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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spinozajack" data-source="post: 6597910" data-attributes="member: 6794198">I don't see DM empowerment or player entitlement as the ultimate end goals. I see a mix of player, DM, and dice all contributing to the end result. Changing HP independently of dice being rolled defeats the whole purpose of the dice : their cold impartiality.I see DMs as arbiters of the rules, and creators of worlds, but the dice are the true hands of god in D&D. Routinely ignoring HP totals as dictated by the normal flow of combat or healing robs them of their essence and their importance. D&D without dice isn't D&D. And D&D without dice mattering, because the outcome is determined by the DM anyway, isn't much better. That's taking away from the "dice matter" column and putting it in the DM column. It's not helpful to players to play in a world with shifting grounds under their feet. Sword attacks and damage shouldn't be subject to anything but the rules as written. If a DM wants an enemy to be dead, now, he can do it like Zeus with a bolt of lightning. But players wouldn't like that. So doing that behind the DM screen is dishonest, because players think the dice are actually having a say in their fortunes but they actually aren't.Sure the DM needs a DM screen, sometimes, like for maps or secret info or what have you. But rolling behind the screen for routine combat rolls isn't necessary and is often used as a substitute for admitting that lots of people actually don't like the fact that D&D has some randomness built-in, and that's what makes the game great and worth playing in the first place.</blockquote>

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