Fellow DMs, what are your opinions on Fudging dice rolls? Personally, I only Fudge a dice roll that is too high. For example, if the party is really struggling in a battle, and the enemy rolls a Nat 20 on a saving throw to resist a spell, I might fudge it and say it was a 11 or something. It just makes my players feel better. I will never fudge a death save.
But I've heard many opinions on Fudging. Some DMs hate it. So, what are your opinions?
I fudge rolls mostly if they would lead to (unjustified) PC death. Very rarely I may fudge rolls if it moves the story along. I think that some randomness in combat is great and can lead to some memorable encounters, but not at the cost of killing the characters. It is mainly issue with low level characters.
I never fudge and roll everything in the open. I feel like this enhance the game aspect of it. Everything in my playstyle aims to enhance this aspect, I let players know Saving Throw DCs out of the gate, I reveal AC, I am very clear on how monsters stand in terms of hit points (Not give exact numbers, but saying that if they're bloodied they are half health and if they're ****ed up the are one swing away from dying).
I play everything by the rules and all house rules are clear to players since Session 0.
I personally dislike both DMing and playing with hidden rolls.
That said, I am, also, very generous with Ability Scores (Players roll the AS and, if the sum is not 70, they can roll again until it hits 70 - and even if they hit 70, but they look terribly distributed, I allow rerolls) and other aspects of character creation (I often give free feats at lv 1), not only that, but I tailor the encounters and the game to the party composition (E.g: You don't have a healer, you will find extra healing potions that can be used on yourself as bonus actions).
Also, this is something that I say in every session 0: the game can be deadly and random, so the players need to approach it with the mindset that there is not going to be a Deus Ex Machina to save you if you **** up.
I used to think I'd fudge rolls but in actuality I prefer no fudging. Let the dice fall where they may. That said, I don't like critical hits. I think monsters do enough as is and I can adjust encounters knowing the parameters of the damage they'll deal.
As a player I hate fudged rolls (or at least the perception of such things). I'm not at all satisfied by surviving a killing blow or my own incompetence because of the DM's mercy; if I put myself into a situation where I'm to die, so be it.
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
I don't fudge rolls because I don't think it's fair to my players. If they wanted a game where the dice gods ruled and they had a chance at both failure and success, then I shouldn't be allowed to manipulate the outcomes of events using dice unless they agreed to that beforehand. Great things can happen when you leave everything up to fate. Yes, bad things can happen too. But the whole point of D&D is that anything can happen, and I just don't think that changing rolls to change outcomes is fair to my players.
The number #1 rule as a Dungeon Master is to never mess with your player's agency. Doing that behind their back and hoping they don't find out while changing the way the game ends up isn't fair to your players because they didn't really accomplish what they accomplished; It was just the dice against the DM. So that's why I think fudging rolls should only be used in extremely horrific scenarios where your players are in a situation they didn't sign up for and don't know how to get out of. If your players give you permission to fudge rolls, then things are different. But at my tables at least, I am not going to fudge dice.
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BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
I'm straight with my players about this: I cheat a whole bunch and 7/10 times It's in their direct benefit, 2/10 times it's to make the important fights actually not just go super easy for the players (IE imagine Avengers infinity war if thanos just immediately fell over dead) and 1/10 times it's me having a bad day.
I’ve been playing with the same DM for decades now. For most of that time, he rolled behind a screen and did fudge rolls occasionally, mainly to mitigate the consequences on nights his dice were particularly hot. In the last few years, our game migrated onto roll20 where all his rolls are in the open and I think it’s more fun this way. Not that a DM shouldn’t be fudging on principle though. I don’t mind a little fudging as it’s not terribly difficult for a DM to discover their encounter is overtuned and the party at real risk of TPK where no such risk was intended. There’s also those times where the encounter is undertuned or the players are rolling crazy but there remain many other, maybe even more elegant ways for a DM to adjust the flow of encounters around the dice rolls. He can still increase or decrease HP pools, available resources, reinforcements etc. or change tactics as needed whilst we get the thrills and chills of unmitigated crits and MAX DAMAGE here and there.
As DM I’m not a big fan of dice fudging for or against the PCs, I prefer to let the dice fall where they may and it’s one of the reason I roll in the open when playing in person or online by making my rolls public. If things ever don't go as expected for the party and get to easy or hard, I’d rather have some creatures flee or show up as retreat, diversion or reinforcement etc than cheat change to favor the situation. There’s a reason I like D&D reliance on dice and it’s the unpredictability, messing up with it to control any outcome goes against the premise behind it. That’s my 2 cents.
I fudge rolls mostly if they would lead to (unjustified) PC death. Very rarely I may fudge rolls if it moves the story along. I think that some randomness in combat is great and can lead to some memorable encounters, but not at the cost of killing the characters. It is mainly issue with low level characters.
I never fudge rolls, and I'm not sure how a single dice roll can result in an "unjustified" PC death. If the situation is going badly for the PCs, then they should getting "the hell out of dodge" before ever reaching the point where a dice roll might lead to an "unjustified" PC death.
It all depends. If a player has just been getting smacked around by unlucky rolls or if the roll is so close, then sometimes I will fudge a roll. Most of the time I won't because players remember their big failures as much as their big successes.
When I do fudge, which isn't very often, it's done in an effort to improve the experience for the entire table. I'm also more likely to fudge damage dice than anything.
Generally, the reasons I fudge are 1) I really didn't think an encounter through when I designed it and I don't want to punish my players for my shortcomings, 2) the dice gods have scorned my players repeatedly and I can tell the table is starting not to have fun, or 3) the players need to earn their win. Reason 3 is the rarest one of all, for me. But there are times to embrace your players steamrolling your encounters, and there are times when it's more satisfying for them to feel like they're fighting for their lives.
I usually prefer to let the dice be the dice, to be honest, but I'm not opposed to ignoring them on occasion if I think it would add to the enjoyment of the game.
I don't fudge the rolls anymore. What's the point of rolling dice if you're not going to use the result? What I do now is I just roll less dice. If I already know what I want to have happen for the story, then I just make it happen. No dice required. Why make them roll an ability check to find something that simply isn't there?
In combat, the only thing I will do is just be careful how I use the monster features. One of my groups encountered the demilich in Rime of the Frostmaiden a few weeks ago. I wanted them to do the encounter then so we can have the Frostmaiden be the final boss fight. But they weren't exactly at the level they would need to be for the demilich to be a fair fight. So I only let him use the wail once. Then I stopped rolling it. I also held off on his legendary actions and legendary resistances for the first two rounds.
My players know now that I'm only going to roll, or have them roll, if there's more than one possible outcome that I'm willing to accept. It keeps the game moving. And they don't have to waste a bunch of game time rolling pointless stuff that isn't going to matter.
I don't use a DM screen. All attack rolls are out in the open. However, like some said, I don't like unjustified death and may fudge the damage a little
I fudge rolls mostly if they would lead to (unjustified) PC death. Very rarely I may fudge rolls if it moves the story along. I think that some randomness in combat is great and can lead to some memorable encounters, but not at the cost of killing the characters. It is mainly issue with low level characters.
I never fudge rolls, and I'm not sure how a single dice roll can result in an "unjustified" PC death. If the situation is going badly for the PCs, then they should getting "the hell out of dodge" before ever reaching the point where a dice roll might lead to an "unjustified" PC death.
You have not been playing with level 1 (and 2) characters much? Or rolling several crits in a row as a DM while the player is getting natural ones? Some days the randomness of the dice can be quite lethal.
I fudge rolls mostly if they would lead to (unjustified) PC death. Very rarely I may fudge rolls if it moves the story along. I think that some randomness in combat is great and can lead to some memorable encounters, but not at the cost of killing the characters. It is mainly issue with low level characters.
I never fudge rolls, and I'm not sure how a single dice roll can result in an "unjustified" PC death. If the situation is going badly for the PCs, then they should getting "the hell out of dodge" before ever reaching the point where a dice roll might lead to an "unjustified" PC death.
You have not been playing with level 1 (and 2) characters much? Or rolling several crits in a row as a DM while the player is getting natural ones? Some days the randomness of the dice can be quite lethal.
Those specific examples (Level 1 getting crit'd to insta death before their turn in the first fight would have happened once. changed the 6 to a 3 and player was knocked unconscious instead of killed) and another when I rolled 4 nat 20's over 3 rounds of combat. At the same time, the party missed an entire round (top roll of a 5 I believe it was) When the dice gods get cranky at our table, they get REALLY cranky.
Not a die roll, but fudging all the same, my monsters have had more HP a couple of times when great rolls by the party was going to have them steamroll what should have been a decently challenging encounter.
It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Some feel cheated and some feel why bother at all, but those who do on rare occasion ignore the number facing them, to preserve the mood, the fun, the pace, or whatever our reasons, don't mind occasionally taking fate back into our hands.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I only used a screen once when I was in elementary school. I thought it was cool because of all the charts and lists on it (1e). I was quickly disenchanted and turned it into a large reference card because I couldn't see my player rolls.
Ever since then I have rolled in the open for every RPG and have not regretted it. For those who fudge rolls, why?? What's the point of rolling the dice if you're not going to use the number that comes up?
Yes sometimes you can nail a PC hard with a crit or a monster can continuously make saves but, if you roll in the open your players know you are being honest about it. They will have more faith in what happens because they KNOW you aren't making shit up.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Unless you need to. Or really want to. But otherwise never.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I only ever fudge, if the rolls would else result in a TPK. I design my key encounters to be really really close calls to get my players sweating in their seats (they like that) and I don't like if random rolls end a campaign by TPK.
Player death is always an option, but not a full TPK.
And yes, until now, my players dídn't ever realize when I was doing it.
Fellow DMs, what are your opinions on Fudging dice rolls? Personally, I only Fudge a dice roll that is too high. For example, if the party is really struggling in a battle, and the enemy rolls a Nat 20 on a saving throw to resist a spell, I might fudge it and say it was a 11 or something. It just makes my players feel better. I will never fudge a death save.
But I've heard many opinions on Fudging. Some DMs hate it. So, what are your opinions?
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
I fudge rolls mostly if they would lead to (unjustified) PC death. Very rarely I may fudge rolls if it moves the story along. I think that some randomness in combat is great and can lead to some memorable encounters, but not at the cost of killing the characters. It is mainly issue with low level characters.
I never fudge and roll everything in the open. I feel like this enhance the game aspect of it. Everything in my playstyle aims to enhance this aspect, I let players know Saving Throw DCs out of the gate, I reveal AC, I am very clear on how monsters stand in terms of hit points (Not give exact numbers, but saying that if they're bloodied they are half health and if they're ****ed up the are one swing away from dying).
I play everything by the rules and all house rules are clear to players since Session 0.
I personally dislike both DMing and playing with hidden rolls.
That said, I am, also, very generous with Ability Scores (Players roll the AS and, if the sum is not 70, they can roll again until it hits 70 - and even if they hit 70, but they look terribly distributed, I allow rerolls) and other aspects of character creation (I often give free feats at lv 1), not only that, but I tailor the encounters and the game to the party composition (E.g: You don't have a healer, you will find extra healing potions that can be used on yourself as bonus actions).
Also, this is something that I say in every session 0: the game can be deadly and random, so the players need to approach it with the mindset that there is not going to be a Deus Ex Machina to save you if you **** up.
I used to think I'd fudge rolls but in actuality I prefer no fudging. Let the dice fall where they may. That said, I don't like critical hits. I think monsters do enough as is and I can adjust encounters knowing the parameters of the damage they'll deal.
As a player I hate fudged rolls (or at least the perception of such things). I'm not at all satisfied by surviving a killing blow or my own incompetence because of the DM's mercy; if I put myself into a situation where I'm to die, so be it.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
I don't fudge rolls because I don't think it's fair to my players. If they wanted a game where the dice gods ruled and they had a chance at both failure and success, then I shouldn't be allowed to manipulate the outcomes of events using dice unless they agreed to that beforehand. Great things can happen when you leave everything up to fate. Yes, bad things can happen too. But the whole point of D&D is that anything can happen, and I just don't think that changing rolls to change outcomes is fair to my players.
The number #1 rule as a Dungeon Master is to never mess with your player's agency. Doing that behind their back and hoping they don't find out while changing the way the game ends up isn't fair to your players because they didn't really accomplish what they accomplished; It was just the dice against the DM. So that's why I think fudging rolls should only be used in extremely horrific scenarios where your players are in a situation they didn't sign up for and don't know how to get out of. If your players give you permission to fudge rolls, then things are different. But at my tables at least, I am not going to fudge dice.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.I'm straight with my players about this: I cheat a whole bunch and 7/10 times It's in their direct benefit, 2/10 times it's to make the important fights actually not just go super easy for the players (IE imagine Avengers infinity war if thanos just immediately fell over dead) and 1/10 times it's me having a bad day.
I’ve been playing with the same DM for decades now. For most of that time, he rolled behind a screen and did fudge rolls occasionally, mainly to mitigate the consequences on nights his dice were particularly hot. In the last few years, our game migrated onto roll20 where all his rolls are in the open and I think it’s more fun this way. Not that a DM shouldn’t be fudging on principle though. I don’t mind a little fudging as it’s not terribly difficult for a DM to discover their encounter is overtuned and the party at real risk of TPK where no such risk was intended. There’s also those times where the encounter is undertuned or the players are rolling crazy but there remain many other, maybe even more elegant ways for a DM to adjust the flow of encounters around the dice rolls. He can still increase or decrease HP pools, available resources, reinforcements etc. or change tactics as needed whilst we get the thrills and chills of unmitigated crits and MAX DAMAGE here and there.
As DM I’m not a big fan of dice fudging for or against the PCs, I prefer to let the dice fall where they may and it’s one of the reason I roll in the open when playing in person or online by making my rolls public. If things ever don't go as expected for the party and get to easy or hard, I’d rather have some creatures flee or show up as retreat, diversion or reinforcement etc than cheat change to favor the situation. There’s a reason I like D&D reliance on dice and it’s the unpredictability, messing up with it to control any outcome goes against the premise behind it. That’s my 2 cents.
I never fudge rolls, and I'm not sure how a single dice roll can result in an "unjustified" PC death. If the situation is going badly for the PCs, then they should getting "the hell out of dodge" before ever reaching the point where a dice roll might lead to an "unjustified" PC death.
It all depends. If a player has just been getting smacked around by unlucky rolls or if the roll is so close, then sometimes I will fudge a roll. Most of the time I won't because players remember their big failures as much as their big successes.
When I do fudge, which isn't very often, it's done in an effort to improve the experience for the entire table. I'm also more likely to fudge damage dice than anything.
Generally, the reasons I fudge are 1) I really didn't think an encounter through when I designed it and I don't want to punish my players for my shortcomings, 2) the dice gods have scorned my players repeatedly and I can tell the table is starting not to have fun, or 3) the players need to earn their win. Reason 3 is the rarest one of all, for me. But there are times to embrace your players steamrolling your encounters, and there are times when it's more satisfying for them to feel like they're fighting for their lives.
I usually prefer to let the dice be the dice, to be honest, but I'm not opposed to ignoring them on occasion if I think it would add to the enjoyment of the game.
I don't fudge the rolls anymore. What's the point of rolling dice if you're not going to use the result? What I do now is I just roll less dice. If I already know what I want to have happen for the story, then I just make it happen. No dice required. Why make them roll an ability check to find something that simply isn't there?
In combat, the only thing I will do is just be careful how I use the monster features. One of my groups encountered the demilich in Rime of the Frostmaiden a few weeks ago. I wanted them to do the encounter then so we can have the Frostmaiden be the final boss fight. But they weren't exactly at the level they would need to be for the demilich to be a fair fight. So I only let him use the wail once. Then I stopped rolling it. I also held off on his legendary actions and legendary resistances for the first two rounds.
My players know now that I'm only going to roll, or have them roll, if there's more than one possible outcome that I'm willing to accept. It keeps the game moving. And they don't have to waste a bunch of game time rolling pointless stuff that isn't going to matter.
I don't use a DM screen. All attack rolls are out in the open. However, like some said, I don't like unjustified death and may fudge the damage a little
You have not been playing with level 1 (and 2) characters much? Or rolling several crits in a row as a DM while the player is getting natural ones? Some days the randomness of the dice can be quite lethal.
Those specific examples (Level 1 getting crit'd to insta death before their turn in the first fight would have happened once. changed the 6 to a 3 and player was knocked unconscious instead of killed) and another when I rolled 4 nat 20's over 3 rounds of combat. At the same time, the party missed an entire round (top roll of a 5 I believe it was) When the dice gods get cranky at our table, they get REALLY cranky.
Not a die roll, but fudging all the same, my monsters have had more HP a couple of times when great rolls by the party was going to have them steamroll what should have been a decently challenging encounter.
It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Some feel cheated and some feel why bother at all, but those who do on rare occasion ignore the number facing them, to preserve the mood, the fun, the pace, or whatever our reasons, don't mind occasionally taking fate back into our hands.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I roll in the open so I can't fudge. And I quit fudging around 3E.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
I only used a screen once when I was in elementary school. I thought it was cool because of all the charts and lists on it (1e). I was quickly disenchanted and turned it into a large reference card because I couldn't see my player rolls.
Ever since then I have rolled in the open for every RPG and have not regretted it. For those who fudge rolls, why?? What's the point of rolling the dice if you're not going to use the number that comes up?
Yes sometimes you can nail a PC hard with a crit or a monster can continuously make saves but, if you roll in the open your players know you are being honest about it. They will have more faith in what happens because they KNOW you aren't making shit up.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Last time this topic had a productive conversation:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/135269-fudging-dice-ok-or-not
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Never fudge any rolls ever!
Unless you need to. Or really want to. But otherwise never.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I only ever fudge, if the rolls would else result in a TPK. I design my key encounters to be really really close calls to get my players sweating in their seats (they like that) and I don't like if random rolls end a campaign by TPK.
Player death is always an option, but not a full TPK.
And yes, until now, my players dídn't ever realize when I was doing it.