Does your DM roll behind a screen or head to head?

[Sir ThornCrest]

I meant to post a poll on this thread, so everyone and myself could see what the other groups do.

 

[Laurel]

My current DM rolls in front of us, as we all roll in the open (or try to depending on seating)
Granted most of the time we only know what the roll means if it's a natural 1 or natural 20, as there are too many factors and stats on the NPC's we just don't know.

 

[kenobi65]

You need another option on your poll: "Always do it." What can I say, I'm old school.

But, seriously, as the DM, it's my priviledge to fudge the dice a bit in the spirit of a more enjoyable game. I don't do it a lot, but if a BBEG is going to fall over a little *too* easily, or if the dice are hot for the monsters (and thus I'm about to commit a TPK due to no fault of the players), I'll fudge the results. It's harder to do that out in the open.

 

[Jdvn1]

Do a little of both. When I'm the player, also, I like my DM to roll in the open every once in a while. Y'know, to give us the delusion that we might have a chance to live.

 

[Thanee]

Usually I roll "behind the screen" (I do not use a screen, but I just take this as rolling in a way, that the players cannot see it), but in my PbP I do all dice rolls in combat and most out of combat (except secret stuff) in the open (forum dice roller), which works fairly well.

My DMs mostly roll behind the screen as well.

Besides, there is no option in the poll that fits to me.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Davelozzi]

Your poll is flawed in the sense that you're asking if we do (a) roll behind the screen or (b) in front of the players, yet the answers aren't set up for a/b, they're set up for yes or no.

That said, I can go either way. I definately roll behind the screen (or at least out of sight) for secret stuff like Spot/Search/Disable Device checks, but I try to roll in plain sight for attacks and such. That said, I tend to wander around the room a lot while I'm DMing, and if I'm not in a location where the players can see my dice, I generally won't waste time moving just so they can see the roll.

 

[maddman75]

I don't, but not for the reasons listed. I don't like having a barrier between me and the players.

 

[shilsen]

The poll doesn't seem to have an option for my position, which is "never use a screen".

 

[ElvishBard]

That said, I can go either way. I definately roll behind the screen (or at least out of sight) for secret stuff like Spot/Search/Disable Device checks, but I try to roll in plain sight for attacks and such. That said, I tend to wander around the room a lot while I'm DMing, and if I'm not in a location where the players can see my dice, I generally won't waste time moving just so they can see the roll.

That sums it up for me, I couldn't have said it better myself Davelozzi.

 

[Aristotle]

I chose option #4 as I guess it best describes me. Back in the day I almost always used a screen, but I was accused constantly of "pulling punches" and not letting my NPCs kill the PCs when they could. Since I started running 3.5e I've made it a habit to roll everything in the open. The players see all of my combat rolls, so they know I'm not fudging die results. Now they complain that they die too frequently. *shrug*

In non-combat situations, when secret-type stuff like spot and listen rolls might need to be made, I make it a habit to pick up the d20 every so often and roll it a few times. Sometimes I'm tracking those rolls and using them for those secret skill rolls, and other times I'm just rolling for the heck of it. The players never know why it is being rolled or which character(s) it might be being rolled for.