DMs - What rolls do you make for your players?

[Mark CMG]

The DMG suggests making rolls for the following on players' behalf:- Bluff, Diplomacy, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Use Rope, Search, Spot.

What rolls do you make as DM?

I make any roll where the outcome should not be known by the PCs, such as those you mention above. However, if combat is potentially lethal, I will often roll combat dice in front of the PCs despite it giving the players a chance to reverse engineer the bonuses of NPCs and/or creatures.

 

[The Levitator]

I do this, but for a bit of extra flavor I've got a script in dmgenie that lets me reroll initiative every round. Really symbolizes the chaos of the battle for me.

Our group has been thinking about this too. Have you noticed any weirdness, like the things pointed out in the DMG, affecting play too much? Right now, the only time I've rerolled initiative during a battle is if there are new combatants during the fight, or if a number of creatures flee the battle.

 

[kigmatzomat]

We've been rolling initiative every round since 3.0 came out. We tried it the RAW way for a while but couldn't like it. The you-me-you-me-you-me thing just didn't work for us. Too much time spent fencing or in a dojo to believe in it.

Yes, there is chaos, yes there is risk. In many ways the risk is greater to the PCs because they are at risk *every* time. But...so what? There is drama and adventure in risk. It's a little shot of adrenalin because you can't be sure if you are going to get to act before the BBEG. I can understand why some people don't like the "uneveness" of it.

 

[DonTadow]

Our group has been thinking about this too. Have you noticed any weirdness, like the things pointed out in the DMG, affecting play too much? Right now, the only time I've rerolled initiative during a battle is if there are new combatants during the fight, or if a number of creatures flee the battle.

This is one of those things that requires the right kind of players. When I first tried it, it was unsuccessful because I had two players whom took slow turns. So this is a big negative if you have players whom don't decide what to do on their turn until their turn. It also is not good for players who just can't stay focused.

Now though If you have the right playrs and it works pretty good. Players are paying more attention, tactics may or may not get screwed depending on the order.

 

[Graybeard]

I will usually make the rolls for the PCs for spot, listen, sense motive, and saving throws if it is a situation where the PCs are unaware. If a PC triggers a trap, for example, that they know needs to saving throw, I will let them roll. Same if they are actively looking for something (spot).

 

[Sejs]

Spot, Listen - nothing spoils a supprise like "Make a spot check... oh you see nothing"

Passive (opposed) Sense Motive - same as above. calling for sense motive checks out of the blue is a big tip-off.

Appraise - not that it ever gets used, but yeah. Your estimate is your estimate.

Theoretically I guess I should be making Hide and Move Silently checks as well, given that a character doesn't know how well they're hidden just that they're trying to hide as well as possible, but I rarely bother.

(some) Saving Throws - mostly in situations where the PC isn't necessarily aware that they're in some sort of danger. Poison in the food, mind affecting spell from an unknown source, etc.

Chalk me up as another person who likes the secret initiative idea, as well. That's kinda cool.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

To answer the question: Almost none, as in I don't remember the last time I did that.

 

[robberbaron]

Ooh, and I really like the idea of secret initiative. Don't think I'd be able to sell it to my players but I may well give it a try.

 

[DonTadow]

Ooh, and I really like the idea of secret initiative. Don't think I'd be able to sell it to my players but I may well give it a try.

I started using secret initiative to speed up game play. Tell them that. And also explain to them how exciting it will be.

Instead of
"out of the dark shadows you hear rapid footsteps, suddenly 4 grotesque howling beasts appear, roll me initiative
"Ok a. whats your initiative"
rolls 5
"b. whats your initiative"
rolls 6, flys off the table, rerolls 18
"c. whats your initiative"
"wait, a whats your initiative again"
"a says 5"
ok now monsters initiative
d. whats your initiative
d says "hold on i haven't rolled it yet"
ok e whats your initiative
e says "initiative "we all have to roll"
"yes"
"then c says hey you skipped my initiative"
etc.

Instead its,
"out of the dark shadows you hear rapid footsteps, suddenly 4 grotesque howling beasts appear, a you're up first you can see the beasts eyes staring at you 40 ft. away"

since we've been using it, we've been able to go from 2-3 combats in an heavy rpg campaign to 4 to 6.

 

[catsclaw227]

As DonTadow says above, it has REALLY sped up the game, especially if you have one of the initiative tracking programs (as I said, I use DM Genie).

It makes it SOOO much better for the players and the GM.