Hi, this is a question for anyone who's implemented Matt Mercer's resurrection rules. For the final roll, does it work just as well to have the PC roll for his/her own survival rather than the DM? I just feel like this will give the player more of a sense of agency, if the character dies, knowing that it all came down to his/her roll of the dice.
Hi, this is a question for anyone who's implemented Matt Mercer's resurrection rules. For the final roll, does it work just as well to have the PC roll for his/her own survival rather than the DM?
In general the only situations in which it matters who makes a roll are (a) questions about whether someone is rolling fair dice, or (b) situations where knowing the roll will give the players information they aren't supposed to have. Neither appears to apply to Matt Mercer's resurrection rules.
Keep in mind that Matt Mercer's rules are, in some part, intended for an audience. Having the DM make the roll is a dramatic event... the players and the audience don't know what the result is. Instead relying on the narration to reveal whether or not it worked. This works well for a narrative-heavy campaign with a DM who enjoys drama and is good at improvising intense scenes. But sometimes the drama has more weight in gameplay... with the players directly involved and every action feels like its their own choice.
Keep in mind that Matt Mercer's rules are, in some part, intended for an audience. Having the DM make the roll is a dramatic event... the players and the audience don't know what the result is. Instead relying on the narration to reveal whether or not it worked. This works well for a narrative-heavy campaign with a DM who enjoys drama and is good at improvising intense scenes. But sometimes the drama has more weight in gameplay... with the players directly involved and every action feels like its their own choice.
He has those rules to make death and resurrection matter, at least in his opinion. He has stated that he believes when you reach a certain level in D&D death becomes more of an inconvenience rather than something that actually scares you. So with these rules there is a chance that, even with resurrection spells, you may still die permanently. Personally I agree with this philosophy and like the rules myself though I have not implemented them into my games. It does make it more dramatic for sure, but I think it can work for any game if that is something you're into.
As for the original post, I don't see why it would matter who rolls. For death saving throws I let the players decide. Some of them like for me to roll because they don't want to know and enjoy the "drama" of not knowing and some like to roll themselves. So you could let them choose?
Keep in mind that Matt Mercer's rules are, in some part, intended for an audience. Having the DM make the roll is a dramatic event... the players and the audience don't know what the result is. Instead relying on the narration to reveal whether or not it worked. This works well for a narrative-heavy campaign with a DM who enjoys drama and is good at improvising intense scenes. But sometimes the drama has more weight in gameplay... with the players directly involved and every action feels like its their own choice.
He has those rules to make death and resurrection matter, at least in his opinion. He has stated that he believes when you reach a certain level in D&D death becomes more of an inconvenience rather than something that actually scares you. So with these rules there is a chance that, even with resurrection spells, you may still die permanently. Personally I agree with this philosophy and like the rules myself though I have not implemented them into my games. It does make it more dramatic for sure, but I think it can work for any game if that is something you're into.
As for the original post, I don't see why it would matter who rolls. For death saving throws I let the players decide. Some of them like for me to roll because they don't want to know and enjoy the "drama" of not knowing and some like to roll themselves. So you could let them choose?
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I'm disagreeing with his motivation, I was just wanting to discuss a bit why someone would want to have the DM make the roll versus letting the player make the roll themselves. That said, I actually like your idea that it's best to just ask the player which they prefer. I'm not one of those people who thinks that dice have like... karma or personalities or whatever people use to justify being superstitious about dice. So I don't think who rolls the dice or even the dice themselves (aside from manufacturing errors) have any impact on the game, and it's just a question of how the information is relayed to the player.
Many thanks to all for all of the great responses. Extremely helpful and very much appreciated. Clearly seems like there's no harm either way so I think I'm going to have the players roll should it come up. Their dice, their roll, can't get upset at the DM's dice, etc.
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Hi, this is a question for anyone who's implemented Matt Mercer's resurrection rules. For the final roll, does it work just as well to have the PC roll for his/her own survival rather than the DM? I just feel like this will give the player more of a sense of agency, if the character dies, knowing that it all came down to his/her roll of the dice.
Anyone have any experience with this?
Many thanks in advance for any thoughts!
If you like the idea, do it!
One of our game mottos is, "This is *our* game," meaning we do what works for us. Good luck!
In general the only situations in which it matters who makes a roll are (a) questions about whether someone is rolling fair dice, or (b) situations where knowing the roll will give the players information they aren't supposed to have. Neither appears to apply to Matt Mercer's resurrection rules.
Keep in mind that Matt Mercer's rules are, in some part, intended for an audience. Having the DM make the roll is a dramatic event... the players and the audience don't know what the result is. Instead relying on the narration to reveal whether or not it worked. This works well for a narrative-heavy campaign with a DM who enjoys drama and is good at improvising intense scenes. But sometimes the drama has more weight in gameplay... with the players directly involved and every action feels like its their own choice.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
He has those rules to make death and resurrection matter, at least in his opinion. He has stated that he believes when you reach a certain level in D&D death becomes more of an inconvenience rather than something that actually scares you. So with these rules there is a chance that, even with resurrection spells, you may still die permanently. Personally I agree with this philosophy and like the rules myself though I have not implemented them into my games. It does make it more dramatic for sure, but I think it can work for any game if that is something you're into.
As for the original post, I don't see why it would matter who rolls. For death saving throws I let the players decide. Some of them like for me to roll because they don't want to know and enjoy the "drama" of not knowing and some like to roll themselves. So you could let them choose?
I would allow the players to roll it.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I'm disagreeing with his motivation, I was just wanting to discuss a bit why someone would want to have the DM make the roll versus letting the player make the roll themselves. That said, I actually like your idea that it's best to just ask the player which they prefer. I'm not one of those people who thinks that dice have like... karma or personalities or whatever people use to justify being superstitious about dice. So I don't think who rolls the dice or even the dice themselves (aside from manufacturing errors) have any impact on the game, and it's just a question of how the information is relayed to the player.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Many thanks to all for all of the great responses. Extremely helpful and very much appreciated. Clearly seems like there's no harm either way so I think I'm going to have the players roll should it come up. Their dice, their roll, can't get upset at the DM's dice, etc.