D&D 5E How do you roll, DM?

[Benjamin Olson]

These days I'm only ever DMing online, and since I use real dice they are, by necessity, hidden. I used to roll in the open for some of my groups though. It depended on the vibe of the table.

 

[Lucas Blackstone]

There's nothing to indicate in any of the rules that anyone, player or DM, hide rolls. As a matter of fact, some PC abilities specifically call out that you can see the roll before using an ability, but you must use it before you know what AC it hits. Since some of the rules specifically call out a player seeing the rolls, I don't see how one could logically deduce that the rolls should be hidden.

I am not saying that the game is unplayable with hidden rolls, just that rolls are not supposed to be hidden by design.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

I never hide dice from players - but then again, I run Perception and Stealth in a non-standard way:

• I almost always allow PCs to auto-succeed Perception checks except in surprise situations.
• Stealth is only rolled the moment (and each time) a sneaking character could be spotted and failure has immediate consequences.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

90% of the time I roll in front of the players. This way it keeps me honest. I don't want to fudge rolls, because then why even roll? I could just say it happens the way I want it to? But there are times I do secret rolls for stuff going on in the background that the player characters aren't aware of.

 

[Flamestrike]

There's nothing to indicate in any of the rules that anyone, player or DM, hide rolls.

DnD 5e DMG pg 235 "Rolling behind the screen lets you fudge the results if you want to If two critical hits in a row would kill a character, you could change the second critical hit into a normal hit, or even a miss, Dont distort die rolls too often, though, and don't let on that your doing it. Otherwise your players might think they dont face any real risks-- or worse, that you're playing favorites."

Page 237, 5E DMG "Remember that dice don't run your game - you do. Dice are like rules. They're tools to help keep the action moving."

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I would say that 97% (re: "ALMOST always") roll behind the screen. Mostly because sometimes I need to use the tension of an unknown dice roll to help set the scene and manage the games, well, tension level and pacing. When I roll behind the screen...the players don't know the result and don't know WHY I just rolled. This isn't as much of a problem with BECMI/1e/2e...where I could roll a d20 and get a 17, and the Players would STILL not know if that was good or bad, because they don't know why I rolled. With the 'codification' of 3e onward's "high is always good", that doesn't work anymore.

And when I say "need to use the tension of an unknown dice roll..." I mean that literally; they might not even know WHY I'm rolling dice. Sometimes I roll dice and flip a couple pages of notes, then say "Huh...ok...interesting". Sometimes I will preface the roll with asking some supposedly pointless question "Hey, does everyone have a cloak on...or not...?"...then I roll some dice, and say "Hmmm...ok...". Or, if a player is becoming a bit disengaged with the game, I say "Zoltan, pass me your character sheet for a second...", then I look it over, all sides...then roll a dice...hand back the sheet, and say "Ok. So, what were you guys doing again?".

Using those little "DM Tricks of the Trade" don't work NEARLY as well when you roll dice in full view of everyone using a system where "high is always good".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[ccs]

Technically I roll in the open.
I haven't used a screen in 20+ years, & my dice are bright yellow with black #s. Very easy to read (& chosen for MY convenience).
Typically I roll my dice only as far as my arm can reach while seated. Now & then I'll roll near where the minis are if I'm moving things about, but not often (I'm lazy & just tell the nearest player where to move model x)

However.... Tables either 6x4 or 8x4 depending upon where we're playing, & I sit at one end of it.
So the people on my immediate L/R can see my rolls (if they care). The others? I guess it depends upon how good their eyes are & if they care. No ones ever stood up to check.

 

[ccs]

DnD 5e DMG pg 235 "Rolling behind the screen lets you fudge the results if you want to If two critical hits in a row would kill a character, you could change the second critical hit into a normal hit, or even a miss, Dont distort die rolls too often, though, and don't let on that your doing it. Otherwise your players might think they dont face any real risks-- or worse, that you're playing favorites."

Page 237, 5E DMG "Remember that dice don't run your game - you do. Dice are like rules. They're tools to help keep the action moving."

If I weren't good with things being determined by die rolls (good/bd/otherwise) I wouldn't roll to begin with.
Once the dice are rolled though, that's the result.

 

[Flamestrike]

If I weren't good with things being determined by die rolls (good/bd/otherwise) I wouldn't roll to begin with.

You're missing the point of showmanship.

Sometimes it's entirely appropriate to roll some dice, ignore the result, pretend to look something up, put a worried look on your face, and sigh while slowly shaking your head from side to side.

I'll have 'random' encounters that arent (they were planned from the beginning). The 'roll to trigger them' simply keeps the players guessing.

Other times, I'll roll some dice just to quiet table talk, and get the players focussed back on the task at hand.

Other times, it's simply to keep the players guessing -what- exactly I'm rolling for.

That's all simple showmanship and entertainment - keeping the session fun and engaging for the players. You're using the dice as as prop. It's a tool in my arsenal and I see no reason not to use it.

Im also not a fan of having PCs die for no other reason than a series of bad dice rolls. That said, quite often I'll throw the dice down in the middle of the table and let them fall where they may.

When I do that, all eyes are on the dice.

Dice are more than just random number generators, just like DMs are more than just addition machines. They're a powerful tool for engagement, enjoyment and storytelling purposes, and a DM is there to do more than just roll them to determine a number.

 

[Shiroiken]

When I played IRL, I always rolled behind the screen. Started that way back in 1E, and it's just habit I guess. Been doing Roll20 for years now, and I keep attacks, saves, and most ability checks public (things like stealth and deception are hidden). I do Passive checks the way Mearls suggested, where I roll against the passive score of the players, and so I have a macro for these checks that also show the passive scores, with these checks hidden.