Two 20s, no 1s - how often do you use altered dice?

[BlackMoria]

Nope.

And as DM, if I catch a player with 'cheating dice', that player has one of two choices - ejection from the game or to 'eat' the offending dice.

My players all know that and don't push it. My weird rule about the dice came up a fair number of years ago when I caught a relatively new player with 'craps' cheating D6 dice (of which one dice is nothing but 6 on all the faces and he had two of them) while rolling up a character. The two cheat dice and a normal D6 guaranteed that the minimum stat was 13.

I was incensed by this and decided to punt the guy from the game. He, (nearly in tears), begged to stay and that he would do anything to atone.

Not thinking he would do it, I told him he could stay only if he eat the dice. So the player took the two cheating D6s, popped 'em in his mouth and with a gulp of Coke, swallowed them down. Amazed that he did it, I allowed him to stay and told everyone from that point onwards - it will be leave or eat 'em if they have cheat dice, weighted dice or doctored dice.

Everyone in my group accepts this.....which is just as well. Have you ever seen the size of some of the D12s and D20s these days....

 

[Oni]

As a play never, not once, not ever. And I never will either, it's dishonorable and low.

When DMing I fudge all the time, but not beat to players. The idea is to make the game fun and interesting for everybody. If a player is just waltzing though combat maybe the goblins land a few lucky hits just to keep the feeling of danger. If a player has had a rotten night and nothing has worked for them, maybe the guard didn't see them after all. This is fine because it is applied equally to all the players, and I treat everybody fair.

A player that decides to cheat though isn't being fair to his fellow players because he is taking it on himself to create an inequality at the table.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Some of my players didn't have these cheating dice, but had the habbit of picking up the dice as soon as they were rolled and proclaiming the roll.

Now I have a dice tray that all of the PC's dice must be rolled into. I have little character sheets with their bonuses on them so I can quickly determine what they hit. If I have to ask someone "Are you sure." about the AC or damage they did, and they flat out lie, it's pretty much a death sentence at that point. "So with a roll of 6, at 5th level, you hit an AC of 22 eh? How much damage again? Oh, bad news. The bad guy has a cloak of reflection so it tripples the damage against you and you need to make a system shock vs. Will of 25."

 

[Driddle]

Look, genius ... make the game fun. ... If that means altering rolls to that end, super.

I figured as much. There have been a lot of denials here already, but it's good to see your honesty and agreement. (And flattery -- thank you very much! I'm not really a "genius," but I am really super-smart.)

 

[Pielorinho]

I think my DM's on to me, however; I had to stop when he started bringing a defibrillator to the games. Now, any time I even look pale, he starts warming up the unit and grinning wickedly.

You think that's bad? After you told me about this trick, I tried it, too.

One direct cardial adrenaline injection later, and I've not cheated since.

Not thinking he would do it, I told him he could stay only if he eat the dice. So the player took the two cheating D6s, popped 'em in his mouth and with a gulp of Coke, swallowed them down.

I bet after that, those dice couldn't roll for crap.

Daniel

 

[starkad]

I do it from time to time, if my rolls are superbly horrendous that evening, so I don't feel useless. I'd say I do it once every 10-20 game sessions. As a DM? I cheat all the time. To both make it more exciting, and to make it more challenging. Sometimes both, sometimes neither, and other times just to make sure PCs don't die for the 3rd time that night.

I accept player cheating as part of the game, and as long as it doesn't get out of hand, I am fine with it. It's having fun that counts, and as long as it makes him happy, and doesn't interfere with other players... Go nuts pal.

For instance: I am now playing (GASP) in a game for the first time in 4 years. 7th sea d20 flavor, 10ish level. I fumbled (we use the DC15 dex check method to determine if the 1 is a really bad miss, or if it's a FUMBLE) no less than 5 times. I cheated on the last fumble of the night when noone was looking. Why? Because I felt utterly useless, this is my favorite character ever (I wrote literally 10 single spaced pages worth of character history, and developed 5 NPCs for the GM to tie into my background...), and failing that last roll catastrophically would have meant his death. Am I a dishonorable person? Perhaps... But I had fun, and dying is not what I call fun - though if he were to die due to plot circumstances, to a bad guy, or a monster I would be fine with it... But a climb check where I got cocky? No way, Jose!

 

[Pseudonym]

I've my lucky dice that always seem to do well for me, but as a player I've never used dice that I knew to be loaded in some way. As a DM, I'd kick out anyone who I caught cheating, through dodgy dice or some form of blatant rules abuse. Booted first offence, regardless of any extenuating circumstances or length of association. That being said, I like Black Moria's idea about forcing the offender to eat the offending dice. I'm going to use that one should it ever come up.

 

[guedo79]

I did once, about a week after I bought them at Gencon. I was DMing and rolled for attack. I rolled a critical and someone made a joke about me using those 'cheater dice'. I looked down, sinspected the die, and blushed deep red. I didn't really pay attention to which 20 I used.

Man, I heard a lot about that for the next few months.

Edit: The reason I picked up the dice in the first place is becuase I'm a card carring Dice Whore. They are now safely kept in a dice box away from any dice I play or dm with.

 

[Chronosome]

I don't even cheat when a big, slobbering troll appears!

 

[Driddle]

Oh, bah hah hah. I sense a pack of mini-trolls in this thread. Macho little buggers, too, by all the posturing.

Like anyone ever really ejects a player from the game?! GIMME A BREAK!

It sounds "fair" and tough, sure. But I have never ever seen anyone asked to leave the game table for a faked dice roll. Not even a dozen weighted rolls.

That sort of fibbing is as bad as claiming you never cheat.