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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 6800923" data-attributes="member: 996">Heh.&nbsp; What about &quot;I want to maintain an illusion of drama, because narrating the result arbitrarily would disappoint my players?&quot;&nbsp; Some players can handle their action succeeding or failing for story reasons, but some can't help but interpret it as reflecting PC competence rather than fate.&nbsp; They need to the shield of perceived randomness to protect their immersion.I'd consider 'fudging' a special case of that.&nbsp; You decide on the resolution, but don't share the fact that it's arbitrary.&nbsp; It's like using a magician's force to keep the plot moving when no player decisions are needed, but the players seem to need to feel that they're making decisions.When you get right down to it, the whole RP experience is either a cooperative shared storytelling exercise in which a separate DM role is barely called for at all, or it's an illusion orchestrated by the DM.&nbsp; In the former, sure, fudging would be 'cheating' and the DM's role is pretty carefree and player-like.&nbsp; In the latter, the DM takes on a lot of privilege and responsibility.&nbsp; 5e isn't robust enough for the former mode of play, it's ideal for the latter.'Fudging' is not something you do if you're playing 'above board,' for that reason.&nbsp; But, it's fine for those games where the DM conceals information from the players in an attempt to put them more into their character's shoes.&nbsp; It's part and parcel of trying to engineer 'immersion,' while still getting a genre story to emerge from it.&nbsp; That whole style take experience &amp; a deft hand, or it can degenerate in all sorts of ways.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 6800923, member: 996"] Heh. What about "I want to maintain an illusion of drama, because narrating the result arbitrarily would disappoint my players?" Some players can handle their action succeeding or failing for story reasons, but some can't help but interpret it as reflecting PC competence rather than fate. They need to the shield of perceived randomness to protect their immersion. I'd consider 'fudging' a special case of that. You decide on the resolution, but don't share the fact that it's arbitrary. It's like using a magician's force to keep the plot moving when no player decisions are needed, but the players seem to need to feel that they're making decisions. When you get right down to it, the whole RP experience is either a cooperative shared storytelling exercise in which a separate DM role is barely called for at all, or it's an illusion orchestrated by the DM. In the former, sure, fudging would be 'cheating' and the DM's role is pretty carefree and player-like. In the latter, the DM takes on a lot of privilege and responsibility. 5e isn't robust enough for the former mode of play, it's ideal for the latter. 'Fudging' is not something you do if you're playing 'above board,' for that reason. But, it's fine for those games where the DM conceals information from the players in an attempt to put them more into their character's shoes. It's part and parcel of trying to engineer 'immersion,' while still getting a genre story to emerge from it. That whole style take experience & a deft hand, or it can degenerate in all sorts of ways. [/QUOTE]

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