To Fudge or not to Fudge...

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I was just reading another thread topic about rewinding a TPK and it got me to thinking about something else that some of us may do a lot, may do sometimes, or may never do. That is to Fudge.

So I pose to my fellow EnWorlders:

To Fudge or not to Fudge, that is the question...

How often have you Fudged a roll as a player to "save the day" with a little white lie, as a DM to "hold back" from TPK'ing the party or any number of other scenarios?

I'll post in this poll multiple choices so that if you are both a Player and a DM, you can answer and feel free to explain if you want to why you fudged or why you don't do it.

So to answer my own question:

As a Player I hate it when other players fudge their rolls and don't do it myself, the hit or miss and the roll of the dice makes it more "on the edge of your seat" to me.

As a DM I do fudge, but rarely. I only do so in the most dire of circumstances to keep a campaign going if I see a TPK being imminent, the players love their PCs, the campaign has been going on a long time, and I don't feel like starting a new campaign with new characters taking the time to have them roll up new PCs. This all goes through my head if I think about the fudging of rolls to "hold a punch" that would possibly end a campaign.

 

[Dausuul]

As a player: Never.

As a DM: Depends on the system I'm running.

 

[Bedrockgames]

As a player I don't like it when GMs fudge (in our favor or against it), so I don't fudge as a GM. I think the best approach is all dice rolls out in the open no fudging. That way everyone knows they are at least getting a fair shake.

 

[Umbran]

As a player - not unless the game rules or the GM has explicitly included it in some manner.

As a GM, I rarely fudge die rolls, but my players are all okay with it if I do it occasionally.

 

[Gaerek]

I've been playing D&D since the early 90's, and maybe it was the mindset of my original group, but fudging rolls has always (for both player and DM) been a part of the game. As a DM, I'd be a fool to think my players have never fudged rolls. I've done it in the past, but I don't do it anymore. I don't think I have done it in over 10 years. When I catch players fudging, well, they know the consequences. Immediate "1" on that roll, and a -10 to their next 4 rolls.

As a DM, I fudge, only if it helps the story out. I usually roll in the open anyway, so it's hard for me to get away with it. However, there are times when I believe it's nesesary. For me, the story trumps all die rolls.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I've been playing D&D since the early 90's, and maybe it was the mindset of my original group, but fudging rolls has always (for both player and DM) been a part of the game. As a DM, I'd be a fool to think my players have never fudged rolls. I've done it in the past, but I don't do it anymore. I don't think I have done it in over 10 years. When I catch players fudging, well, they know the consequences. Immediate "1" on that roll, and a -10 to their next 4 rolls.

As a DM, I fudge, only if it helps the story out. I usually roll in the open anyway, so it's hard for me to get away with it. However, there are times when I believe it's nesesary. For me, the story trumps all die rolls.

I like your table rule here with the auto-1 and -10 on next 4 rolls!

That's how I feel as well as a DM, to me DM-fudging is much more acceptable than player-fudging. I feel that a player doing is cheating. A DM doing it, it's preserving the story as long as we are all having fun.

 

[IronWolf]

I never fudge as a player.

As DM, I almost never fudge a dice roll, but I might adjust the power of a critter on the fly. Sometimes I get a little carried away with the monster power and I find the party in over their head but due to an error on judging power on my part. In those cases I might cut a few hit points off the creature to let it go down a little easier.

 

[GreyLord]

Humor:

Players idea of fudging only in dire circumstances:

Man, I rolled a 1 on damage...I should at least roll a 3 at a Minimum!!!!

Players idea of DM's who fudge only in dire circumstances:

The DM said he would help us out occasionally with a fudge or two...That wizard's fireball just fried me, knocked my head off my shoulders into the corner, and burned the rest of my body to Ash instantly...what type of situation does he need to actually fudge once in a while!!!!



DM's idea of Players fudging...anytime:

Did I just see you cheat by rerolling that die????

DM's idea of fudging only in dire circumstances:

Hmmm. lets...ahhh...I just rolled the maximum damage for the fireball...and all the players saw the dice faces too...no way to do away with that one...man they are not going to like me after that...anyway to pretend I rolled only just enough to leave them at 1 HP...maybe...but that jack, he's a rules lawyer and he'd technically be the only one in the party to survive this unless I fudge the roll. I know he's just going to roll me over the coals if I fudge this one...Okaaaay...

TPK...except for you jack...hey...did you just reroll that save jack???

 

[was]

As a player, I never fudge my rolls. As a DM, I fudge occasionally when necessary...Especially if I made an encounter way too tough.

 

[Cor Azer]

As a player, never.

As a DM, rarely. Generally, if I'm in a situation where I might want to fudge, I use fiat to avoid the roll (ie: if I want the players to notice a clue, but the character with good perception is missing, then I'll just say the highest perception left notices, rather than rolling and changing results).