What's up with most of y'alls groups? I don't think it would even occur to anyone in any of our group to cheat. Our DM usually can't see what any of us roll, but everyone rolls '1s' and '2' in critical situations regularly, and announces it with a grimace. I've got a rogue with a 20 Dex and Improved Initiative and I haven't rolled any better than a '6' on initiative for, like, ten rolls in a row now. I could of easily said 'adjusted 19' and got some sneak attacks in the first round every now and then, but geez... it's just a game, and the dice roll what they roll...
Tips for DM's. Spotting cheating players.
- Thread starter Bob5th
- Start date
Here's the one I caught most recently. I'm not sure if it was cheating or arrogance combined with laziness, but it went like this.
DM:The orc cuts into your arm. Take four points of damage.
Player:Okay. (doesn't move for pencil)
DM:I said take four.
Player:I'll remember it.
DM:Sure. Well if that's how we're playing it I'll just "remember" your damage when you hit the monsters.
Player
reaches for pencil and writes down damage)
I once had a player complain that I was requiring ability scores be rolled in front of me. The exact quote "Oh man! I always roll better when no one's watching."
And possibly the best example was a character named Shae. To be fair, this was in our younger days, with a mix of 1e and 2e. So none of us were doing it by the book. But Shae was the example of the 'mighty morphin power gamer.'
He was a bounty hunter -- a class from the dragon magazine. Of course when we were playing, he never seemed to have the issue at hand. If he got tied up, he'd roll his 90% chance to escape bonds. If he faced a horde of mooks, he'd cast a fireball...when he'd never had any spellcasting abilities for 19 freakin levels!
DM:The orc cuts into your arm. Take four points of damage.
Player:Okay. (doesn't move for pencil)
DM:I said take four.
Player:I'll remember it.
DM:Sure. Well if that's how we're playing it I'll just "remember" your damage when you hit the monsters.
Player
reaches for pencil and writes down damage)I once had a player complain that I was requiring ability scores be rolled in front of me. The exact quote "Oh man! I always roll better when no one's watching."
And possibly the best example was a character named Shae. To be fair, this was in our younger days, with a mix of 1e and 2e. So none of us were doing it by the book. But Shae was the example of the 'mighty morphin power gamer.'
He was a bounty hunter -- a class from the dragon magazine. Of course when we were playing, he never seemed to have the issue at hand. If he got tied up, he'd roll his 90% chance to escape bonds. If he faced a horde of mooks, he'd cast a fireball...when he'd never had any spellcasting abilities for 19 freakin levels!
GameWyrd
Explorer
Cheating’s only really an issue when you’re in the game side of the role-play. You can’t cheat at the important bits; talking to NPCs, putting plans together, trying to convince the other PCs that your plan is right.
I don’t remember cheating being a problem in any game since leaving school. I introduced small wooden tumblers. All the dice had to be shaken around in the tumble and then dumped onto the table. That eliminated all dice fudging in a swoop but the tumblers were awfully unpopular with the players so I got rid of them.
Here’s a question: are players who cheat a bad reflection on the GM? If you’re bumping your saving throw results or the damage you do around then have the mechanics become more important than the story/plot/narrative?
Mongoose’s Slayer Guide to Rules Lawyer quantified the Pretentious Art Whore as a player type. I don’t think I qualify any longer (Right? Right??) but there are times when I’m honestly pleased to see my own PC fail in dice roll because it means things will get interesting. Of course, I don’t play in games where primary PCs life’s are given away to cruel set of dice in some unimportant combat.
I don’t remember cheating being a problem in any game since leaving school. I introduced small wooden tumblers. All the dice had to be shaken around in the tumble and then dumped onto the table. That eliminated all dice fudging in a swoop but the tumblers were awfully unpopular with the players so I got rid of them.
Here’s a question: are players who cheat a bad reflection on the GM? If you’re bumping your saving throw results or the damage you do around then have the mechanics become more important than the story/plot/narrative?
Mongoose’s Slayer Guide to Rules Lawyer quantified the Pretentious Art Whore as a player type. I don’t think I qualify any longer (Right? Right??) but there are times when I’m honestly pleased to see my own PC fail in dice roll because it means things will get interesting. Of course, I don’t play in games where primary PCs life’s are given away to cruel set of dice in some unimportant combat.
I had this problem once. I asked the guy to do it in and out of game a couple of times and he ignored me. Of course, I did my own calc's of his hit points and he ALWAYS got it wrong so I finally got fed up and physically threw him out of my game after he got narky with me for insisting that he quit cheating and write it down.maddman75 said:DM:The orc cuts into your arm. Take four points of damage.
Player:Okay. (doesn't move for pencil)
DM:I said take four.
Player:I'll remember it.
DM:Sure. Well if that's how we're playing it I'll just "remember" your damage when you hit the monsters.
Player
I guess I'm just not the diplomatic type
drakhe
First Post
To keep things simple I (as DM) keep the "official" character sheet. And since I'm working with strictly core rules characters, I'll let my players update their sheets by means of the Chargen demo. They send me their new characters and I check these. Then I'll convert them to PDF and send them back to the players so they can print and store.
For the future I'll be converting to eTools and I'm also working on a website for the campaign. That way the players can get game info and sheets from the site.
On cheating: When I begin a campaign I tell my players once or twice that they shouldn't cheat and make clear to them that any cheating will be met by what I call "legal counter-cheating". I tell them I'll use monsters from other sources, drop them in and out of settings. (for some players the mere prospect of being dropped into Ravenloft for misbehaviour is enough to keep them in line <evil grin>)
Retroactive character alterations? Normaly I disallow, but if the player insists, I might allow if he can give me some good INGAME reasons/explanations why I should allow. Generaly at that point they'll simply shut up. (nobody so far has tried to use chronomancy to go back in time and explain the alteration that way)
I must say, my players so far have been very fair and have never complained about errors they made leveling their characters. The group runs smoothly and I sure hope it stays that way, makes it all the more agreable for me to DM!
For the future I'll be converting to eTools and I'm also working on a website for the campaign. That way the players can get game info and sheets from the site.
On cheating: When I begin a campaign I tell my players once or twice that they shouldn't cheat and make clear to them that any cheating will be met by what I call "legal counter-cheating". I tell them I'll use monsters from other sources, drop them in and out of settings. (for some players the mere prospect of being dropped into Ravenloft for misbehaviour is enough to keep them in line <evil grin>)
Retroactive character alterations? Normaly I disallow, but if the player insists, I might allow if he can give me some good INGAME reasons/explanations why I should allow. Generaly at that point they'll simply shut up. (nobody so far has tried to use chronomancy to go back in time and explain the alteration that way)
I must say, my players so far have been very fair and have never complained about errors they made leveling their characters. The group runs smoothly and I sure hope it stays that way, makes it all the more agreable for me to DM!
