D&D 5E Player Facing Combat

[embee]

Fun.

I always roll in front of the screen (or more like on the screen - the Roll20 chat box - these days), so the laugh or cry from the players at our (virtual) table is immediate.

I do 90/10 mix of open/screened rolling. I'm on Roll20 and the vast majority of rolls are onscreen.

But for secret rolls, it's sometimes easier to roll IRL right in front of me.

Also, there's no way to put virtual dice into jail.

 

[prabe]

Fun.

I always roll in front of the screen (or more like on the screen - the Roll20 chat box - these days), so the laugh or cry from the players at our (virtual) table is immediate.

I've never hidden the rolls from the players, at least not as a habit. I use a dice tower, and they're welcome to look (and at square-ish tables, it's almost inevitable that someone can see the results). If the character with the Lucky Feat is under attack, I do let him know when there's a 20 heading his way--seems fair.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Was watching my usual YouTube channels last night and saw the Dungeoncraft YT on player-facing combat - i.e. the players roll to defend instead of the GM rolling to hit. It seems simple enough and I like the philosophy and psychology theory behind it.

How exactly does it work though?

Does the GM roll to hit first (like usual) and then the player rolls on the chart for the monster to miss? Or is a hit presumed with the only roll being by the player to determine if the hit misses?

Yeah, you can do PAR (Players Always Roll) and make it so the DM never rolls anything (use average damage or even let the player roll damage against themselves).

As others have said, the DC equals 12 (not 10) + monster attack bonus. The player's Defense bonus is their AC - 10.

Ex. an ogre (attack +6) is trying to hit my PC in chain shirt and shield (no DEX, AC 15).
The DC for my Defense roll is 18 (12 + 6), and I am rolling a d20 + 5 (my AC 15 - 10).
If I roll a 13 or higher, the ogre misses me.

 

[NotAYakk]

Yeah, you can do PAR (Players Always Roll) and make it so the DM never rolls anything (use average damage or even let the player roll damage against themselves).

As others have said, the DC equals 12 (not 10) + monster attack bonus. The player's Defense bonus is their AC - 10.

Ex. an ogre (attack +6) is trying to hit my PC in chain shirt and shield (no DEX, AC 15).
The DC for my Defense roll is 18 (12 + 6), and I am rolling a d20 + 5 (my AC 15 - 10).
If I roll a 13 or higher, the ogre misses me.

And if you make the player's mod to be AC-14, the monster attack DC becomes 8+monster's attack bonus.

This matches their DC of other abilities that are based off the same statistic. Which simplifies things for the DM and communication.

"The giant attacks you, make an armor save DC 18" "Ok, now make a strength save, DC 18, or be pushed 30' and knocked prone".

The same DC there is a little thing, but it could add up.

 

[dave2008]

As they say on the Reddits, explain it to me like I'm 5.

It is the monsters' turn.
Let's say that the monster has a +7 to hit and the player has an AC of 17. Does the GM roll at all or does the player simply roll?

On the chart, it appears that there's the starting AC 17, less the monster's +7 to hit, lowering it to an effective 10. So now the player needs to roll a 12 to defend the attack.

Do I have that correct?

The whole point of player facing is that the DM doesn't have to roll (for attacks). The DM says the goblin is swinging its axe at the dwarf and the dwarf rolls to see if he/she is hit or not (the player announces the roll + modifier and DM checks to see if it is a hit or not). The DM still typically rolls damage.

 

[embee]

Yeah, you can do PAR (Players Always Roll) and make it so the DM never rolls anything (use average damage or even let the player roll damage against themselves).

As others have said, the DC equals 12 (not 10) + monster attack bonus. The player's Defense bonus is their AC - 10.

Ex. an ogre (attack +6) is trying to hit my PC in chain shirt and shield (no DEX, AC 15).
The DC for my Defense roll is 18 (12 + 6), and I am rolling a d20 + 5 (my AC 15 - 10).
If I roll a 13 or higher, the ogre misses me.

Running the numbers, looks like we're getting the same answer with different maths.

Plugging in the Orc v AC17 Player Character

Plain Jane Vanilla GM Rolls: Orc has +5 to hit. PC has AC17. So to hit, Orc (GM) needs to roll a 12 (12+5=17). (45% chance for the Orc to hit).

As you said above:
DC to defend is 12+ Monster To Hit Bonus. So 12 plus the Orc's +5 to hit is a DC17. Player then rolls d20 and adds their AC -10. So d20+7 (AC17 minus 10). If the player rolls a 10 or higher, the Orc misses. (55% chance for the Player to dodge)

The other way being:
Start with 22 plus the Monster To Hit. So 22 plus the Orc's +5 to hit is a DC27. Player rolls a d20 and adds their AC (here, AC17). If the player rolls a 10 or higher, the Orc misses. (55% chance for the Player to dodge)

What intrigues me about the PAR (as you call it) method is that in larger scale encounters where there are, say 8 monsters with multiple attacks, I don't just want to be rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling while my players sit there and just wait to get hit. I'd like to keep them engaged, even with something as simple as having them roll the d20s instead of me.

 

[DemoMonkey]

I can see +22 is correct, but I'm not sure how. I started with assuming an average monster roll on one side (10) and a bonus of +10 because an unarmoured PC has a base AC of 10 = +20.

I don't even dispute the math that +22 is correct, I just don't understand what is missing from my assumptions.

 

[embee]

I can see +22 is correct, but I'm not sure how. I started with assuming an average monster roll on one side (10) and a bonus of +10 because an unarmoured PC has a base AC of 10 = +20.

I don't even dispute the math that +22 is correct, I just don't understand what is missing from my assumptions.

You forgot to flip it around to account for the perspective. The monster is trying to HIT. The player is trying to DODGE.

 

[NotAYakk]

And "meets it beats it".

 

[jmartkdr2]

I can see +22 is correct, but I'm not sure how. I started with assuming an average monster roll on one side (10) and a bonus of +10 because an unarmoured PC has a base AC of 10 = +20.

I don't even dispute the math that +22 is correct, I just don't understand what is missing from my assumptions.

1 point form the die switching - a d20 has an average of 10.5 - the pc loses the .5 and the monster gains it, so you need to add a point to the pc.

1 point form the tie-winner switching.

It's not intuitive, you really gotta break down the math a few times before you see it.