To Fudge or not to Fudge...

[The Shaman]

I don't put my finger on the scales of Fate.

 

[the Jester]

Pretty much no.

Once in a great while, but... pretty much no.

In fact, one thing that really made my day some years ago: an epic-level 3.5 cleric went on a quick solo mission. He encountered, hmm, some kind of demodand, don't recall which, blocking his path and threatening him.

The cleric cast destruction and the demodand failed its save and died without getting to act.

The player of the cleric commented, "That's awesome! That's how you know James doesn't fudge to save his bad guys!" Further discussion led to some wailing about dms whose monsters never fail an important saving throw.

I have seen huge swings in a combat due to one roll, either for or against the pcs, either by pcs or npcs, and I pretty much always let them go.

 

[Crothian]

I fudge as a player but never in my own favor. When combats are just too easy and the fun of having a challenge is just not there I will fudge so my character is less effective.

On the flip side as the DM I do it for the same reasons. I want the game to fun and there are times as a DM I don't make things hard enough or I make them too hard. Fudging is my way to correct things at the last possible moment.

 

[S'mon]

No fudging. Player fudging is known as "cheating", of course, and I don't regard DM fudging much better. Don't roll dice unless you're prepared to abide by the result.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

Quite an interesting variation by the results so far. It seems most of us agree that players shouldn't fudge - ever - and consider it cheating. As DM's it seems that most are doing it when they feel it necessary with a few never doing it. I always find it fascinating to see what people say in regards to why they allow something to happen or why they think it shouldn't happen at all.

 

[Halivar]

If a player fudges, it's called "cheating."

If a DM fudges, well, it's called showmanship. Besides, that's what the magic DM screen is for...

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

If a player fudges, it's called "cheating."

If a DM fudges, well, it's called showmanship. Besides, that's what the magic DM screen is for...

Yep and yep. I feel the same way, I don't do it all the time as a DM, but it's a nice option to have so that we can keep things flowing when we overdo an encounter or under power an encounter to make things more interesting.

 

[Hactarcomp]

I'm fudging less and less every session, as every other time I fudge in the players favor, I end up regretting it. I suppose I could just add a few more HP to the monsters on the fly, but they tend to keep a vague track of how much damage they did and would react badly to the numbers getting too high.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I'm fudging less and less every session, as every other time I fudge in the players favor, I end up regretting it. I suppose I could just add a few more HP to the monsters on the fly, but they tend to keep a vague track of how much damage they did and would react badly to the numbers getting too high.

What are you doing that you need to fudge every session? Just curious because I only fudge when I deem it necessary to keep the party from TPK or if they are running through things that I wanted to be a challenge. I'd probably say I fudge once every 5-10 sessions at most.

 

[Ahnehnois]

As a player, it really isn't my place to do anything beyond what the dice say. I'll maybe bend the rules as far as I can without breaking them, but I'm pretty upfront about it.

As a DM, I occasionally change things in the name of keeping the game cohesive. I prefer to think of it as deciding that the monster's stats were in error and need to be revised downward, or as a sort of negative action point, a sudden circumstance that changes things. That said, it's not ideal and I've tried to get farther and farther away from that kind of thing.