Everybody Cheats?

Gary Alan Fine's early survey of role-playing games found that everybody cheated. But the definition of what cheating is when it applies to role-playing games differs from other uses of the term. Does everyone really cheat in RPGs?

Yes, Everybody​

Gary Alan Fine's work, Shared Fantasy, came to the following conclusion:

Perhaps surprisingly, cheating in fantasy role-playing games is extremely common--almost everyone cheats and this dishonesty is implicitly condoned in most situation. The large majority of interviewees admitted to cheating, and in the games I played, I cheated as well.

Fine makes it a point of clarify that cheating doesn't carry quite the same implications in role-playing as it does in other games:

Since FRP players are not competing against each other, but are cooperating, cheating does not have the same effect on the game balance. For example, a player who cheats in claiming that he has rolled a high number while his character is fighting a dragon or alien spaceship not only helps himself, but also his party, since any member of the party might be killed. Thus the players have little incentive to prevent this cheating.

The interesting thing about cheating is that if everyone cheats, parity is maintained among the group. But when cheating is rampant, any player who adheres slavishly to die-roll results has "bad luck" with the dice. Cheating takes place in a variety of ways involving dice (the variable component PCs can't control), such as saying the dice is cocked, illegible, someone bumped the table, it rolled off a book or dice tray, etc.

Why Cheat?​

One of the challenges with early D&D is that co-creator Gary Gygax's design used rarity to make things difficult. This form of design reasoned that the odds against certain die rolls justified making powerful character builds rare, and it all began with character creation.

Character creation was originally 3d6 for each attribute, full stop. With the advent of computers, players could automate this rolling process by rapidly randomizing thousands of characters until they got the combination of numbers they wanted. These numbers dictated the PC's class (paladins, for example, required a very strict set of high attributes). Psionics too, in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, required a specific set of attributes that made it possible to spontaneously manifest psionic powers. Later forms of character generation introduced character choice: 4d6 assigned to certain attributes, a point buy system, etc. But in the early incarnations of the game, it was in the player's interest, if she wanted to play a paladin or to play a psionic, to roll a lot -- or just cheat (using the dice pictured above).

Game masters have a phrase for cheating known as "fudging" a roll; the concept of fudging means the game master may ignore a roll for or against PCs if it doesn't fit the kind of game he's trying to create. PCs can be given extra chances to reroll, or the roll could be interpreted differently. This "fudging" happens in an ebb and flow as the GM determines the difficulty and if the die rolls support the narrative.

GM screens were used as a reference tool with relevant charts and to prevent players from seeing maps and notes. But they also helped make it easier for GMs to fudge rolls. A poll on RPG.net shows that over 90% of GMs fudged rolls behind the screen.

Cheating Is the Rule​

One of Fifth Edition's innovations was adopting a common form of cheating -- the reroll -- by creating advantage. PCs now have rules encouraging them to roll the dice twice, something they've been doing for decades with the right excuse.

When it comes to cheating, it seems like we've all been doing it. But given that we're all working together to have a good time, is it really cheating?

 

[Morrus]

The most prevalent approach to OSR play on r/rpg on reddit seems to be to use the principle of 'Rulings not Rules'

Those exact words are the publicised 5E doctrine.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I wonder if cheating was more prevalent in the early days of roleplaying because the system wasn't doing what players wanted it to do in terms of the likelihood of PC survival.

The most prevalent approach to OSR play on r/rpg on reddit seems to be to use the principle of 'Rulings not Rules' to make any PC actions not directly covered by the rules much more likely to succeed. So frex throwing your cloak over an orc's head and trying to trip him is a much better tactic than stabbing him with your sword.

Another approach, I think one favoured in early Forgotten Realms materials, was to use powerful NPCs as The Cavalry - rescuing the PCs whenever they seem likely to die.

All three of these approaches:
1) Cheating.
2) Actions outside the rules are more likely to succeed.
3) Powerful NPCs save the PCs.

are the same in the sense that all work without changing the game rules, and all make the PCs more likely to survive.

Oh! I would say very much so. Characters are more robust nowadays. The wizard loosing a melee combat with a cat was not just a joke.

 

[Shiroiken]

I've found cheating to be tied to a couple of aspects, most of which I don't care for. Immaturity is a common cause, because players (or worse, DMs) feel they need to "win" the game, and sometimes a critical roll can be "fudged" in their favor. Earlier editions also had various effects that would kill/maim/cripple/ruin a character with a single failed die roll, but fortunately 5E has generally moved away from this concept (reducing the temptation). DMs might "fudge" because they're unhappy with the results of random die rolls, which begs the question of why bother with the rolls, if you already have a result in mind.

I like using a VTT (Roll20 in specific), because the RNG and public display prevents most dice cheating (DMs can still fudge by using DM rolls). As a DM, I set up my macros to roll the attack and damage publicly, but keep vital information hidden (such as Escape DCs). Unfortunately, there are other easy ways to cheat, both for players and DMs, mostly "forgetting" to mark off resources (spell slots, ammunition, HP, etc.).

 

[Sunseeker]

I cheat with my current DM because he is very much a "Today the ruling is one thing, tomorrow it's different, because I said so." So since he clearly doesn't feel obligated to maintain any sense of order or reason on his side of the table, neither do I.

I don't cheat in the game I run, because my players are cool, and it's a lot harder to cheater digitally.

 

[Shasarak]

I categorically do not cheat.

On a completely unrelated topic, does anyone know where I can buy a set of those Character Builder dice pictured in the OP?

 

[aramis erak]

I seldom cheat as a GM, and only when it's a matter of degree.

I bounce players for fudging their dice at the table.

 

[Maxperson]

It isn't just dice rolls - ever not jot down a hit point lost here or there? Conveniently forget whether you've used a spell slot? Forget to track your rations or ammunition?

Not intentionally.

As a GM, ever have an impromptu NPC start with just a name, then have to decide what they have for stats piecemeal as you go? That's probably cheating.

The DM can't cheat, at least not in D&D. For other RPGs I'm sure there are some where the DM doesn't have as much control over the rules and a rule that states rules are guidelines.

 

[Umbran]

I bounce players for fudging their dice at the table.

So, at my table, everyone is my friend. There is nobody at my table that I do not or would not otherwise have over to dinner, go catch a movie with, play in larps with, and so on. In order to get bounced from my table, you have to violate not just the rules of the game, but friendship. And to me friendship is worth a heck of a lot more than the result on a d20.

There has only been one case of this in my entire hobby career.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

In answer to the last question: yes, it's still cheating. When you're the guy following the dice results and you're watching your team mates hogging all the glory with their dice that just 'happen' to always roll well, that does indeed suck.

As for the question of whether everybody cheats...

I make no secret of the fact that there is one (and only one) roll on which I'll cheat - hit point rolls. I went almost a decade during which I never rolled higher than a '1' for hit points for any PC I was running, and while playing a character with a weakness can be fun briefly, running a succession of characters all with exactly the same weakness really isn't. So if a DM insists on rolled hit points, I'll cheat.

I wouldn't be surprised if almost everybody has some scenarios under which they'll cheat, whether it's hit point rolls as above, or if their character is one roll away from death, or whatever. There's probably someone out there who never cheats, but I strongly suspect they're rare enough for us to say everyone cheats.

I disagree. I think it depends on the rules that are in play. The 1e DMG explicitly instructs the DM to not be bound by the dice. Yes, you should generally follow up them, but if they didn’t make sense, then ignore them or use them as a guideline.

If the rules explicitly allow something, then it’s not cheating.

 

[aramis erak]

So, at my table, everyone is my friend. There is nobody at my table that I do not or would not otherwise have over to dinner, go catch a movie with, play in larps with, and so on. In order to get bounced from my table, you have to violate not just the rules of the game, but friendship. And to me friendship is worth a heck of a lot more than the result on a d20.

There has only been one case of this in my entire hobby career.

For the last 4 years, at least half of my games have been public space open table. Last year, 2/3rds of them. Most of the players are half my age, and some are young enough that hanging out with them outside of game might be considered creepy and/or inappropriate. Some are friends of my daughter.

Then again, I made a 1500 mile relocation, and the few close friends I've made have left the new area due to financial considerations.

I've bounced two friends from my groups for cheating. It was consistent, it was intentional, and it was annoying (quite literally) everyone else in the group. Two of a group of 9. Everyone else expected "read them as they land"...

A third, we noticed a pattern of extremifying results - he was critting (both success and failure) about 4x what he should (Edit to add: but his overall success rate was correct for his skills). We bought him a 3" d20, and that ended; we didn't let him read his dice again for years; we always did. Group decision. One he abided by, as he was the host for the game....

Public play, I've had one clear cheater. Pulled him aside, talked to him about it, he switched tables the next week, and got himself banned by the store.
I've another, who, while prone to misreads, is actually quite visually impaired (far more than he lets on), but his odious habits are not limited to dice misreads. I solved the "mystery sourced XP" by keeping character sheets (I'm running public and open-table, but not organized play).