you can read deep into interesting topics over a wide range of subject matter.</p><p></p><p>Most don't. I've been at a table where a player of mine who GM's mentioned how players would be shocked how often GM's fudge things in the PC's favor & openly discussed it without issue <em>while </em>running a combat. When the combat was over someone asked if I fudged anything & stared them dead in the eye with a flatly emotionless <em>"no, I never fudge anything. dice rule all things & DCs are set in advance before I call for them."</em> or something that left them with the exact impression of having no idea if I was being sarcastic honest or dishonest that I wanted to. The reason for why telling the players that something was fudged is the same reason a magician doesn't explain the trick to the audience & an adult doesn't tell a kid that they threw a game deliberately. Telling them spoils the illusion & resulting endorphin rush that goes with both the victory of a win and the tension that leads up to it.</p><p></p><p>IME players who get <em>upset</em> about things like that are playing to win a game that has no winners. Some might get frustrated if they feel like or <em>suspect</em> the GM is taking it easy on them because it cheapens the struggle & victory, but that's really not quite the same as being upset though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tetrasodium, post: 8593409, member: 93670"] Misdirection, illusion through guided assumption, deception, & showmanship don't work as well if the audience is told how it was employed to draw out desired emotions or play off expectations. [URL='https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/447454.Monsters_and_Magical_Sticks']This is a great book[/URL] on it because it includes sources where you can read deep into interesting topics over a wide range of subject matter. Most don't. I've been at a table where a player of mine who GM's mentioned how players would be shocked how often GM's fudge things in the PC's favor & openly discussed it without issue [I]while [/I]running a combat. When the combat was over someone asked if I fudged anything & stared them dead in the eye with a flatly emotionless [I]"no, I never fudge anything. dice rule all things & DCs are set in advance before I call for them."[/I] or something that left them with the exact impression of having no idea if I was being sarcastic honest or dishonest that I wanted to. The reason for why telling the players that something was fudged is the same reason a magician doesn't explain the trick to the audience & an adult doesn't tell a kid that they threw a game deliberately. Telling them spoils the illusion & resulting endorphin rush that goes with both the victory of a win and the tension that leads up to it. IME players who get [I]upset[/I] about things like that are playing to win a game that has no winners. Some might get frustrated if they feel like or [I]suspect[/I] the GM is taking it easy on them because it cheapens the struggle & victory, but that's really not quite the same as being upset though. [/QUOTE]
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