D&D General Should the DM roll in the open?

[CreamCloud0]

No, but if you don't see the difference between "the GM set the encounter up to not be beatable and signals this" and "the GM thought it was beatable and figures out it isn't mid-encounter", I don't know what to tell you.

as well as "the GM thought it was beatable and it was but the dice lined everything up exactly wrong"

 

[ColinChapman]

Unless a roll is done secretly to avoid revealing information, I prefer to do all my rolling out in the open. Absolutely no fudging. It's more exciting, and it has at least the appearance of impartiality and fairness (though let's be honest, any GM that way inclined can still stack or sway the odds in other ways). As I encourage my players to embrace the highs and lows, the failures and successes, it behooves me to be as fair and impartial as possible and open rolls help visually demonstrate that in part. Yes, a GM could be just as impartial and fudge-free while doing all of their rolls behind the screen, but what then is the point? If nothing else, you loose the very visceral reaction as the players watch that monster's damage roll.

Now, that's not to say you're engaging in badwrongfun if you fudge things; you do what suits you and your group, as long as everyone's onboard with it. But for me and my group, it's a no-no.

 

[Skyscraper]

Which is why you make a bunch of other meaningless rolls at various times during the session, it lets you disguise this one.

Again, disguising the real roll among others is key here.

I'f have thought the roll would be to determine whether or not the goblin did leave without a trace: that's what success on the roll would look like, with failure being the rustling leaves or blown cover or whatever.

So GMs in my groups have started rolling in the open barely say 6-7 years ago, so I recall quite well all those behind the screen rolls - and some do still happen occasionally (quite exceptionally in my case). As a player, so many times I was thinking, as the GM rolled dice, I hope this doesn't take long so that the game can resume. It is a drop from the in-game interaction. For players, these rolls are meaningless. I mean, the GM can, and might as well just, decide what they want as a result. And sometimes perhaps they do if they fudge anyway. Take random encounters (which is a topic in itself): a GM rolls, and perhaps picks the result anyway if they don't like the roll. Who cares? The players certainly don't care since they can't see the chart. There is only one person participating in the behind the screen rolling mini-game. The players cannot relate to that part of the game because the GM is the only one to see both the die roll and the reference chart of results. Instead of playing with the group, they are playing alone for a moment. And then the game resumes. The GM might feel some kind of excitement because of the sense of randomness, but since the players have no relation to the chart of results nor the die rolls, the GM is alone experiencing that.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

No, but if you don't see the difference between "the GM set the encounter up to not be beatable and signals this" and "the GM thought it was beatable and figures out it isn't mid-encounter", I don't know what to tell you.

There are more options, though, including:

“The GM set up an encounter suitable for the location and it’s up to the players, via their PCs, to decide how they interact with it.”

Important points for this option:

• the enemies have motivations and goals (which are not necessarily “fight to the death”)
• retreat should always be on the table (regardless of what we all think of the “chase rules” but that’s a different thread) and refer to the point above to determine how invested an enemy is in pursuing

 

[ColinChapman]

After a few seconds of consideration, if failure is not an option, just give the PCs the auto-success and move on.

Indeed. "Say yes or roll the dice." is a pretty old mantra these days but it's still one I find personally useful.

 

[SteveC]

I have found that running from a VTT makes this situation a lot easier. As the GM you can set rolls to private or public, and have players whisper rolls to you as well. So if your player asks you "what do I know about this creature?" You can have them make the appropriate check and whisper it so you see it. That makes the situation a lot easier to handle failure without tipping the player off. In those situations I think that's useful.

And if I need to make a stealth check, I set it on private and no one even knows the dice were rolled.

A couple of folks have posted about feeling like they are being attacked by negative comments about hiding die rolls. I just wanted to say that as far as I'm concerned, that's just a different way of handling things. Not any better or worse than what I do. So I'm just stating a preference not trying to start a fight.

 

[Azzy]

I don't really care too much, but I tend to roll almost everything out in the open (there are corner cases otherwise where the players shouldn't know the outcome of, as others have mentioned before).

 

[GMMichael]

Which is why you make a bunch of other meaningless rolls at various times during the session, it lets you disguise this one.

Rolls to raise player anxiety are a thing. It's a point against rolling in the open, too. PC-anxiety is less affected by seeing low numbers come up.

I'f have thought the roll would be to determine whether or not the goblin did leave without a trace: that's what success on the roll would look like, with failure being the rustling leaves or blown cover or whatever.

Per Skyscraper's following quote, a goblin leaving without a trace is just a minigame for the GM. It's the same as the GM announcing, "ha! Nothing happens." Or worse, it's like the GM starting a combat, telling the PCs that they all miss in the first round, and then ending the combat.

So GMs in my groups have started rolling in the open barely say 6-7 years ago, so I recall quite well all those behind the screen rolls - and some do still happen occasionally (quite exceptionally in my case). As a player, so many times I was thinking, as the GM rolled dice, I hope this doesn't take long so that the game can resume. It is a drop from the in-game interaction. . . There is only one person participating in the behind the screen rolling mini-game.

I'm not sure that rolling in the open isn't also a drop from in-game interaction, but I agree with the sentiment, "I hope this doesn't take long." The above reasoning is also why NPC stealth checks to avoid detection are pointless. If the PCs detect something, the GM's minigame becomes the main game.

 

[hawkeyefan]

If you’re a DM and you don’t roll in the open, you’re bad and you should feel bad.

 

[Clint_L]

If you’re a DM and you don’t roll in the open, you’re bad and you should feel bad.