5E How do you roll, DM?

[DM Dave1]

Let's do a roll poll. Interested in reading comments describing reasons you roll your dice in front of and/or behind the DM screen.

 

[iserith]

I roll everything in the open. I have nothing to hide when it comes to adjudicating actions.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Always in view, with extremely rare exceptions, so I took the first option.

 

[Asisreo]

I said "Where I roll the dice depends on the roll" because I'll often hide enemy saves (prevents metagaming) and roll random encounter/treasure tables (they don't need that info).

When it comes to attack rolls, I'll roll in front of them because I want them to know when I hit or miss. It's insanely brutal for them. I'm an extremely lucky DM. Even still, everything besides saves and randoms are revealed.

 

[Maxperson]

Most of my rolls are behind the screen. However, sometimes I reveal a roll. And during dramatic moments when the roll really matters, I roll out in front of everyone.

 

[payn]

I use a dice roller on my PC so always hidden. Its not so much because I dont want the players to see the rolls, and more the convenience and speed of play it offers me as a GM.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I voted always roll in open, but I do very rarely roll in secret. When I do it's normally rolling an action that the PCs might not know is taking place (ie. rolling a Stealth roll for NPCs that the PCs don't know are there).

 

[Fenris-77]

This is bery system dependant question. Some games need hidfen dice, others dont. I dont hide dice unless I have to though.

 

[Maxperson]

This is bery system dependant question. Some games need hidfen dice, others dont. I dont hide dice unless I have to though.

Well, it's in the 5e area, so I'm guessing that's the system being polled.

 

[Cadence]

Most of my rolls are behind the screen. However, sometimes I reveal a roll. And during dramatic moments when the roll really matters, I roll out in front of everyone.

Same for me.

(But I feel like I should switch to the open in more cases).

 

[Fenris-77]

That wasn't the question though. That said, unless theres a mechanical or rules related reason for me to hide a roll I won't, and I tend to prefer systems that take the rolling out of the GMs hands anyway.

 

[FXR]

Most of my rolls are done in the open, but for those few rolls where the element of surprise or uncertainty is necessary, such as rolling to see if someone believe a lie or notice a hidden character, I prefer to hide the result of Lady Fortune.

 

[Helldritch]

I always roll on the open. And when I get a :"Your dice are loaded!!!" From a new player, I take his/her dice and roll a few criticals against them to show that it is not the case.

 

[Helldritch]

Most of my rolls are done in the open, but for those few rolls where the element of surprise or uncertainty is necessary, such as rolling to see if someone believe a lie or notice a hidden character, I prefer to hide the result of Lady Fortune.

I roll a few dice in advance for these. Players are welcomed to check them after the fact. I take the rolls one after the other. It takes about a minute to roll about a dozen (never needed that much...) and I check them when they are used up. It makes for a faster pace and since they do not hear dice rolling the surprise is usually guenine.

 

[Vael]

I prefer to roll in the open. I've been doing that less lately, because I've been playing via Discord, and it's quicker to physically roll dice than use the Discord Bot.

 

[aco175]

I do not use a screen so the rolls are mostly out in the open on top of my notes and such. Most of the players can see them if they are looking. I do not think some of them care or can even see that far though. I do however roll some and quickly pick them up if I need to fudge a roll, but that is rare.

 

[prabe]

I use a dice tower that lightly screens most of my rolls from most of the players. As with @payn above, it's more about my own preferences and convenience than about hiding the rolls from the players. They're welcome to look if they want, and I'm happy to let people know if there's a roll they need to know about (such as if the Lucky Feat is in play, or Cutting Words).

 

[cbwjm]

I roll my dice in view of the players when I DM because there isn't enough space for a DM screen where we play and honestly, even if there was, I feel like they just get in the way any how.

 

[Esbee]

90%+ of my rolls are in the open, but will roll behind the screen for details players should not know. Things like stealth, searching for or disabling traps, reaction rolls etc.

Combat, monster saving throws, all of that is done where everyone can see.

 

[Flamestrike]

Some rolls in the open, some hidden. Some totally ignored.

The showmanship is more important than the dice.