Short answer, because the DM called for the roll. No, they don’t have to explain. Players don’t get to decide if dice get rolled or not. Players narrate their character’s actions, the DM decides when a roll is necessary.
Establish expectations about rolling dice. Rolling in full view of everyone is a good starting point. If you see a player rolling and scooping the dice up before anyone else can see, encourage that player to be less secretive.
When a die falls on the floor, do you count it or reroll it? When it lands cocked against a book, do you pull the book away and see where it lands, or reroll it?
What about you, the DM? Do you make your rolls in the open or hide them behind a DM screen? Consider the following:
If you roll dice where the players can see, they know you’re playing impartially and not fudging rolls.
Rolling behind a screen keeps the players guessing about the strength of their opposition. When a monster hits all the time, is it of a much higher level than the characters, or are you rolling high numbers?
Rolling behind a screen lets you fudge the results if you want to. If two critical hits in a row would kill a character, you could change the second critical hit into a normal hit, or even a miss. Don’t distort die rolls too often, though, and don’t let on that you’re doing it. Otherwise, your players might think they don’t face any real risks — or worse, that you’re playing favorites.
A roll behind a screen can help preserve mystery. For example, if a player thinks there might be someone invisible nearby and makes a Wisdom (Perception) check, consider rolling a die behind the screen even if no one is there, making the player think someone is, indeed, hiding. Try not to overuse this trick.
You might choose to make a roll for a player because you don’t want the player to know how good the check total is. For example, if a player suspects a baroness might be charmed and wants to make a Wisdom (Insight) check, you could make the roll in secret for the player. If the player rolled and got a high number but didn’t sense anything amiss, the player would be confident that the baroness wasn’t charmed. With a low roll, a negative answer wouldn’t mean much. A hidden roll allows uncertainty.
Maybe it's just me, but the clarifications about the first post and which kind of rolls might have been involved didn't really give me a lot of insight in the situation. My impression is that @OP often has very little idea of what the rolls were for even after the outcome was handled. I see references to skills and abilities but no argumentation for why those were likely candidates at the time. Makes it hard to say anything of use. Maybe the DM is all over the place, maybe that's just what @OP thinks. I can't really tell from the info provided.
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Yeah I remember doing that in 2nd edition. The Dm I was playing with back in 1995 would roll our attacks and damage and other things because the books back then relied on the Dm making most of the stuff up off the top of his head. He created the story and the whole world. Later on when he felt confident that we were learning about how to handle our Characters ( I HATE THACO) he gave us the opportunity to roll our damage. And then later roll more dice that applied to the 2nd edition homebrew he was running in the Campaign.
I feel like people aren't even reading your responses, they're just elaborating on their philosophies for pure sport. I think it's reasonable to assume that you understand the basic social contract of D&D, that the DM has authority over the rules etc etc, considering you've been playing since 1995.
Have you read the OP? He doesn’t mention anything about playing since 1995. To be honest, I think someone playing for 25 years would not be asking “Is the dm allowed to ask us to roll a d20 without telling us why?” I have been playing since the 1980’s and that is just basic knowledge for anyone with more than a few sessions under their belt.
DISKO_COOKIE *is* the OP. I've read each response they've posted to this thread, yes. Even responded to some.
So let me summarize the situation for those who haven't. Get this back on track.
OP (they/them for lack of information) is dipping their toes into 5th edition. They have a history of letting experienced DMs handle rules while they learn by practice, rather than by study. They've played D&D before, but they don't know all the specifics of 5e yet, so they don't know whether their DM (he/him) is following the 5e rules. (In this case, the DM *isn't* following the rules, but he's "technically" still following the rules, because one of the rules is that the rules are meant to be broken. You can probably see the source of some of the oncoming confusion.) OP's instincts tell them that something isn't right, so they come to the forum here for a sort of "sanity check." They ask their question in an unfortunately vague and provocative way, causing countless commenters to respond to a question the commenters *think* is being asked ("is it *ever* okay for a DM to ask for a roll without explaining themselves?"), rather than the question that's actually being asked ("is my DM's weird behavior actually the norm for 5e?"). The OP clarifies their question in a subsequent response, but by now it's too late. The clarification is buried in the comments, and people are arguing now amongst themselves.
That's my understanding, anyway.
So, to answer OP's original question: Your DM is being weird. Specifically, in my opinion, he's being lazy, as I've explained in an earlier response. He's within his DM authority to be weird/lazy in that way, but you're within your player authority to talk to him about it and/or leave if you want to, and it sounds like you do. I would suggest doing so outside of the scheduled game time, so you don't risk ruining game night, and I would advise against wielding the opinions of internet people as a weapon against him. Nobody likes to feel ganged up on.
Okay Pangurjan thanks for the questions. This question has come up a lot during the campaign by the DM I am playing with. During the gaming session our DM will ask certain players to give him a flat d20 roll. We could be shopping in a store. We could be walking down the hallway in a dungeon. We could be trying to do something as a group. Sometimes it does have to do with a ability check or a skill check. That's when I ask the DM is this dice roll for an Ability check or a Skill check. The Dm usually responds by saying, "Just give me the roll and don't ask why" Well I ask why. Then after the roll is made, the Dm then tells the person rolling that it was for a deception check or a strength check or something like that. Thats when I say as a player that we need to know this information so that we can add our own numbers from our character sheet into the dice roll.
You definitely don't need to know what the roll is for before the roll to add your own numbers. You can add them after you roll. The numbers should be added at some point, if the DM is asking for a standard ability check, but the DM can also do that if he knows your character sheet. And also, DMs can really do whatever they want.
I don't really know why the DM wants you to roll without knowing what you're rolling for. But I don't really see the problem.
So the DM asks me to roll a d20. I as the player then ask, What is the roll for? On page 174 of the phb it talks about ability checks. I ask the Dm is this roll for a ability check or is it for perception or intimidation or deception. He doesn't say what it is for. He just says roll a d20 and tell me the number and then I will add my own personal numbers to that roll and tell you the outcome. Can a Dm really do this? Or should the Dm tell the player what the roll is for so that the player can add the necessary numbers into the roll? Is the player allowed to ask the Dm what the roll is for, before rolling the d20? Are there any pages in any books that better explain when a player is allowed to ask," Why am I rolling this dice?" and a proper response from the DM to better explain to the player other than, "Because I said so"
As a DM nope I don’t need to tell you why I want you to roll all the time, usually I will, but, sometimes I just say roll a D20. Sometimes I will roll for you, in secret, and you will never know that I did it. I have all your character stats in front of me behind my screen, I know your skills and abilities. Sometimes when I tell you to roll there is no reason, nothing builds tension in a group of players like the sound of dice rolling, or asking them to roll a dice with no dice excuse.
“Can a DM really do this?” The answer to that is always yes. The follow up question is: do you trust your DM enough to roll with things like this that you think are out of the ordinary. I hope the answer is yes, and I hope your DM has benevolent reason for doing it.
is like to think that the DM made this request so that the game can proceed with out my meta gaming something. For example. If a PC is standing next to a secret thing and the dm asks for a perception check, the player might fail and then meta game by telling another PC to check it out. Not accusing you of doing this. I’d like to think that the dm asked for this so that if you failed, the game could just move on without distraction.
The more elegant/sneakier solution would be to use your passive perception and have the secret thing roll against that.
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Short answer, because the DM called for the roll. No, they don’t have to explain. Players don’t get to decide if dice get rolled or not. Players narrate their character’s actions, the DM decides when a roll is necessary.
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From the DMG:
Dice Rolling
Establish expectations about rolling dice. Rolling in full view of everyone is a good starting point. If you see a player rolling and scooping the dice up before anyone else can see, encourage that player to be less secretive.
When a die falls on the floor, do you count it or reroll it? When it lands cocked against a book, do you pull the book away and see where it lands, or reroll it?
What about you, the DM? Do you make your rolls in the open or hide them behind a DM screen? Consider the following:
Maybe it's just me, but the clarifications about the first post and which kind of rolls might have been involved didn't really give me a lot of insight in the situation. My impression is that @OP often has very little idea of what the rolls were for even after the outcome was handled. I see references to skills and abilities but no argumentation for why those were likely candidates at the time. Makes it hard to say anything of use. Maybe the DM is all over the place, maybe that's just what @OP thinks. I can't really tell from the info provided.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
DISKO_COOKIE *is* the OP. I've read each response they've posted to this thread, yes. Even responded to some.
So let me summarize the situation for those who haven't. Get this back on track.
OP (they/them for lack of information) is dipping their toes into 5th edition. They have a history of letting experienced DMs handle rules while they learn by practice, rather than by study. They've played D&D before, but they don't know all the specifics of 5e yet, so they don't know whether their DM (he/him) is following the 5e rules. (In this case, the DM *isn't* following the rules, but he's "technically" still following the rules, because one of the rules is that the rules are meant to be broken. You can probably see the source of some of the oncoming confusion.) OP's instincts tell them that something isn't right, so they come to the forum here for a sort of "sanity check." They ask their question in an unfortunately vague and provocative way, causing countless commenters to respond to a question the commenters *think* is being asked ("is it *ever* okay for a DM to ask for a roll without explaining themselves?"), rather than the question that's actually being asked ("is my DM's weird behavior actually the norm for 5e?"). The OP clarifies their question in a subsequent response, but by now it's too late. The clarification is buried in the comments, and people are arguing now amongst themselves.
That's my understanding, anyway.
So, to answer OP's original question: Your DM is being weird. Specifically, in my opinion, he's being lazy, as I've explained in an earlier response. He's within his DM authority to be weird/lazy in that way, but you're within your player authority to talk to him about it and/or leave if you want to, and it sounds like you do. I would suggest doing so outside of the scheduled game time, so you don't risk ruining game night, and I would advise against wielding the opinions of internet people as a weapon against him. Nobody likes to feel ganged up on.
You definitely don't need to know what the roll is for before the roll to add your own numbers. You can add them after you roll. The numbers should be added at some point, if the DM is asking for a standard ability check, but the DM can also do that if he knows your character sheet. And also, DMs can really do whatever they want.
I don't really know why the DM wants you to roll without knowing what you're rolling for. But I don't really see the problem.
As a DM nope I don’t need to tell you why I want you to roll all the time, usually I will, but, sometimes I just say roll a D20. Sometimes I will roll for you, in secret, and you will never know that I did it. I have all your character stats in front of me behind my screen, I know your skills and abilities. Sometimes when I tell you to roll there is no reason, nothing builds tension in a group of players like the sound of dice rolling, or asking them to roll a dice with no dice excuse.
“Can a DM really do this?” The answer to that is always yes. The follow up question is: do you trust your DM enough to roll with things like this that you think are out of the ordinary. I hope the answer is yes, and I hope your DM has benevolent reason for doing it.
is like to think that the DM made this request so that the game can proceed with out my meta gaming something. For example. If a PC is standing next to a secret thing and the dm asks for a perception check, the player might fail and then meta game by telling another PC to check it out. Not accusing you of doing this. I’d like to think that the dm asked for this so that if you failed, the game could just move on without distraction.
The more elegant/sneakier solution would be to use your passive perception and have the secret thing roll against that.