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<blockquote data-quote="Shiroiken" data-source="post: 7291194" data-attributes="member: 6775477"><p>The primary reason is to prevent the "dice determine everything" mentality that some players adopt. I've had to tell someone that their natural 20 did not succeed on a check, only to list to them complain the rest of the session. I've also had players roll for something in the middle of me describing how they succeed, then narrate their own failure due to a natural 1. Watch the Gamers 2 for an example of players insisting on having the dice determine the outcome of everything.</p><p></p><p>Another reason is that it prevents a metagame mentality, as well as potential cheating. If Bob rolls a 2 on his Investigation check to search the room before I tell him to, he knows hes going to fail. He might tell Sara to also search, hoping she gets a better roll. If it's important, and he's a shady player, he might not tell me his roll, choosing to wait until I ask for one (giving him a second chance). I have everyone determine what they're doing before I call for any roll, because if two people are doing the same thing, they roll once with advantage, not once each (which is a lot better if you have 3 or more doing the same thing).</p><p></p><p>Finally, some players jump the gun, rolling dice instead of listening to the rest of the description. They've missed a bit of important information, and then slow the game down when I (or another player) has to re-explain it. If they call out an action instead of just rolling (which these players often do), I can quickly tell them to hold on while I finish, usually by simply raising a finger. This keeps their attention on me, rather than the dice, increasing the likelihood of them hearing everything. Admittedly, this is the least important reason, because those players tend to cause the same types of issues either way (they tend to stop listening once they fixate on course of action).</p><p></p><p>You could easily allow for pre-rolled checks to stand at face value. It could also be a major time saver most of the time. I, however, believe that consistency is important as a DM, and stand by my table rules. Sometimes it hurts the players, sometimes it helps them, but in the end it balances out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shiroiken, post: 7291194, member: 6775477"] The primary reason is to prevent the "dice determine everything" mentality that some players adopt. I've had to tell someone that their natural 20 did not succeed on a check, only to list to them complain the rest of the session. I've also had players roll for something in the middle of me describing how they succeed, then narrate their own failure due to a natural 1. Watch the Gamers 2 for an example of players insisting on having the dice determine the outcome of everything. Another reason is that it prevents a metagame mentality, as well as potential cheating. If Bob rolls a 2 on his Investigation check to search the room before I tell him to, he knows hes going to fail. He might tell Sara to also search, hoping she gets a better roll. If it's important, and he's a shady player, he might not tell me his roll, choosing to wait until I ask for one (giving him a second chance). I have everyone determine what they're doing before I call for any roll, because if two people are doing the same thing, they roll once with advantage, not once each (which is a lot better if you have 3 or more doing the same thing). Finally, some players jump the gun, rolling dice instead of listening to the rest of the description. They've missed a bit of important information, and then slow the game down when I (or another player) has to re-explain it. If they call out an action instead of just rolling (which these players often do), I can quickly tell them to hold on while I finish, usually by simply raising a finger. This keeps their attention on me, rather than the dice, increasing the likelihood of them hearing everything. Admittedly, this is the least important reason, because those players tend to cause the same types of issues either way (they tend to stop listening once they fixate on course of action). You could easily allow for pre-rolled checks to stand at face value. It could also be a major time saver most of the time. I, however, believe that consistency is important as a DM, and stand by my table rules. Sometimes it hurts the players, sometimes it helps them, but in the end it balances out. [/QUOTE]
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