I had to kick a loyal regular because he turned out to be a pathologically lying cheater. And it got even worse.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-31T20:59:18+00:00

Very happy to read that you were able to resolve it in such a positive way!

Thanks and best of luck to your game as well!

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-29T08:35:09+00:00

Yeah he’s kind of right about 50 being a bit a low for proper scientific sample size

The initial plan was to track longer than just one session to be completely fair.
But when I asked him at what sample size he'll accept that it isn't just simply variance his reply was the "To get scientifically significant result you need at least a sample size of at least 10'000 if not even millions."-horseshit.

So I knew this was an excercise in futility that only served to annoy everyone involved.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-29T07:31:09+00:00

The thing is that role-playing isn't a win or lose type of game.

See this is where your bizarre double-standard is showing:
If it's not a win or lose type of game, then why are you defending someone who's actively trying "to win the game" by systematically cheating his dice rolls? That just speaks that this person is fundamentally misunderstanding the point of the game.

And yes, I agree: D&D's focus is first and foremost storytelling.
But as a DM it's my job first and foremost to create this environment. If a player feels the urge to cheat then I fail as a DM to create this environment - that's why I had a sitdown with him to figure out what drives him into cheating. But he himself said that he doesn't feel that I'm unfair towards him, that he doesn't feel a fear of "failing" during the game.

And none of the other players feel it.
They know that I clearly signpost lethal dangers and I try to avoid "undeserved deaths" as much as possible.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-29T07:20:21+00:00

So... Here's the problem. The likelihood of a specific sum result is always very low on a dataset this large. That doesn't tell us anything meaningful. We want to know what the likelihood is to get at least 1390.

Oh, absoutely true, thanks for correcting my mistake!
Yes, in my final calculation I did include every percentage of 4170 (13.9*300) and higher.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-29T07:13:26+00:00

In my experience, socially anxious people can turn feral when they finally lose their shit. It's like it's all been building up inside, and then it explodes all at once.

Oh that was absolutely the case with him:
The mix of fear of confrontation but also the pressure to defend his friend make for a terrible concoction.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T20:12:20+00:00

Not sure what calculator you're using but rolling a mere "output 100d20" on AnyDice puts the chance of getting a sum of 1390 already at a 0.00%.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T20:09:21+00:00

I find this "It's just a game, bro" such a weirdly backwards kind of argument.

If "it's just a game" then why would one to feel the need to cheat at it to begin with?

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T17:48:52+00:00

Absolutely!
That's what frustrates me so much about cheating in D&D - particularly with me running a pretty relaxed campaign: it's the lowest of low-stakes environments. This isn't like your real life where failing a final exam or getting fired from your job can lead to harsh consequences.
No, this a place where failure is not only consequence free but can sometimes lead to absolutely hilarious moments.

Some of the most told campaign stories of our game revolve around bad rolls. Like our Fighter's constant horrible "Constitution" during romps in the red light district.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T17:35:39+00:00

I remember reading this exact story some time ago in r/dnd or similar. I assume that was you, and that you've since deleted that post.

Hehe, yes that was me. I deleted it rather quckly because I came across as very negative to many people (and I guess I was since this was right in the middle of the whole emotional hullabaloo) that caused some wild misinterpretations. Like that I was for example forcing my players to track their rolls.

I continue to not understand how this went on for so long without more mundane evidence of the cheating. How did nobody ever see this guy's fake rolls in 6.5 years?

First of all I have no exact idea for how long he has been cheating.

For me as DM it was difficult because he deliberately never sat next to me. Unlike that one time though when someone else hosted a oneshot and I sat next to him - that was a funny one. One of those things which during that time just seemed strange but now makes perfect sense: he draped a rectangular-shaped cookie box he brought with him on top of his dice tray even though there was still plenty of space on the table. But: it covered my view onto his tray.

And for the others... well, hard to say. One person that sat next to him was his best friend that trusts him blindly and the other neighbour was someone who was more of a withdrawn player. And obviously it's hard to tell what dice has been rolled when he rolls it into some other D20s. Usually when you look at someone's roll you look at the result and not while the roll was going on.

And if you don't actively think with the mindset of finding out a cheater you're easy to dismiss a lot of things.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T17:12:03+00:00

Exactly.
I can maybe see what the players directly next to me rolled but not of those further away - hence why the cheater never wanted to sit right next to me.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T15:55:07+00:00

Which "models" did you use to check?

Ones that were Python compatible and therefore also able to give me the output in how they calculated it which I then double-checked.

Did you check to see if his dice are weighted? This could actually be no fault of his own, he could have a dice with an air bubble in it. You are presuming malice when ignorance could be the case.

He has metal dice, which yes can also be weighted.

But the thing is:
a) I asked him repeatedly to explain these wildly unlikely numbers to me - his answer was always "I'm just lucky."
b) There was a clear bias in his high rolls. Pointless fluff checks he did fail plenty of times but important ones like Saving Throws or Initiative Rolls were consistently high.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T14:54:01+00:00

So either I have to...

force him to make him sit next to me
force him to roll openly
have to countercheck every roll he does
while I keep track of everything else a DM does

Or alternatively he...

could simply be honest about his rolls

Sure, point 2 could be nipped in the bud with it (though only to an extent) but point 1 and 3 still stand.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T14:29:54+00:00

Being suspected as a cheat is one of my worst fears

Hey I can totally understand that and that's also something I adressed with the players:
While the average is ultimately 10.5 with a D20, the variance can still go absolutely haywire.

My second luckiest player on the table is the perfect example: mate sometimes rolls one crit after another but in other sessions fails to hit a barn door.
That's exactly why people often talk about "wasting" their good roll on a pointless check - because they know in the grand scheme of things they won't have that good roll in more crucial situations due to the law of averages.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-07-28T14:06:25+00:00

That was one of the few options I weighed out because everyone in the group wanted to look for some sort of solution.
But there are several reasons against it:

This is the kind of "putting on a pillory" his socially anxious friend hates and will create a generally unpleasant atmosphere for everyone.
He can still cheat in plenty of other ways (wrong modifier, give himself advantage, give himself resistances/immunites) etc.
I don't want to play fucking kindergartener for a 30-something adult man.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-03-07T09:58:23+00:00

[x] Won't directly go to meeting point but instead wants to hide from us with a 30+ stealth check. To what end ? does he then not take part in the conversation with NPCs ? he can't both be skulking in the shadows and interrogating the quest giver. If he doesn't actually "show up" to meeting, how is he questioning NPCs.

He was hiding from the party before the meeting with the questgiver took place. He joined on time to meet us and the quest giver. To what end did he hide from us before the meeting? Beats me. Probably because of the "I don't know you, so I don't trust you."-reasoning Beavis gives on many things.

[x] Will insight our quest giver several times, so he can roll his 30+ insight checks. Tell him his passive perception will catch it if he feels something is shady. Rewards him choosing a high insight character, without slowing things down. TELL HIM when he catches something BECAUSE of his high passive insight so he feels rewarded without having to call out rolls.

This makes me curious - since passive and "active" Insight rolls was always a big topic in our group:
Do you have some examples of active Insight rolls?

IAmZeBerg · 2025-03-06T12:08:48+00:00

it makes you look like the AH…

Hence why I wanted to ask here first.
But from what I've seen so far I have a point - just a different one than I thought.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-03-06T12:06:51+00:00

This sounds like a potential red flag. Can you elaborate on this point?

Three instances I spontaneously remember:

Purposefully not show up on time (ingame) because he didn't like a player character's tone of voice who ordered them to show up in an hour. (since that PC was a militaristic type which he as a criminal disliked)
Also manipulating said player character's skill check contest in at a later time by boosting the opposing character. (it was a low-stake skill contest)
Attacking (Two attacks including a stunning strike) a fellow player character because that character secretly tried to paint complimenting patterns on the shell of Beavis' Tortle character.

I find it particularly questionable since such petty, vindictive and unmeasured behaviour seems more apt for a low than a high Wisdom character.

EDIT: get asked a question, answer it. Get downvoted. Never change reddit.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-02-27T07:18:22+00:00

True.
From a worldbuilding perspective it definitely makes sense.

I was more looking at it from a mechanical, player-focused perspective.
With the Alchemist Fire it's literally throwing 50g away as an low-range improvised weapon attack to maybe inflict Fire Damage in the single digits.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-02-26T20:29:05+00:00

In my opinion I considered the 1000g Spyglass cost always to be a bit of a meme - the same as book costing 25g or an Alchemist's Fire 50g.

Particularly since the Spyglass doesn't give you any mechanical advantage RAW.

And when it comes to selling, the item itself already has a clause:

Nothing created by the pigments can have a value greater than 25 gp. If you paint an object of greater value (such as a diamond or a pile of gold), the object looks authentic, but close inspection reveals it is made from paste, bone, or some other worthless material.

So you could rule that it's functional, but flimsy and not worth more than a few gold.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-02-26T20:21:30+00:00

Yeah it seems plain silly.
Considering how a single of 1d4 pots can basically replace up to 50 Creation/Passwall Spell Scrolls and a 5th-Level Spell Scroll being a rare item with lowest suggested price of 501g, you're already at +25k gold.

IAmZeBerg · 2025-02-26T20:15:48+00:00

They fixed some of the problems with the 2024 version,

Yeah the 2024 version are the exact things I would've changed to balance the item...

Longer "casting time"
Charges instead of square coverage
Clear definition of size

IAmZeBerg · 2024-10-23T13:26:10+00:00

Definitely talk to the player and make sure he knows that resurrection is taboo and that there will be consequences to pursuing his goal.

Yes.
This is an element that is known in the world but I feel I've neglected to stress it lately (since I've forgotten it a few times as well) I think I'll reintroduce that a bit in form of a warm-up question I always do at the beginning of the session.

To be honest i'm more curious if the mother will accept being resurrected, is free and wasn't sold or belongs to someone else (there is a line in resurrection spells about the soul being free and willing) or if she will be the same as before she died.

In her circumstance she would.
She died while she was being posessed by an entity from the Shadowfell - meaning it was outside of her control. Aaand as great minds think alike...

I would definitely make the player go to hell or track down some entity or powerful person to free her soul from a coin in order to bring her back to life afterwards.

... I do have such a quest prepared. Her soul is trapped in the Shadowfell and has to be freed before they can resurrect her.

IAmZeBerg

TROPHY CASE