GMing: How to fudge NOT using the dice.

[Reynard]

Over in the "roll in the open" thread a side discussion about GM fudging emerged. This thread isn't really meant to talk about whther fuding is okay. rather, I am interested in talking about ways that GMs can and do "fudge" things OUTSIDE of adjusting the results of the die rolls. In other words, ways that the GM can fudge even if all rolls are made in the open.

Let me just define the term "fudge" as I am using it here, so we are all on the same page: fudging is when the Gm chooses to adjust the success or failure of a PC or NPC in order to achieve some intention in the game. The simplest example is something like ignoring a crit the monster got on a PC in order to keep that PC alive, or ignoring a fialed save by the BBEG in order to keep the fight going/more interesting.

But here, I am talking about things other than those dice results based forms of fudging.

One that comes immediately to mind is the "quantum ogre" scenario, in which the PCs will (or won't, in some instances) meet the next encounter regardless of which path they take. This is usually though of more as illusionism or even railroading most of the time, but I think it moves into the realm of fudging if the GM makes the decision about the quantum ogre based on other factors, such as how well rested the party is, how much real world play time remains, etc.

What are your examples of non-dice based fudging, and do you feel differently about this kind of fudging than you do about dice fudging?

Also, let's try and keep this from descending into an argument about whether fudging is good or bad and leave that to the other thread.

 

[billd91]

This is closely tied to die rolling since it does affect the result of a roll, but specifically omitting things added to a die roll rather than modifying or ignoring the result of the die itself.

I've done this to blunt the result of a critical hit before. It was a crit from an undead triceratops in Pathfinder - so, high modifiers from strength, triple multiplier, and some magical additives on top of that. I left off the magical additives. I could easily have multiplied by x2 instead of x3 as well. It was still a brutal hit, but one they could (barely) sustain and survive and it served its purpose just fine without going the extra distance of killing the PC and severely weakening the party.

 

[Distracted DM]

Altering how many HP the monster has. Altering their bonuses etc. Sometimes you made an encounter harder or easier than intended- you can let it roll as it is, or you can adjust the dial on their HP etc. it can be tricky ofc, especially if you use a "bloodied" indicator like A5E does, or the BG1/2-style "barely injured/injured/badly injured/near death" hover-over module that I do on Foundry, but still doable.

Heck, you can adjust the dial on their intelligence and tactics! Is that fudging? It might be more tactically sound to take the party down one at a time, but you're trying to make it a little easier so you say "well who did the most damage to it?" out loud and go after the stronger character. Or "ah well you hit it last!" and go after that one.

 

[TiQuinn]

I think the easiest form of non-dice roll fudging that DMs often use is adjusting monster HP on the fly. If a battle is dragging on, I’ve often cut HPs on a monster just to wrap the fight up. Similarly, if a PC lands a huge crit on a monster and brings it down to a few HP left, I’ll often say that was enough to kill the creature just because ending on a crit has more weight.

 

[payn]

While you do roll dice on random monster tables, it always felt a bit fudgy to me.

 

[Reynard]

I think the easiest form of non-dice roll fudging that DMs often use is adjusting monster HP on the fly. If a battle is dragging on, I’ve often cut HPs on a monster just to wrap the fight up. Similarly, if a PC lands a huge crit on a monster and brings it down to a few HP left, I’ll often say that was enough to kill the creature just because ending on a crit has more weight.

I am definitely guilty of "close enough"ing monster HP. Not so much to save the PCs, but to save the tediousness of another round or two. It doesn't really feel like fudging because as GM I could have as easily said they flee or surrender, but that comes with its own problems.

 

[Reynard]

While you do roll dice on random monster tables, it always felt a bit fudgy to me.

Yeah, random encounter tables are weird in context of "fudging" and I am not sure where I land on it. Usually, if I choose to roll, I stick with it. But I don't feel like you have to roll. Random encounter tables always feel like "pick or roll" type tables to me.

 

[soviet]

Yeah, random encounter tables are weird in context of "fudging" and I am not sure where I land on it. Usually, if I choose to roll, I stick with it. But I don't feel like you have to roll. Random encounter tables always feel like "pick or roll" type tables to me.

I understand this. To me, not fudging is about preserving player agency. I think random encounters, magic item generators, NPC personality trait tables, etc do sit in a different category. I tend to stick with what they produce but if it definitely doesn't fit the situation I will sometimes reroll. I don't do this for power level reasons or the like, just how well it fits the fictional context. I will often state this out loud though, what I got and why I'm rerolling it, so if the players feel there is a plausible reason for that result and want to speak up about it, they can.

 

[Zaukrie]

How you even set up an encounter is fudging in the broadest sense. Like, do you do ambushes at level one, or only higher levels? How you run the monster in combat, do they only go after one character, or spread damage?

 

[soviet]

How you even set up an encounter is fudging in the broadest sense. Like, do you do ambushes at level one, or only higher levels? How you run the monster in combat, do they only go after one character, or spread damage?

I think a key difference, though, is that this stuff is visible to the players. 'Hey, why'd they come over here when I'm actually invisible?'. 'Hey, how did he get over there so fast?'. They have an opportunity to challenge things that don't seem to make sense. The GM silently changing a roll of 20 to a 17, or a DC 10 to a DC 12, offers no such opportunity.