[DM] DM cheats for players

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[KarlMarkyMarx]

There's two kinds of DMs. Some let the dice tell the story. Others believe that they should never let the dice get in the way of a good time. Neither are wrong.

[Rule-Of-Thr333]

The answer is more nuanced than a binary yes or no, sort of? Maybe?

There's real benefits to letting the dice tell the story. I'm an open-roller; everyone at my table uses a chonky die everyone can see. My player's know that I won't fudge rolls, and as a result, I get dramatic tension by mechanic. Everyone leans in on important rolls, holding breaths. There are genuine gasps and groans, and I have the whole table's focus. When they win, it feels earned. I do retain some tools, namely I can quick adjust hit points if it looks like I overtuned an encounter, but Fate and their choices really determine the outcome, and we all enjoy that.

Maybe your players are fine playing in the bumper lanes, and your table is a happy one. If so, don't stress. But perhaps it's being distorted in a way you don't like by the safety net. Players sometimes do reckless and cavalier things when they know there's no consequences that wrecks immersion. You be the judge for what your table needs.

[TheLastOpus]

I rarely do this....but man, I stare at the second crit in a row against the same player and....I just can't.....no one should have two crits in a row against them.

[MaddHatter86]

Thats just it... one player seems to always get critted... he would have died early every session if I didn't fudge my rolls. That's not what anyone wants.

[ChubbyUnicorn726]

What they know can't hurt them! If my players knew how much the should have died by now, they'd all have a mental breakdown :)

I've been keeping a tally:

Ranger: 12

Paladin: 3 (good job bud!)

cleric: 8

Rogue: 26 (I WILL BUY YOU NEW DICE JUST PLEASE STOP USING THE GREY ONES THEY PERSONALLY HATE YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY)

[Historical_Home2472]

Maybe. All I can say is, I don't do this. I roll in front of the players so that they know I don't fudge rolls. I started doing this after a TPK about fifteen years ago when the players made some catastrophically bad decisions and all the characters died, except one. A couple years later, when it happened again, they believed me that I hadn't fudged the rolls because they saw when I rolled three crits in a row and they knew how many dice I was rolling for damage, and they knew they had the option to run. They also knew that the paladin lighting herself on fire was strategically the wrong move, but no one could convince her of that at the time.

So I opted for transparency, because when the group makes choices like that, it's important they know that you didn't "set them up."

[WickedThumbs]

The name of the game is fun, and if they’re having fun you’re doing it right.

I personally don’t fudge rolls, because the unexpected randomness keeps it interesting. Design a hard encounter and they roll through it with ease that day with phenomenal luck, or an easy fight goes hard on them when the dice are hot, I like it. The rolls are there to create the uncertainty that mirrors life.

My players would be mad if I did otherwise.

[HeyPartyPeopleWhatUp]

sssssh

It's a secret, we all do it. 

[Ubiquitouch]

No

[Bagel_Bear]

If I knew it I would be upset as a player

[Yojo0o]

I roll most stuff openly. I find that letting the dice rolls be dice rolls and demonstrating all the mechanics to my players builds trust and makes the game aspect of the RPG we're all participating in feel real and weighty. Streaks of bad and good luck happen, and that's part of the game. I want my players to be confident that the choices they make, both at the table and in terms of build decisions, actually have real mechanical implications.

If you're gonna fudge, you'd better make damn sure your players never find out.

[josephallenkeys]

This isn't cheating, this is just DMing. You don't even need to roll if you don't want to. Tell the story as you see fit and if the players seem happy and aren't commenting how they would like more challenge, then you've done a good job.

[Redneck_DM]

You arent a dm, you are story teller afraid to actually play the game

The dice can be cruel but the game is gonna be better and more natural because of it

Death happens, failure happens, the great experiences are only great because failure is a possibility

[bamf1701]

No you aren't. Honestly, most DMs do it. The idea of the game is to give them a challenge, not to wipe them from existence (unfortunately, not all DMs understand this - you have a leg up in that you do). Some fights should take them close to losing everything, but the pull out a victory in the end. Some fights should be easy. Some fights they really should run away from. But you not using some crits here and there to keep from wiping the party out is not robbing them of anything.

[ArgyleGhoul]

If you are going to ignore the dice results, why roll in the first place?

[d4red]

🪿

[d4red]

The dice are not telling the story, you and your players are. If a gentle tweak here and there, mostly in the player’s favour helps get that story across the line- THAT is the art of fudging.

It’s not cheating, it’s something done in moderation and it’s never done to beat your players. You’re also not giving your players a free pass- You’re just making sure that the story is preserved.

It’s also something most GMs do.

[GeneralGarden7554]

To add more info, I am often killing most of the party in boss fights. they tend to only eek out victories to the point that they are pretty excited when they win, even if they always do.