THIS is why I roll in the open...

[Rel]

I'm about to leave town to be gone all day so don't expect any responses until I get home tonight. But I had an experience in the game last night that reminded me of one reason that I roll in the open.

It was the climactic encounter that the party had at the end of a multi-session expedition into the Depths of Sharn. There they encountered a group of Dolgaunts leading some Dolgrims and their created abomination, the Gibbering Mouther. This was meant to be a tough encounter and it certainly was. Two PC's nearly died and a third did.

The point of my thread is that in the first case a PC (the Rogue/Cleric) failed his Will Save vs. the Gibber and was Confused. As a result he ran forward to attack the Mouther, missed and got the full spectrum of bite attacks the following round. I was almost certain that this character was going to die at that point and I regretted it because I liked the character and I had a lot of plot threads tied to him. But that's the way the dice fall sometimes.

Miraculously, he managed to avoid most of the Mouther's attacks the following round and made a great (action point assisted) Escape Artist roll and got away with one hit point. However, not wishing to provoke any AoO's he only retreated FIVE FEET! I groaned inwardly as I knew that the Full Attack the next round was going to finish what the Mouther had started in all probability. Fortunately again, another PC pulled him a bit further from the critter and it did not get its mouths back upon him (though it tried).

Later in the fight, another PC (the Barbarian) went down in battle with the Dolgaunt Leader. The other PC in melee with the Dolgaunt (who was the last combatant standing) was the Warforged who was immune to the Con Drain that they do. With the Dolgaunt down to a single hit point he opted to use his tentacle attacks on the downed Barbarian to drain some Con and regain hit points rather than to attack the Warforged (whom he had determined by that point was "tough to hurt" - had damage reduction). I knew that this could possibly kill the Barbarian and when the dice settled he was dead.

By contrast to the Rogue/Cleric, the Barbarian was a less developed character who had a decent backstory but was played by a more casual player who simply doesn't spend a tremendous time working up additional plot hooks and so forth. I knew that it would be less damaging to my storyline in general to have this character die but I was still hoping he would make it.

The rub lies here: If I was rolling behind the screen then I would probably have been more tempted to fudge for the Rogue/Cleric who is somewhat more integral to my plot than I would have for the Barbarian who was a more casually played PC. Thankfully I roll in the open, with big dice, and everyone can see that I'm not fudging for anybody. I enjoy that this takes some of the pressure off of me to be impartial and I also think it heightens the tension for the players to be riveted to the results of my giant dice as they tumble out whatever fate has in store.

 

[Belen]

The rub lies here: If I was rolling behind the screen then I would probably have been more tempted to fudge for the Rogue/Cleric who is somewhat more integral to my plot than I would have for the Barbarian who was a more casually played PC. Thankfully I roll in the open, with big dice, and everyone can see that I'm not fudging for anybody. I enjoy that this takes some of the pressure off of me to be impartial and I also think it heightens the tension for the players to be riveted to the results of my giant dice as they tumble out whatever fate has in store.

No table that will fit all of us, so I roll where I roll. I do not think the players need to see my rolls. In some case, I do not want them to se my rolling for encounter checks etc. I have no problem rolling in the open, but, in general, I do not.

 

[der_kluge]

I'm a big fan of rolling out in the open, except for obvious things the players shouldn't know, like the results of search, spot, and bluff checks, etc.

I think to roll in the open, as a GM you have to be skilled, and you have to be good at creating an appropriate level of challenge.

In our current game, the GM rolls behind a screen, and I'm certain that we would have at least two TPKs if he had rolled them out in the open, because he vastly overestimated our abilities, or put us into encounters of a CR way too high for what we were capable of handling.

Of course, that's a whole different problem...

 

[Seeten]

I prefer not to see the rolls. But I am more there for dramatic story and rp than I am for tactical battlemat gameplay.

 

[Boddha]

I like to make my combat related rolls in front of the players, this almost wiped the party out two sessions ago when it seemed I was unable to roll below a 17, ot the point where theytried to ban the D20 I was rolling.

 

[WizarDru]

I haven't really thought about it either way, but I tend to always roll in the open. The dice create their own uncertainty in the story, and the sheer knowledge that everyone can roll a 1 or 20 is enough to make most encounters more exciting.

The dice's impartiality help make the game fun, IMHO.

 

[Desdichado]

The rub lies here: If I was rolling behind the screen then I would probably have been more tempted to fudge for the Rogue/Cleric who is somewhat more integral to my plot than I would have for the Barbarian who was a more casually played PC.

And that's exactly why I don't care about rolling in the open or behind the screen, and will do whichever is most convenient. I'm not tempted to fudge based on considerations like that.

 

[Quasqueton]

Rel - Amen. I love you, man.

Quasqueton

 

[diaglo]

yes and no.

i like rolling in the open.

but it also means telling or showing the players what the total is...

you roll 14... AC of PC is 25... and you still hit.... meaning the players now know the opponent gets +11 to roll at least.

and then it also means telling them feats and stuff... like power attack.

 

[Old One]

Big fan of "in the Open"...although after playing Rel "Skygalleons of Mars" game...I wish he wouldn't roll in the open sometimes ! He almost destroyed our ship with a massive lob cannon critical a few rounds into the action.

I think it is part of the GM/player compact...I expect them to roll in the open and not fudge and I do the same. Certain rolls do stay behind the screen, but all combat rolls and most bad guy saves are out them for everyone to see. I think it makes for a more exciting game and the players are never wondering whether or not I fudging to save their hides.

I guess I don't understand the "It's OK to fudge to advance the storyline" mentality. To me, it is almost a form of railroading, in that you are fudging to protect the storyline. I certainly understand having a lot invested in PC plotlines...but bad and random things happen to people in literature and RL all the time, and I am not sure that heroic fantasy is any different.

~OO