Your d20...an inny or outy?

[Water Bob]

My fellow Gamemasters and Players, a question....

Do you prefer your GM roll out in the open? Or utilize secret throws often or all the time?



I have a sort of love/hate relationship with this question. I've always leaned towards rolling behind the screen. This way, the players aren't focussed dice throws, trying to figure an enemy's bonus to hit and other revealed stats. Rolling behind the screen, to me, is more about story telling--the player has to wait for any result and live it through the GM's description.

The player may figure what the bad guy needs to hit, and when he sees it out in the open, some of the drama is spoiled because the player already knows that the bad guy hit and damage is coming. I'd much rather that information come across in my description of what is happening rather than via the dice.



On the other hand, players like to see rolls out in the open. They certainly trust the GM more if they see it. If the GM gets hot on the dice and rolls a couple of criticals back-to-back, there's no argument if the throw is out in the open.



So, both sides of this arguement have important, persuasive points.

What about you?

What's your speed on this issue?




EDIT: When answering, please indicate whether you're primarily a GM or a Player! I think it will be interesting to see if there is a divide between the two on this issue.





MY ANSWER: I'm the GM 99.99% of the time, as my players enjoy playing more than they like GMing. And, I'm one of the minority odd creatures that likes GMing better than playing.

I prefer rolling behind the screen.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Primarily a GM, and I nearly always roll in the open. I hate having a screen between me and the players, and I don't generally fudge rolls. However, I use index cards for initiative that also have the players' vitals on them, so I can roll a die and say whether it hit or not with explicitly totalling it if I want to keep modifiers and such hidden.

 

[Crothian]

I hide the rolls. It doesn't really matter to me even when I am a player and the DM rolls out in the open I rarely watch the dice. When I DM the dice are hidden more because we don't game at a table, we sit in in a living room and relax so there is not easy place to roll that everyone could see. I don't see the players dice and they don't see my dice. We don't cheat and everyone trusts one other. It has never been an issue.

 

[Zhaleskra]

Primarily a GM. My philosophy behind rolling in the open, barring the things that should be hidden, is that in theory then the players have less to complain about because they saw what I rolled.

I have a similar philosophy on GM screens: I prefer reference cards. There is little material that the players shouldn't also be allowed to see.

 

[mach1.9pants]

All techniques are used by me as DM, fudging, rolling open or closed, tellling the PCs target numbers or not. It all depends on the current needs of the game/players/DM

 

[S'mon]

All rolls in the open. No exceptions.

I mostly GM.

 

[was]

GM...I roll primarily behind the screen now. I used to roll in the open, but got tired of explaining every single modifier to a certain...argumentative...player. At the suggestion of the other players, who were tired of the wasted game time, I now roll behind the screen.

 

[JohnH]

I'm mostly a player and I have GM's that roll both in front of and behind the screen. Either way is fine with me. If you don't have trust in the GM then your game probably isn't going to be much fun anyhow.

I do GM a little bit for our group too and when I do I roll behind the screen. It allows me to fudge the rolls for and against the players. I don't screw the players but sometimes they need a challenge and the dice don't want to cooperate.

 

[Sunseeker]

Because there are various modifiers to the roll, aside from "roll a 20" type rolls where that is the ONLY thing you're doing, I keep my rolls private. I sometimes roll damage out in the open though.

 

[catsclaw227]

MY ANSWER: I'm the GM 99.99% of the time, as my players enjoy playing more than they like GMing. And, I'm one of the minority odd creatures that likes GMing better than playing.

I prefer rolling behind the screen.

This is me mostly.

While I prefer to roll behind the screen, I usually defer to what the group wants me to do. Interestingly, my current group changes their mind depending upon what we are playing. They like 4e roll out in the open, 3.x/Pathfinder they like some battles rolled out in open and some hidden (mostly boss fights hidden) and they like skill checks that I sometimes make for them hidden like Listen, Search, Move Silently, Hide in Shadows. In 1e/retro games, always hidden. Savage Worlds, out in the open.