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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 6800906" data-attributes="member: 6790260">&quot;Making rulings&quot; =/= &quot;resolving actions in defiance of...the dice&quot;If you explicitly choose, &quot;I don't know for sure whether this will succeed, so I leave it to the dice,&quot; or &quot;I don't know which result will be more interesting, so I leave it to the dice,&quot; and then the result comes and now suddenly DO know which result works be more interesting or preferable, that is your problem, not the dice. You (generic), as DM, need to learn when to call for the dice and when to just Say Yes (or no, but usually it's &quot;say yes or roll the dice&quot;). Fudging--cheating--is thus denying *you* opportunities to refine your DMing skills, skills which have actual practical significance for someone who likes DMing (or needs to because no one else will).Note that I do NOT consider it &quot;fudging&quot; to simply fiat declare an action a success/failure when a die roll would normally be called for. That's a ruling any DM can make in any situation, regardless of the ruleset in question. It's when you engage the mechanics, when you invest the numbers and dice with meaning and importance, *and then* say &quot;y'know what? No I didn't actually want that, I've changed my mind and by God the world WILL bend to my will, even if it means deceiving my players and invalidating the info they've gained thus far.&quot; That's &quot;fudging.&quot; And it's not something to be proud of, in my not-so-humble opinion. If it were, DMs wouldn't take great pains to conceal it from their players, nor admit that revealing it would cause hurt feelings or even player revolt.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 6800906, member: 6790260"] "Making rulings" =/= "resolving actions in defiance of...the dice" If you explicitly choose, "I don't know for sure whether this will succeed, so I leave it to the dice," or "I don't know which result will be more interesting, so I leave it to the dice," and then the result comes and now suddenly DO know which result works be more interesting or preferable, [b] that is your problem, not the dice.[/b] You (generic), as DM, need to learn when to call for the dice and when to just Say Yes (or no, but usually it's "say yes or roll the dice"). Fudging--cheating--is thus denying *you* opportunities to refine your DMing skills, skills which have actual practical significance for someone who likes DMing (or needs to because no one else will). Note that I do NOT consider it "fudging" to simply fiat declare an action a success/failure when a die roll would normally be called for. That's a ruling any DM can make in any situation, regardless of the ruleset in question. It's when you engage the mechanics, when you invest the numbers and dice with meaning and importance, *and then* say "y'know what? No I didn't actually want that, I've changed my mind and by God the world WILL bend to my will, even if it means deceiving my players and invalidating the info they've gained thus far." That's "fudging." And it's not something to be proud of, in my not-so-humble opinion. If it were, DMs wouldn't take great pains to conceal it from their players, nor admit that revealing it would cause hurt feelings or even player revolt. [/QUOTE]

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