Fudging dice rolls

[Zhaleskra]

Sometimes I'll fudge a die roll to save a character's life, especially when running a module that has a few combats that come with a "get out of death free card". I'm running one that has that in a couple combats online right now . . . the PCs are past both "get out of death free" combats.

Initially, I used GM screens to hide my dice rolls. Now I mostly use them for quick access to rules issues I don't want have to flip through the book to find in the middle of the game. That said, I still make and occassional roll behind the screen. That said, my only current GM screen has panels that the players are supposed to be able to read.

 

[The Shaman]

No fudge for me, thank you.

 

[jgbrowning]

For you guys that roll combat in the open: do you do anything to hide a creature/opponents ability power from your players?

That's the main reason I use a screen since I fudge rarely.

joe b.

 

[jmucchiello]

For you guys that roll combat in the open: do you do anything to hide a creature/opponents ability power from your players?

No. Why should I? Eventually they can tell me if the 13 on the 3rd iterative attack hits or not. Saves me the trouble of having to think about numbers and concentrate on the tactics of the situation.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Nope, no fudge here either. Players play different when they know PC death can be a reality.

Not to say i've never had my monsters make bad tactical decisions in the PCs favor...but usually that's after I realize I've accidentally misjudged the challenge level against the PCs.

 

[Oryan77]

...and I'd probably quit any game with a fudging GM/DM!

You must be a perfect DM then. Capable of never misjudging an encounters power level whether it's high or low.

I'd probably quit a game if a DM would rather cause a TPK for accidently throwing an impossible encounter at us with no way out before he'd fudge a bit to at least give us a chance of escape.

 

[jmucchiello]

Not to say i've never had my monsters make bad tactical decisions in the PCs favor...but usually that's after I realize I've accidentally misjudged the challenge level against the PCs.

How is this different from fudging the die roll. You are taking a number (the monster's Int I guess) and ignoring/temporarory changing it to alter the flow of events. Same as rolling a 20 and pretending it wasn't a threat or pretending it was a 4 to me.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Nope, no fudge here either. Players play different when they know PC death can be a reality.

I agree. I prefer risk, and I've had plenty of PC deaths in my campaign.

There's a wide gray area between "never fudge" and "never have character death." I like to think my games fall in that middle ground.

 

[shilsen]

For you guys that roll combat in the open: do you do anything to hide a creature/opponents ability power from your players?

That's the main reason I use a screen since I fudge rarely.

joe b.

No. In fact, I expect the PCs, as experienced adventurers, to be able to work out at least the physical abilities of opponents fairly quickly.

There's a wide gray area between "never fudge" and "never have character death." I like to think my games fall in that middle ground.

In that case, my games are really special I never fudge and I never have character death either. I have an action point system which allows PCs to turn a killing blow/effect into one that reduces them to -9 hp (and stable) instead. So I guess you could say that while I never fudge on dice, I've hardwired fudging death into the system.

 

[Shadowslayer]

How is this different from fudging the die roll. You are taking a number (the monster's Int I guess) and ignoring/temporarory changing it to alter the flow of events. Same as rolling a 20 and pretending it wasn't a threat or pretending it was a 4 to me.

Just to make this clear, I only do it if I've realized that I've unwittingly screwed the PCs by my poor design. Its not something that happens often.

The reason why one is ok for me and the other isn't is this: I like to play by the same rules as the PCs. I expect them to be honest in their dice-rolling...so I am too.

They're more than welcome to make tactical mistakes however.