How often do you cheat?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I roll combat rolls in the open so there is no cheating that way. I may fudge something else if I screwed up, but normally it plays as the dice intended. I don't have a story to tell so that isn't a consideration.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Just an observation: "Rolling in the open" doesn't mean you don't cheat. The players don't know the modifiers ( or capabilities, or feats, or spells, or skills, or items etc... ) !

I tend to "cheat" frequently ( answered 'once every few encounters' ), mostly due to the fact that I'm usually less prepared than I need to be. - So I prefer to think of it as adjusting on the fly. I'm not afraid to "adjust" for or against the party benefit when the situation calls for it.

Historically I admit I have turned a lethal situation into something else for a random encounter or something not critical to the campaign story. I guess I belive that dramatic deaths make players happier than, for example, being killed while sleeping by Troll #3 while travelling to the mcguffin location.

PS: I'd admire the machismo of those who claim to NEVER cheat if i didn't believe many of them were possibly liars.

 

[Agamon]

I like to think of it as GM Fiat, not cheating. That said, I rarely do it. And when I do, I fudge far more often for the PCs than against them

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

I fudged a roll in 1986.

 

[BOZ]

i reroll every die roll up to five times until i get what i want. and if i still don't like what i get, then i just lie.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

i reroll every die roll up to five times until i get what i want. and if i still don't like what i get, then i just lie.

Boz, are you a player in my group?

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Voted every few combats but it's really nowhere near as frequent as that - yet not so INfrequent that I would call it "rare". I do it when it feels right and necessary. Moreso when the dice are being more cruelly random than normal and I've also overestimated the difficulty of an encounter and see the possibility of PC deaths and/or TPK. I try to avoid doing it but I will NOT give up my authority to do so.

Oh, and this DOES NOT constitute "cheating" in any way. "Cheating" indicates doing for yourself at the expense of others. D&D is also not a competitive activity.

 

[diaglo]

i'm a referee. the dice fall where they fall.

 

[Doctor DM]

Once in a while. I tend to role really, REALLY well, so I have to cut things back a little. If I fudge at all it's usually damage.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

No screen = no fudging.