Does your DM hide their rolls?

[Flipguarder]

I think its totally within the right of the DM to fudge rolls. The trust isn't that he won't its that he won't to the effect of making the game less fun.

I roll in the open, but I totally feel that my group would not refuse to play with me if I didn't. That shows a tremendous lack of faith in your DM.

 

[cpd_trigger]

Depending on the type of campaign I'm running, I'll occasionally choose to roll out in the open. I also roll in the open with physical dice when it could lead to something major.

 

[Imaginary Number]

I'll clarify that I think my position is the same as Nifft's. As a general rule, I roll behind the screen for the reasons I described above. For particularly tense fights, however, or for life-and-death rolls when everyone already knows what's going on, I prefer rolling in the open. (And, as an aside, I can't imagine DMing a game in which my players were concerned that I was "cheating" in my die rolls. If you don't trust your DM to be fair and to provide a fun adventure, however you happen to define those things, I think you need to find a new DM.)

 

[KarinsDad]

As a player, I prefer them be out in the open. I never worry about being cheated by a DM (I'm fine with having it stuck to me) but, and this goes with what you said, I don't like to think punches are being pulled for me.

This.

As a player, I want the rolls out in the open so that my PC takes his lumps and has to come up with cool ways to overcome the dice gods. And it reallly sucks when a DM purposely goes out of his way to protect or harm a PC.

DMs who hide the rolls take that level of fun out of my game.

I was nervous when I first switched, thinking "But what if the fight is too hard?" but I've come to trust my own ability to build appropriate challenges that won't TPK the group.

This.

Most encounters should be challenging, but not life threatening. But if there is no chance of death (or at least the potential heavy use of resources) even in an easy encounter, why bother to play the game?

It's actually eye-opening in a way to see that so many people have to "roll in the open" so that their players don't accuse them of cheating. I'm glad our group doesn't require a similarly level of proof of integrity.

It has nothing to do with proof of integrity. It has to do with integrity.

It's a matter of human nature. The best people in the world are going to be tempted to fudge if the dice are hidden either to help or hinder the PCs, depending on the current situation and their whims.

I think that DMs who need to hide the dice need to control the situation.


Hiding vs. not hiding is all about control from a DM's perspective.


And like I said, it has to do with fun from a player's perspective. As a player, I want to work my tail off to overcome the Dice Gods, not to overcome the whims of a DM.

I don't want my DM to write the monster's AC down on the white board so that I know what it takes to hit ... and I don't want to know whether the monster just hit my tank fighter twice because it rolled an 18 and a 19, or because it hits me on a 6 and I'm in real trouble.

Trust me. I'm going to know the approximate AC of most of the foes in a matter of 2 or 3 rounds anyway.


And a good DM should be describing a hit with a 6 (if he needs to hide his rolls) as:

"The Ogre backhands you with contempt, hardly even trying but connecting solidly nonetheless."

I should know as a player that this foe is just toying with me by the way the NPC fights.

 

[xXElaDriNDrizZztXx]

I roll behind the "screen" (laptop) mainly due to lack of room but I never "hide" my rolls so its very common for players to see my rolls.

I think when you try to be secretive as a DM it ruins the trust level that you have with your players

and yes I do on occasion "pull" rolls if it would really suck for the player (ie: critical hit when they have 10 hp left)... etc

It's a part of the game. If anyone in your group is so attached to the character that they are gonna cry when it dies then kill them frequently to get that out of their systems. Every character you roll can die. Do you really want to be on the 3rd class you ever tried forever? I sure as nine hells don't.

If I have 10 hp left I would be opening myself up to those finishing hits.

I still roll behind out of habit. In the 1E/2E days it was a bigger need but I hate TPKs that derail the whole campaign.

Perhaps TPK's are a result of the players and not a direct result of the dice? TPK's can result in better role playing and storylines. Think of professional wrestling, they have people get injured and doctor the storylines. Sure, TPK isn't wanted, but you can't doctor it all the time from happening. I know players tend to get bored of being unkillable. The whole point of DnD is to play your character the way you want it. It's kinda like being able to be fearless and stupid if you want.

Unkillable characters are not fun. It's not risk/reward it's just reward which is no fun in an RP environment.

 

[john112364]

I generally hide skill checks (because you shouldn't nessarily know how successful you are) where as combat is more about what's convenient to me. If I have a lot of stats to keep track of, then my rolls will be behind the screen. Otherwise, I like being out there with the players. I have nothing to hide and after our last TPK, I think my players realize that I'm not fudging roles.

 

[Starfox]

It's a part of the game. If anyone in your group is so attached to the character that they are gonna cry when it dies then kill them frequently to get that out of their systems. Every character you roll can die. Do you really want to be on the 3rd class you ever tried forever? I sure as nine hells don't.

If I have 10 hp left I would be opening myself up to those finishing hits.

[...]

Unkillable characters are not fun. It's not risk/reward it's just reward which is no fun in an RP environment.

This is one of the best, most frank, and honest anti-storytelling posts I've seen - in a good way. I don't agree with one word here, but I think you put it very succinctly.

The opposite argument is of course that what its all about is telling the character's story - which would be cut short if he or she died early. Which you would of course not think fun at all.

I have absolutely no problem agreeing to disagree here.

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Turtlejay]

I prefer rolling combat in the open, since players are gonna figure out approximate AC's and to hits eventually anyways, but skill checks and other non-combat interactions can be much more tense if checks are hidden, or if the DM rolls them for you.

Jay

 

[BruntFCA]

Rolling in the open allows PCs to "game" the system.

The classic in 3.5 is if you know that a monster hits on a 12, and your AC is 20, it's got at least +8 attack.

After watching it hit other players as well, even for a few rounds, a pretty much know what its attack is.

Then you simply adjust your "Combat Expertise" feat so that it can't hit, except by natural 20.....and just pretty much lol at the monster.

Other times, the dwarf just drops his shield and swings away, with power attack, knowing he cant get hit. Various variations on this.

Showing the die roll opens up for massive abuse from players.