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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 7411848" data-attributes="member: 6799649">There are two things that are pivotal for me:-1.) Unlike previous editions, 5e doesn't want players to waste stuff. For example, in 3e/Pathfinder you might have an ability that grants you +2 to a single roll once per day, but you have to announce you are using that ability before you roll the die. This means that if you choose to use that ability for this roll, there is only a 10% chance that the ability makes any difference at all. Not an attractive ability!But in 5e, all such abilities that mention the timing state that the player makes the choice after the roll but before knowing the result, implying that the player can see the d20 but does not automatically know the total, therefore the modifier is not automatically known.The benefit of this for the enjoyment of the game is obvious: the player either never wastes his hard-earned abilities, or he can avoid wasting them simply by paying attention to what's going on!2.) I've fenced in real life, I've been in martial arts bouts, and the reality is that you quickly size up your opponent's skill. Not immediately, not perfectly, but pretty accurately and pretty soon. While fencing, you do not even bother to parry an attack that is off-target.Seeing the d20 is a very good simulation for this. The DM rolls the d20 and tells you the result ('hit' or 'miss' in combat). If the roll is a 2 and the attack misses, or if the roll is 19 and it hits, you really didn't learn much. But if the DM rolls a 19 and still misses then it's not a skilled opponent. If the roll is a 2 and the attack still hits then you know you're in trouble!As the fight goes on, d20 rolls come and go. The vagaries of random rolling tend to let the players get a better and better idea of the opponent's modifier. If a 13 misses but a 14 hits then (since you know your own AC) you can work out their attack modifier. This parallels our real life ability to get a better and better handle on the skill level of our opponent. Just like real life, it's not perfect, since the d20 might not be kind enough to produce those convenient adjacent results with one hit and one miss, and the players might be misled by an opponent who has, say, +2 to hit humans or something. But this is working as intended.So, why the DM screen? All the above assumes that the PCs have a source of information, such as observing the opponent in combat. In such cases the d20 should be rolled in the open. But there are plenty of times that the players cannot perceive the creature in question. Invisibility, being in a different room, all sorts. In those situations, the DM rolls behind the screen.Simples! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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