Thomas Shey
Legend
How the group views it is everything I guess. I think for most groups, however they decide, must work. And that is a good thing.
Though I'd suggest there's a wide range of potential things described by "work" there.
How the group views it is everything I guess. I think for most groups, however they decide, must work. And that is a good thing.
When i play in person, i usually roll at my seat behind a DM screen, unless i happen to be standing near the players table, which happens alot as i have a tendency to walk around as i DM, and roll wherever i am when the need arise.
Because:
- It is a significant gesture of trustworthiness to do so.
- Open rolling removes DM temptation to interfere.
- It encourages DMs to level with their players if something goes wrong, rather than trying to cover it up.
- I find that it leads to better outcomes, and encourages players to take risks, because they will feel their decisions are truly informed.
Would a teacher allow students to look at the answer key during an exam? Should students just be able to see everything for the cause of transparency for all? I have never implied that DMs are above all, but DMs are not equal to the players. Just like students should not feel that they are equals to their teachers. There is DM knowledge that is not needed for the players to know as well.No. But trust must be earned. Earning trust is hard if you refuse to allow people to see what you are doing even when you could. I don't believe DMs are automatically entitled to perfect and total carte blanche just because they've elected to sit behind the DM screen.
I don't want someone who has to explain every move made in real time while I am playing. You have missed the very point of my analogy. Someone who announces every move made after it was made is annoying. There is no difference between 'I played my red piece on the leftmost side to block you so now you cannot put your black piece in the spot I have taken from you to prevent a Tic-tac-toe' and 'You are attacked by a Goblin with the AC of blah, DC of blahblah, and a speed of narf. I will now roll a die in front of everyone to see if your future roll that has not been done yet will overcome the goblin's attack upon you.' A DM who does that is coddling their players, handholding them through each adventure. If the Monster Manual is required reading material for players, why is it only suggested for DM use? OH WAIT, IT'S NOT. Rolling for attack behind a screen does not mean the players are unaware of an attack occurring and cannot steel themselves against the results, good or bad.Wait, are you saying you play tic-tac-toe where you have no idea where your opponent has moved? Yeah, I would definitely have a problem with a tic-tac-toe player who said, "I'm allowed to see your moves, but you aren't allowed to see mine."
This was one of the weaker parts when I wrote it, but for the sake of argument:It is our world. Both the DM's and the players'. We build and change it together. Just because the DM does more of that does not mean that it's exclusively theirs. Maybe in your playstyle, the players are there just to be witnesses to the grand worldbuilding and storytelling the DM provides, but I prefer significantly more player participation, regardless of which side of the screen I'm sitting on.
We, collectively, are there to create the story when I play or run. We create it through the act of play itself, pushing things to the testing point, where protagonism occurs. Each of the PCs is one of the protagonists, and their group is in some sense the collective protagonist as well. Unlike prewritten media, the players actually have the ability to push that narrative forward the way they wish to, rather than simply witnessing the work someone else has done (written, sung, directed, whatever).
Same opinion and feeling! I do the exact same thing.I now roll out in the open for attack rolls and such (I just use default average damage values).
As you mentioned, some stuff is done behind the screen when it involves stealth and such.
I feel less bad when I roll multiple critical hits in a row. The evidence is right there that I’m not a sadistic DM haha
My DM used to roll for funsies all the time. Random rolls....scribble on a sheet of paper...ask players at random what their AC was or how many HP they had left....just random inquires that he would never follow up on. He'd also ask us to roll random dice and never tell us why.The DM doesn't roll for funsies. If the DM does not explain actions and consequences, there is a bigger issue than the DM screen...
Am I evil if I enjoy the groans when the player see me rolling a 20? Oh ... wait ... of course I'm evil. I'm the DM!I used to roll behind my screen for decades. It was the idea that it generates suspense in the players and because I'm not fudging the rolls in anyone's favour. However, the last few years I have thrown that idea out of the window because after years of DMing I realised suddenly that seeing that D20 bounce and what it will roll generates far more suspense than not knowing.
^^^This.I used to roll behind my screen for decades. It was the idea that it generates suspense in the players and because I'm not fudging the rolls in anyone's favour. However, the last few years I have thrown that idea out of the window because after years of DMing I realised suddenly that seeing that D20 bounce and what it will roll generates far more suspense than not knowing.