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<blockquote data-quote="SlyFlourish" data-source="post: 9541533" data-attributes="member: 54840">I've often said &quot;I don't cheat when rolling dice but I cheat everywhere else&quot;.Some areas include:<ul>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">changing hit points of monsters</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Increasing or decreasing the amount of damage monsters do</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Increasing or decreasing the number of attacks a monster has</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">changing monster abilities on the fly</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Adding or subtracting monsters during combat (new ones show up or some run away).</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ul">Changing tactics – they get really smart or really dumb</li>
</ul>I think the big question isn't whether to cheat or not but to ask why one might or might not. The reason we cheat is really important. Are we trying to make the game better? More fun? To shift upward and downward beats so the game is engaging instead of either being boring or frustrating? Those are good reasons. Punishing players or forcing the game to go a certain way you planned ahead of time isn't so great.I also think its important to think of these &quot;cheating&quot; bits as dials that spring-load to the median. Just because I'm ok changing the things above doesn't mean I do it very often. I only do it when it's really going to make the game better and that's rare. The most common way I cheat is by lowering monster hit points so we can be done with a battle that overstayed its welcome.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SlyFlourish, post: 9541533, member: 54840"] I've often said "I don't cheat when rolling dice but I cheat everywhere else". Some areas include: [LIST] [*]changing hit points of monsters [*]Increasing or decreasing the amount of damage monsters do [*]Increasing or decreasing the number of attacks a monster has [*]changing monster abilities on the fly [*]Adding or subtracting monsters during combat (new ones show up or some run away). [*]Changing tactics – they get really smart or really dumb [/LIST] I think the big question isn't whether to cheat or not but to ask why one might or might not. The [I]reason[/I] we cheat is really important. Are we trying to make the game better? More fun? To shift upward and downward beats so the game is engaging instead of either being boring or frustrating? Those are good reasons. Punishing players or forcing the game to go a certain way you planned ahead of time isn't so great. I also think its important to think of these "cheating" bits as dials that spring-load to the median. Just because I'm ok changing the things above doesn't mean I do it very often. I [I]only[/I] do it when it's really going to make the game better and that's rare. The most common way I cheat is by lowering monster hit points so we can be done with a battle that overstayed its welcome. [/QUOTE]

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