As much as those rolls are good, with such a small sample size I would call it a fluke, a bit of good luck.
Now, at the table there needs to be trust and respect. If you don't trust this player to the extent you are showing, I find it unlikely that you ever will. Similarly, if you don't trust the DM and respect his ability to run the game....
To put it bluntly, I think you would be best off leaving the game. If you are concentrating on recording the rolls of a player you suspect of cheating, and getting annoyed with the DMs handling of the game, you will not be enjoying the game and will probably be making others uncomfortable. You need to either bring parties up respectfully with the DM and trust them to handle it, or walk away.
Why not just ask the player and the DM during the next game? I'm a bit confused why it's so hard to just call it out once and see what he's adding to his rolls. Just ask and wait for the answer, if the guy starts making a big deal out of it then you know something is up.
I’m going to give the same advice people gave you in your last thread involving this group you have been playing with and seem to have issues with.
Either talk to you DM calmly and respectfully about your frustrations so you two can be on the same page, or leave and find a group better suited to your play style.
The way you are conducting yourself doesn’t leave a lot of people to want to sympathize with your situation, especially given past history on these forums. Is it fair? Maybe not but it’s hard to take your frustrations seriously and genuinely when you make generalizations and insult others for playing differently then you. Ranting to us on the internet is not going to change your situation, and at the end of the day our opinions won’t change things either. You need to actually do something to change things and address this within you group. This is between you and them.
You chose not to leave or talk to them the last time you had grievances, and clearly things haven’t gotten better for you. Maybe it’s time to consider actually following one of these options less you continue to not enjoy yourself. Despite people’s frustrations with you here, you deserve to have fun playing the game as much as anyone else at your table. As others on this forum have said, “No D&D is better then bad D&D”.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and quacks like a duck, those who hate you will still try to say it's a chicken. Those who actually think will agree it is MOST LIKELY a duck.
Well said. I usually disagree with Vince (I definitely do on this topic), and if he was as bitter in person I don’t think we would be very good friends at all. But. Just because he’s a problem here does not mean that he’s a liar or the other player is not also a problem. No offense meant, but the people who are saying this looks like just luck are probably saying so because of their (justified) distaste for Vince’s toxicity, not because it actually does.
Some people physically roll better - there is such a thing as rolling techniques, rolling in a dice tray where it rebounds on sides is going to be different to rolling on a countertop with no bounce.
Huh?
Why would a dice bouncing off the side of a tray affect its randomness?
The only "rolling technique" I'm aware is dropping the dice with the 20 already upright from a distance of a quarter of an inch onto a felt surface.
I only know how to do d6s
It's much harder if it hits a rail or side. That's why Vegas rules say you have to hit the back end.
But like cyber said, it could be a bad die. In high school I had a crit die that rolled an unusual number of 20s. It came from the factory that way.
I have had people have bad dice and good dice, My brother had a blue die he got from a veteran TTRPG player who used it since he was a kid, it rolls 20's 2/3 of the time, I've been perplexed and had him use different dice, but he took my worst-rolling die and rolled 2 20's and a 19 all in a row, we've jokes his palm sweat is "lucky", but some people straight up roll ridiculously well, although this guy Vince is talking about could very well be cheating, ya never know.
Just ask and wait for the answer, if the guy starts making a big deal out of it then you know something is up.
You're suggesting that if someone makes a big deal about being accused of cheating that constitutes proof? If someone accused me I'd be pretty upset about that myself, and I don't cheat.
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How does your table roll? Many just have the rolls in the middle or at least in open view, doing so removes all doubt. Alternatively you can use something like Roll20 where the virtual rolls are publicly shown in the chat.
I have heard of new players stuffing up the maths terribly, such as adding the whole stat rather than just the bonus, but I'm pretty sure you said this guy was an experienced player, so that kind of mistake seems unlikely. If you said to the DM you would like player rolls to be public, you wouldn't have to call out that guy, just say its the same rule for everyone.
We are playing online, using Discord, and everyone is rolling at home, on the honour system. Some have more honour than others. This guy have been playing D&D off and on for 40 years. I fear that if asked the DM to have players roll online, that would certainly trigger "why???"
If this was my own game, I would handle it. But given this is another DM, and the cheater is a old friend of his, any suggestions by me require a lot more finesse than I am usually capable, or willing, to use.
I play on Discord all the time and the Avrae bot has improved immensely. You can now tie a campaign from DDB with a text channel and every player with a PC in the campaign can roll right on their sheet and the bot automatically displays the result in the channel, as long as everyone has their discord account linked to the website. Why not ask your DM to try it out? No reason to bring up your suspicion at all. Just act all excited about how cool it is for the DDB sheet to be so interactive.
I just want to reinforce this suggestion. I cannot reinforce it strong enough. If a player refused to roll somewhere I could see the roll results directly, I would, as a DM, politely ask them to leave. The insistence that they roll openly is not an accusation but rather insurance against accusations. Avrae facilitates this very efficiently.
I would also wonder about the DM not insisting on seeing character sheets.
It is a tough thing to finesse, and here is why. This is not total strangers getting together:
DM and I met about a couple years ago when he sat down at my table at the gaming cafe and he played in my game. Then Covid hit, trashed my in-person game, and about 3 or 4 months ago he fired up an online game, and asked me to play. He and I get along fine,. I think he is a good DM (now that player 2 is keeping the guys more on the RAW rails), and very decent fellow, however:
Player 1 is and old old friends with the DM. I have never met the man in person, but I have zero qualms with him. He has played D&D off and on for 40 years, and he and the DM are friends since high school. He does not know the 5e rules, but is clearly trying hard. Like I said, no problems with at all with this guy, and I trust him totally.
Player 2 is also a decent guy, in his mid 20's, and also met me a couple years ago when he also sat down at my in-person game. That is how the DM knows him. He is an excellent player, and highly knowledgeable about 5e, and has taken up the mantle of making sure the other players get the rules right. I have my mic muted for most of the game because I can sit back and just play when Player 2 is online.
And now, THAT GUY. He played in one session of my in-person game, and never came back. His char was one of 3 in a party of 6 that died. They are the only chars I have ever killed in that campaign. That was due to the players of coming up with a genius plan to split the party 3 ways, scattered over a few hundred yards of a deep ravine. Things did not go well. THAT GUY was apparently very upset that I did not allow him some roll to skip down the ravine wall without falling. He, like player 1, is old high school buddies with the DM. These guys are tight. His knowledge level of 5e is like Player 1's, which is low. I would say 80-90% of all the rule of cool stuff originates with him, some sessions 100%. And, of course, these dice rolls.
I really enjoy this game, except for THAT GUY. And to ask the DM to go to on-line rolling is a tough ask, as the honour system is faster and one less piece of software people have to deal with. Like I said before, the DM I am sure has no idea of what is happening. Like all DM"s, he has his plate full, especially when he is flipping screens on his computer for us. He fires up Powerpoint and shares the screen with us, and it is brilliant. It may not look as nice as Roll20, but he can whip up a room for an encounter in seconds, as opposed to minutes with Roll20. I tried to DM my own game with Roll20, and hated it. So does this DM. But it means his brain is occupied with a lot of stuff and tracking dice rolls...not enough bandwidth for that. Telling him one of his high school buddies is a cheater, is going to take a lot of solid evidence.
So the only way this becomes known is if I make it known. I HATE cheaters, and would have no problem calling them out in my own game. But clearly, this not my game. Hence why I have asked some of the stats people with how I can model this, and then I can add more data points as the next session unfolds. As others have stated, 28 data points is really not enough. But if I get 40 or 50 data points, that is another matter. The DM also a bit of a numbers guy, and would grasp the information immediately, if presented.
1) Cheating is everyone’s problem. No player should have to put up with it and it should be called out. Whether your friends play the Rule of Cool or meta game their asses off, cheating is disrespectful to every other player. If dice rolls don’t matter, then remove them from the game you’re playing and just use prose to explain the action.
2) Those rolls (if true) are definitely suspicious. With the most generous +6 allowance, the data you provided totals 351, and that skews to a 3.19% chance of that type of skew happening in any 28-number d20 sample.
If we consider half and half being +4 and +6, the total would be 14 higher at 365 and the chances are now 1.01% chance.
If we consider all of these to be +4, the total would be 379 and a 0.26% chance.
“But 3% means it’s entirely possible!” - yes, but it’s also extremely unlikely over 28 rolls and definitely should encourage everyone around the table to adopt an Avrae roller or even use the dnd beyond game log for these rolls. Anyone who looks at these numbers and tries to make an argument about “but it could happen!”... why? Just why? Are you basing your opinion on the data that skews extremely in favour of a player or just because you didn’t like Vince’s other post?
3) People spouting off about “some online rollers aren’t truly random” have no idea what they’re talking about. The kind of statistical research that looks into this level of randomness will never impact your dice rolling statistics in any meaningful way as this usually only faces scrutiny when looking at encryption of data.
That is an interesting bit of software. I have never used it before, but I think that will solve some of the modelling issues. How are you getting any of the probabilities? Does it work off the mean, and estimate the probability of that total value of 351 occurring?
Naturally, he next session's data will be even more fuzzy, as the char will have leveled up to 5, therefore Prof=3, max bonus = 7, and therefore a wider swing between saves that don't use Prof versus those that do.
If you suggest the virtual dice roller mod as an improvement you don't need to have the awkward cheater conversation. The mod would speed up the game, especially when the rolls get into the handfuls of dice for powered up spells. It also gives a history to refer to, removes any doubt of fudging and removes the chance of honest mistakes (forgetting a die, using the wrong die or just a mis-count when adding a dozen die with bonuses). It also means people don't have to buy packs of dice and really improves engagement as you can all feel the excitement of the clutch moments and feel the pain of the 1s.
Even if I play at a physical table I would always expect to use the tools available. It feels like online character sheets and dice rolls are so well done and completely free, so I would be discussing which system, rather than if we use one.
I'm suggesting that if you ask a person "Hey, so what is it that you rolled and what's the bonus you added?" they'd most likely say "oh, well I rolled a whatever and the bonus is whatever." Unless they have something to hide in which case they are more likely to go: "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW, HUH?". If they do ask that then you can just casually say that you're just wondering because the player has been rolling so well all the time.
I never said that OP should accuse the guy of anything, just ask like a normal person and see if you get an answer. Why is it so hard to ask a question and why is everything seen as offensive nowadays?
"Hey, so how did you roll so high?" -> "Are you accusing me of cheating?" ^This makes no sense whatsoever.
"Hey, so how did you roll so high?" -> "Are you accusing me of cheating?" ^This makes no sense whatsoever.
Except that cheating dice, especially during online games, is a trope unto itself. If someone asks about your rolls, and you're not an obviously new player, there is an implied subtext. And, if it is cheating, then this approach is blunt enough to cause friction and potentially break the group.
People who cheat are usually compelled by a need to feel special or in control. The best way to resolve that is often to provide a graceful transition without invalidating, or drawing attention toward, their previous "successes".
Your approach might be informative, but won't fix the problem and can make it worse.
If a player asking another player to check their rolls so they can feel more at ease in the game because they're wondering why another player is making super high rolls when that shouldn't be possible is a blunt approach, enough to cause friction and potentially break the group, that group shouldn't be playing in the first place.
It's not that big of a deal unless the one cheating OR the DM not caring that someone is cheating feels offended by it for some mysterious reason. If the guy is cheating then he should've seen it coming, honestly. If the guy is NOT cheating, the group can talk it out like a bunch of mature people, even if it is online.
You should be able to talk out whatever the issue is, if that isn't the case then the ones not wanting to talk are just being immature...
If OP doesn't want to ask the ONE GUY, then he will either have to deal with the thoughts he's been having for the past few games and ignore them or he can leave the game.
If you suggest the virtual dice roller mod as an improvement you don't need to have the awkward cheater conversation. The mod would speed up the game, especially when the rolls get into the handfuls of dice for powered up spells. It also gives a history to refer to, removes any doubt of fudging and removes the chance of honest mistakes (forgetting a die, using the wrong die or just a mis-count when adding a dozen die with bonuses). It also means people don't have to buy packs of dice and really improves engagement as you can all feel the excitement of the clutch moments and feel the pain of the 1s.
Even if I play at a physical table I would always expect to use the tools available. It feels like online character sheets and dice rolls are so well done and completely free, so I would be discussing which system, rather than if we use one.
Exactly. It is fair for all, visible to all and thus avoids any suggestions of cheating. And need not be considered an accusation of anything.
I have never used online rollers. I don't understand. How can it be faster than someone simply picking up a die and rolling it?
If you suggest the virtual dice roller mod as an improvement you don't need to have the awkward cheater conversation. The mod would speed up the game, especially when the rolls get into the handfuls of dice for powered up spells. It also gives a history to refer to, removes any doubt of fudging and removes the chance of honest mistakes (forgetting a die, using the wrong die or just a mis-count when adding a dozen die with bonuses). It also means people don't have to buy packs of dice and really improves engagement as you can all feel the excitement of the clutch moments and feel the pain of the 1s.
Even if I play at a physical table I would always expect to use the tools available. It feels like online character sheets and dice rolls are so well done and completely free, so I would be discussing which system, rather than if we use one.
I roll online for our current, online game, but mainly because that's what everybody else in the group started doing when we had to switch to online. I have over 100 sets of dice, some of them quite pricy. I have a dice tower I built myself. I enjoy grabbing a fat fistful of dice when I cast a juicy Fireball. As a DM, I like homebrewing stuff - stuff that isn't always easy to translate to a digital format that works with online tools, but that works just fine scribbled down on a beer coaster or some white space in my binder.
I don't hate or even dislike the online tools. I might not have a current game without them. But I wouldn't use them if it the choice wasn't dictated by current circumstances.
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If a player asking another player to check their rolls so they can feel more at ease in the game because they're wondering why another player is making super high rolls when that shouldn't be possible is a blunt approach, enough to cause friction and potentially break the group, that group shouldn't be playing in the first place.
It's not that big of a deal unless the one cheating OR the DM not caring that someone is cheating feels offended by it for some mysterious reason. If the guy is cheating then he should've seen it coming, honestly. If the guy is NOT cheating, the group can talk it out like a bunch of mature people, even if it is online.
You should be able to talk out whatever the issue is, if that isn't the case then the ones not wanting to talk are just being immature...
If OP doesn't want to ask the ONE GUY, then he will either have to deal with the thoughts he's been having for the past few games and ignore them or he can leave the game.
I understand where you are coming from, but this is a very naïve perspective.
A group of mature people is the ideal, but the world is a complicated place. As the OP clearly stated, the people in play are long time friends.
To use an analogy: A sword made from quenched steel is very hard, but also brittle. If you strike it with a hammer it may shatter. However, if you reheat it, it can be reforged safely, and if it is cooled slowly, it will become more flexible.
The same can be said for people (aside from putting them in furnaces).
The fastest way to eliminate cheating is to get rid of the cheaters, but the best way to eliminate cheaters is to show them how to be better players.
If you suggest the virtual dice roller mod as an improvement you don't need to have the awkward cheater conversation. The mod would speed up the game, especially when the rolls get into the handfuls of dice for powered up spells. It also gives a history to refer to, removes any doubt of fudging and removes the chance of honest mistakes (forgetting a die, using the wrong die or just a mis-count when adding a dozen die with bonuses). It also means people don't have to buy packs of dice and really improves engagement as you can all feel the excitement of the clutch moments and feel the pain of the 1s.
Even if I play at a physical table I would always expect to use the tools available. It feels like online character sheets and dice rolls are so well done and completely free, so I would be discussing which system, rather than if we use one.
Exactly. It is fair for all, visible to all and thus avoids any suggestions of cheating. And need not be considered an accusation of anything.
I have never used online rollers. I don't understand. How can it be faster than someone simply picking up a die and rolling it?
You press the right button (if its linked to a digital character sheet), generates the random numbers needed, adds them together and adds the mods, and throws the result back at you. It takes less time than it takes for the dice to even hit the table. You dont need to add anything, you dont need to wait for the dice to stop, or to look at the dice, it takes a fraction of a second
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"The D&D rules help you and the other players have a good time, but the rules aren't in charge. You're the DM, and you are in charge of the game" - Dungeon Masters Guide
I have never used online rollers. I don't understand. How can it be faster than someone simply picking up a die and rolling it?
(1) I rarely have 12d8 laying around. (2) Online rollers do the math for you. (3) Digital dice can't bounce off of the table and roll under the couch. (4) Digital Dice can't get "cocked".
I prefer the feel of physical dice, but Digital Dice are essentially "fool proof".
Some platforms also allow for building macros, so you can roll an attack with advantage, plus damage, plus set conditions to automatically calculate crit damage, plus post relevant rider effects all with the push of a single button.
I have never used online rollers. I don't understand. How can it be faster than someone simply picking up a die and rolling it?
Depends on the tool, but many of them do all the math for you, use the correct dice, etc., and display the full results.
Dndbeyond's dice rolling is quite slick, and all gets documented in the game log feature, which is shared accross the campaign (if the DM is using dndbeyond to track the campaign, etc). And it's especially nice when the software deals with things like upcasting spells for you.
If you suggest the virtual dice roller mod as an improvement you don't need to have the awkward cheater conversation. The mod would speed up the game, especially when the rolls get into the handfuls of dice for powered up spells. It also gives a history to refer to, removes any doubt of fudging and removes the chance of honest mistakes (forgetting a die, using the wrong die or just a mis-count when adding a dozen die with bonuses). It also means people don't have to buy packs of dice and really improves engagement as you can all feel the excitement of the clutch moments and feel the pain of the 1s.
Even if I play at a physical table I would always expect to use the tools available. It feels like online character sheets and dice rolls are so well done and completely free, so I would be discussing which system, rather than if we use one.
Exactly. It is fair for all, visible to all and thus avoids any suggestions of cheating. And need not be considered an accusation of anything.
I have never used online rollers. I don't understand. How can it be faster than someone simply picking up a die and rolling it?
You press the right button (if its linked to a digital character sheet), generates the random numbers needed, adds them together and adds the mods, and throws the result back at you. It takes less time than it takes for the dice to even hit the table. You dont need to add anything, you dont need to wait for the dice to stop, or to look at the dice, it takes a fraction of a second
Which is why there's a new thread on DDB roughly every month about how to roll attacks with special ammo on the character sheet, I suppose. ;-) Or applying bonus dice from Guidance or Bless. Or getting that cool item the DM came up with to work. Not saying it's not faster, but it's not perfect.
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In Roll20 you select from advantage, disadvantage or normal, then just click on the weapon or spell name. The system rolls the to-hit and damage at once, includes the mods, and provides the result in a single table in the chat. Highlighted green for Nat 20 and red for Nat 1. It is completely automatic.
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As much as those rolls are good, with such a small sample size I would call it a fluke, a bit of good luck.
Now, at the table there needs to be trust and respect. If you don't trust this player to the extent you are showing, I find it unlikely that you ever will. Similarly, if you don't trust the DM and respect his ability to run the game....
To put it bluntly, I think you would be best off leaving the game. If you are concentrating on recording the rolls of a player you suspect of cheating, and getting annoyed with the DMs handling of the game, you will not be enjoying the game and will probably be making others uncomfortable. You need to either bring parties up respectfully with the DM and trust them to handle it, or walk away.
Of course, this is all only my opinion.
Why not just ask the player and the DM during the next game? I'm a bit confused why it's so hard to just call it out once and see what he's adding to his rolls.
Just ask and wait for the answer, if the guy starts making a big deal out of it then you know something is up.
I’m going to give the same advice people gave you in your last thread involving this group you have been playing with and seem to have issues with.
Either talk to you DM calmly and respectfully about your frustrations so you two can be on the same page, or leave and find a group better suited to your play style.
The way you are conducting yourself doesn’t leave a lot of people to want to sympathize with your situation, especially given past history on these forums. Is it fair? Maybe not but it’s hard to take your frustrations seriously and genuinely when you make generalizations and insult others for playing differently then you. Ranting to us on the internet is not going to change your situation, and at the end of the day our opinions won’t change things either. You need to actually do something to change things and address this within you group. This is between you and them.
You chose not to leave or talk to them the last time you had grievances, and clearly things haven’t gotten better for you. Maybe it’s time to consider actually following one of these options less you continue to not enjoy yourself. Despite people’s frustrations with you here, you deserve to have fun playing the game as much as anyone else at your table. As others on this forum have said, “No D&D is better then bad D&D”.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
Well said. I usually disagree with Vince (I definitely do on this topic), and if he was as bitter in person I don’t think we would be very good friends at all. But. Just because he’s a problem here does not mean that he’s a liar or the other player is not also a problem. No offense meant, but the people who are saying this looks like just luck are probably saying so because of their (justified) distaste for Vince’s toxicity, not because it actually does.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I have had people have bad dice and good dice, My brother had a blue die he got from a veteran TTRPG player who used it since he was a kid, it rolls 20's 2/3 of the time, I've been perplexed and had him use different dice, but he took my worst-rolling die and rolled 2 20's and a 19 all in a row, we've jokes his palm sweat is "lucky", but some people straight up roll ridiculously well, although this guy Vince is talking about could very well be cheating, ya never know.
Mystic v3 should be official, nuff said.
You're suggesting that if someone makes a big deal about being accused of cheating that constitutes proof? If someone accused me I'd be pretty upset about that myself, and I don't cheat.
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It is a tough thing to finesse, and here is why. This is not total strangers getting together:
DM and I met about a couple years ago when he sat down at my table at the gaming cafe and he played in my game. Then Covid hit, trashed my in-person game, and about 3 or 4 months ago he fired up an online game, and asked me to play. He and I get along fine,. I think he is a good DM (now that player 2 is keeping the guys more on the RAW rails), and very decent fellow, however:
Player 1 is and old old friends with the DM. I have never met the man in person, but I have zero qualms with him. He has played D&D off and on for 40 years, and he and the DM are friends since high school. He does not know the 5e rules, but is clearly trying hard. Like I said, no problems with at all with this guy, and I trust him totally.
Player 2 is also a decent guy, in his mid 20's, and also met me a couple years ago when he also sat down at my in-person game. That is how the DM knows him. He is an excellent player, and highly knowledgeable about 5e, and has taken up the mantle of making sure the other players get the rules right. I have my mic muted for most of the game because I can sit back and just play when Player 2 is online.
And now, THAT GUY. He played in one session of my in-person game, and never came back. His char was one of 3 in a party of 6 that died. They are the only chars I have ever killed in that campaign. That was due to the players of coming up with a genius plan to split the party 3 ways, scattered over a few hundred yards of a deep ravine. Things did not go well. THAT GUY was apparently very upset that I did not allow him some roll to skip down the ravine wall without falling. He, like player 1, is old high school buddies with the DM. These guys are tight. His knowledge level of 5e is like Player 1's, which is low. I would say 80-90% of all the rule of cool stuff originates with him, some sessions 100%. And, of course, these dice rolls.
I really enjoy this game, except for THAT GUY. And to ask the DM to go to on-line rolling is a tough ask, as the honour system is faster and one less piece of software people have to deal with. Like I said before, the DM I am sure has no idea of what is happening. Like all DM"s, he has his plate full, especially when he is flipping screens on his computer for us. He fires up Powerpoint and shares the screen with us, and it is brilliant. It may not look as nice as Roll20, but he can whip up a room for an encounter in seconds, as opposed to minutes with Roll20. I tried to DM my own game with Roll20, and hated it. So does this DM. But it means his brain is occupied with a lot of stuff and tracking dice rolls...not enough bandwidth for that. Telling him one of his high school buddies is a cheater, is going to take a lot of solid evidence.
So the only way this becomes known is if I make it known. I HATE cheaters, and would have no problem calling them out in my own game. But clearly, this not my game. Hence why I have asked some of the stats people with how I can model this, and then I can add more data points as the next session unfolds. As others have stated, 28 data points is really not enough. But if I get 40 or 50 data points, that is another matter. The DM also a bit of a numbers guy, and would grasp the information immediately, if presented.
That is an interesting bit of software. I have never used it before, but I think that will solve some of the modelling issues. How are you getting any of the probabilities? Does it work off the mean, and estimate the probability of that total value of 351 occurring?
Naturally, he next session's data will be even more fuzzy, as the char will have leveled up to 5, therefore Prof=3, max bonus = 7, and therefore a wider swing between saves that don't use Prof versus those that do.
If you suggest the virtual dice roller mod as an improvement you don't need to have the awkward cheater conversation. The mod would speed up the game, especially when the rolls get into the handfuls of dice for powered up spells. It also gives a history to refer to, removes any doubt of fudging and removes the chance of honest mistakes (forgetting a die, using the wrong die or just a mis-count when adding a dozen die with bonuses). It also means people don't have to buy packs of dice and really improves engagement as you can all feel the excitement of the clutch moments and feel the pain of the 1s.
Even if I play at a physical table I would always expect to use the tools available. It feels like online character sheets and dice rolls are so well done and completely free, so I would be discussing which system, rather than if we use one.
I'm suggesting that if you ask a person "Hey, so what is it that you rolled and what's the bonus you added?" they'd most likely say "oh, well I rolled a whatever and the bonus is whatever."
Unless they have something to hide in which case they are more likely to go: "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW, HUH?". If they do ask that then you can just casually say that you're just wondering because the player has been rolling so well all the time.
I never said that OP should accuse the guy of anything, just ask like a normal person and see if you get an answer. Why is it so hard to ask a question and why is everything seen as offensive nowadays?
"Hey, so how did you roll so high?" -> "Are you accusing me of cheating?"
^This makes no sense whatsoever.
Except that cheating dice, especially during online games, is a trope unto itself. If someone asks about your rolls, and you're not an obviously new player, there is an implied subtext. And, if it is cheating, then this approach is blunt enough to cause friction and potentially break the group.
People who cheat are usually compelled by a need to feel special or in control. The best way to resolve that is often to provide a graceful transition without invalidating, or drawing attention toward, their previous "successes".
Your approach might be informative, but won't fix the problem and can make it worse.
If a player asking another player to check their rolls so they can feel more at ease in the game because they're wondering why another player is making super high rolls when that shouldn't be possible is a blunt approach, enough to cause friction and potentially break the group, that group shouldn't be playing in the first place.
It's not that big of a deal unless the one cheating OR the DM not caring that someone is cheating feels offended by it for some mysterious reason. If the guy is cheating then he should've seen it coming, honestly. If the guy is NOT cheating, the group can talk it out like a bunch of mature people, even if it is online.
You should be able to talk out whatever the issue is, if that isn't the case then the ones not wanting to talk are just being immature...
If OP doesn't want to ask the ONE GUY, then he will either have to deal with the thoughts he's been having for the past few games and ignore them or he can leave the game.
I have never used online rollers. I don't understand. How can it be faster than someone simply picking up a die and rolling it?
I roll online for our current, online game, but mainly because that's what everybody else in the group started doing when we had to switch to online. I have over 100 sets of dice, some of them quite pricy. I have a dice tower I built myself. I enjoy grabbing a fat fistful of dice when I cast a juicy Fireball. As a DM, I like homebrewing stuff - stuff that isn't always easy to translate to a digital format that works with online tools, but that works just fine scribbled down on a beer coaster or some white space in my binder.
I don't hate or even dislike the online tools. I might not have a current game without them. But I wouldn't use them if it the choice wasn't dictated by current circumstances.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I understand where you are coming from, but this is a very naïve perspective.
A group of mature people is the ideal, but the world is a complicated place. As the OP clearly stated, the people in play are long time friends.
To use an analogy: A sword made from quenched steel is very hard, but also brittle. If you strike it with a hammer it may shatter. However, if you reheat it, it can be reforged safely, and if it is cooled slowly, it will become more flexible.
The same can be said for people (aside from putting them in furnaces).
The fastest way to eliminate cheating is to get rid of the cheaters, but the best way to eliminate cheaters is to show them how to be better players.
You press the right button (if its linked to a digital character sheet), generates the random numbers needed, adds them together and adds the mods, and throws the result back at you. It takes less time than it takes for the dice to even hit the table. You dont need to add anything, you dont need to wait for the dice to stop, or to look at the dice, it takes a fraction of a second
"The D&D rules help you and the other players have a good time, but the rules aren't in charge. You're the DM, and you are in charge of the game" - Dungeon Masters Guide
(1) I rarely have 12d8 laying around.
(2) Online rollers do the math for you.
(3) Digital dice can't bounce off of the table and roll under the couch.
(4) Digital Dice can't get "cocked".
I prefer the feel of physical dice, but Digital Dice are essentially "fool proof".
Some platforms also allow for building macros, so you can roll an attack with advantage, plus damage, plus set conditions to automatically calculate crit damage, plus post relevant rider effects all with the push of a single button.
Depends on the tool, but many of them do all the math for you, use the correct dice, etc., and display the full results.
Dndbeyond's dice rolling is quite slick, and all gets documented in the game log feature, which is shared accross the campaign (if the DM is using dndbeyond to track the campaign, etc). And it's especially nice when the software deals with things like upcasting spells for you.
Which is why there's a new thread on DDB roughly every month about how to roll attacks with special ammo on the character sheet, I suppose. ;-) Or applying bonus dice from Guidance or Bless. Or getting that cool item the DM came up with to work. Not saying it's not faster, but it's not perfect.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
In Roll20 you select from advantage, disadvantage or normal, then just click on the weapon or spell name. The system rolls the to-hit and damage at once, includes the mods, and provides the result in a single table in the chat. Highlighted green for Nat 20 and red for Nat 1. It is completely automatic.