D&D 5E do you still roll for damage?

[Barolo]

I do. I even roll monster HPs. I like the spread.

 

[Istbor]

Roll them bones!

Way more fun and chaotic.

 

[pdzoch]

I always roll for damage. It provides the variance for every strike in the game and prevents the "number crunching" of monster damages. However, I do roll damage die at the same time as I roll to hit, thus saving time. If the enemy have multiple attacks, I will roll them all at once (damage and attack die) if it makes sense in the game. To keep the different damages and attack die from getting confused, I roll matching color damage die to matching color attack die (so I usually have two or three "sets" of dice out and ready to use behind the DM screen)

 

[Fleetwood C. DeVille]

Roll damage.

I can see players figuring out EXACTLY how many hits they can take before retreating or healing.

"What level of cure do you need?"

"Well I have 21HP so since the monster is doing 6 I should only need 4 more to get through this fight so make it a 1st level cure."

 

[Azzy]

I roll for damage as a DM, so does the other DM in my group. But we've played since early editions of the game, so that may have something to do with it.

 

[cbwjm]

When I first started in 5e I used the average, but after talking about it with my friends, we decided that we preferred the randomness of rolling for damage instead of a using static amount.

 

[Lidgar]

Always roll for damage.

But I also use variable HP for the same monsters (not static) and variable weapon damage for humanoid monsters.

In fact for the later, I made a whole bunch of tables for humanoids with different armor and weapons versus just always using the default.

You can find the tables as an appendix here.

 

[phantomK9]

Roll for damage? Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!!

Seriously though, the players roll for damage, I do not. I just take the standard damage or max for a critical hit. This is only a time saving convention.

 

[ccs]

Now & then on a particularly high die attack I'll ask the player if they want the average or to have me roll.
Other than that damage is rolled. And in the open.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I always roll for damage, as that swing is part of the game. An encounter can go from easy to hard and back based on lucky or unlucky rolls. That being said, in con play and other situations where you have a real time limit, I can understand using the average.