"DMing for cheaters" thread made me wonder, what kind of rules not related to game mechanics do your group have?
On the other thread, I already mentioned one: players make the rolls into a box (when playing on a table). This is a habit coming from days of red box D&D but goes well today since the box provides flat surface so the rolls don't land tilted, they don't randomly fly all around the table, going under the books or knocking down miniatures or drop from the table and roll under the couch...the die which doesn't end in the box is rerolled, no matter what. This is especially important in board games we occasionally play, since even with this rule it hasn't been once or twice when a bouncing die had hit the board and troop tokens from Thailand end up in Egypt...or were the troops in Vietnam after all? Or China? And how many points did I have again?
All characters are campaign-specific. Players cannot import their characters from other DMs' campaigns to mine and if they go play their characters to some other DM's campaign, any experience, treasure etc. from that campaign won't come to mine.
If a new player likes his character so much that he wants to play it in our group, he is welcome to reuse the character concept and create that character, according to normal rules and procedure.
Usually DM keeps the character sheets among the other adventure notes between the sessions, so that nobody forgets to bring them to game...(Except for DM, but so far that hasn't happened).
Snacks are personal (unless otherwise agreed) and should be got before the game...delivered foods are exception. If for some reason someone hasn't been able to get snacks before the game, quick snack run can be done as there are quiet moments for all player (but better not make a habit of it).
These for starters, as unwritten rules which are followed unless otherwise noted.
"DMing for cheaters" thread made me wonder, what kind of rules not related to game mechanics do your group have?
I'm going to be DM'ing my first game in a week or so and I've been working out similar rules...
All die rolls will be made in view of the DM, and any bonus to a roll will be stated before rolling.
All characters are campaign-specific. (I hadn't really thought about this as all of my players have made new PCs for my game. But I will use this for later games.)
$2 at the door for food/drink fund.
All characters will be finished by the start of the game. If new stats need to be rolled or adjustments made, they will be done prior.
Character sheets will remain with the DM. (For the same reasons as the O.P.)
Miniatures are welcome and role-playing is highly recommended. *shakes iron fist*
And nobody peeks behind my screen! >.O
-Kurocyn
I let characters keep sheets, they up date them as sometimes i send xp through email and they level up between sessions -
All rolls in front of DM
however i award xp bonuses for characters who have up to date neat sheets.I check sheets at the start of each session. Sometimes we had that old chestnut of healing potions never running out and spells used from previous sessions not crossed off.Now no funny business and the players get a reward for being good.(This way the cheater who adds stuff or "forgets it" loses xp )
I give xps for roleplaying as well as for usual stuff.
At the end of a session the player who roleplayed the best( In a vote from all at the table ) gets xp bonus. I find this keeps players focused on their characters and in good spirits.A;lso I have noticed its not the same guy who gets it every week its been kind of spread around which encourages camradrie
well; if a player says something his character has said that unless he wiggles his hand over his head making the talky mouth movements; the is to greatly encourage people to stay in character an limit irrelavent crosstalk on the side.
Uhm, if you bring the GM beer; your character won't die in that nights adventure guaranteed.
hmm, this is very deja vu; havent we done this thread before...
gm gets to read all notes.
If it is not on my copy of your character sheet; you do not have it; please keep my copy of your character up to date.
I run an adult game and sometimes there are very adult themes; if your going to play keep this in mind that it will be as nice prim and proper as well as being as nasty and horrific as real life can be and that the players ultimately are going to be challenged by in all types of atmospheres by all types of creatures with all types of goals and motiviations; This is of course negotiable; we choose this stuff before we play and this is what my players have decided they want.
Bring stuff and share; it is a party atmosphere.
Bad things will happen to people who are consistantly very tardy and dont bother to call; please bathe though this seems to be more of a guidline.
If you write down your character's actions and ideas; themes; alliances; loves, hates, personality conflicts and development and things you did and why during a game; and submit them in a written form to the gm; by the next game session, I will return it to you with a number for extra experience written at the top. This is not required.
Never move another players miniature unless they have asked you to do so.
If the gm has an empty beer and has to stop the game and get up; there will probably be an extra wandering monster who is not friendly. this is more of a hint than a rule
If your sick; stay home; you can listen to the game on the computer or some other way or just miss out.
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In the game that I DM weekly with Fyraxis, we have an actual gaming room set up in my office and we use these rules...
All rolls during character creation are made in front of the DM, all ability scores are monitored. Character concepts are usually just run by me to make sure that they fit into the campaign.
During the game all the players are sitting at their own table so when they roll it is in front of each other. This gives them a way of policing each other without me making it seem like I dont trust them.
As for snacks and stuff, we take turns bringing stuff and usually on game day we kind of have a pot luck.
If any PC loses their sheet, the character is considered lost. Because one of our gamers gets bored with their character and kills them at regular intervals, we have actually had to put caps on how many characters a player is allowed in a game. It started getting stupid when a character would die stupidly just so he could bring in a different character.
Hope this helps.
The players get the XP from the monsters and adventuring when I alot it. At the end of the game each PC has their own cards and I write down how much roleplay XP each player recieved. I then hand these cards out to them so no other pcs get to arguing over who roleplayed better.
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Paizo ate my first attempt at posting this, but I saved it. Apologies if it ends up showing back up later as a duplicate:
Things NOT related to mechanics, eh? Okay, I'll bite...
Agreeing with the other posters here on this one: Characters are campaign specific. Each new game means new characters. No bringing over your beloved 29th level paladin/evoker from a game you played 10 years ago and converted to 3.x rules. Occassionally I will announce at the beginning of a campaign that I am running it as a 'continuous game world' with a previous campaign and thus the players have the option of bringing back an old character or making a new one. This way, if they had a character they really liked, they can play him again or, if they weren't happy with their previous choice, they can make a whole new one.
I roll all dice. ALL OF THEM. No one gets to see the results. Until very recently I also kept all of the character sheets to myself but I have returned the sheets to the players in the interest of speeding up the bookkeeping process. I trust my players enough to at least give me their true skill bonuses when I ask for them. Besides, they know they're going to get audited at the end of every session. Also, for 'passive' skills like search and spot, I have a little list of each character's bonuses on a sticky note so that I don't have to ask for them out loud and give away the fact that "something might be up." There is only one exception to this rule: when a character is near death (around 10% HP remaining) any attack/damage rolls made against him or saving throws he makes will be done in the open so that the player knows I'm not screwing them over. Plus, it adds a lot of dramatic tension. When a character's life hangs in the balance, ALL EYES at the table are on that die, waiting to see if he lives.... or dies.... I love it. Obviously, this rule doesn't come into effect until about 6th level or so when most characters won't die in one or two hits anyway.
No alcohol at the gaming table. (Valegrim wouldn't like my games, heh.) Even a little bit can cause some of my players to get giggly and its impossible to run a serious game when you've got one or more mildly intoxicated (or flat-out hammered) players at the table. I know this from experience. Drink all you want AFTER game. The couch and guest room are available for crashing.
New players must meet with me in person before attending a gaming session. Do not bring people I have never met before into my house. They will be turned away unless they make a VERY good first impression. Even then, my WIFE might STILL turn them away.
If you cannot complete your new character during our usual character generation parties for new campaigns and you would like to take your character home with you to work on, you may borrow up to TWO of my books to take with you. No more. They had better be returned in the same condition they left in or you will buy me a brand new one (you can keep the damaged one, for what its worth). This has only happened once. If the book is not easily replaceable (rare, out-of-print, etc.) I will not let you borrow it.
Visitors bring drinks. 99% of the time, we game at my house. That means that OTHER PEOPLE bring the sodas. There have been occassions in which we've gamed at others' homes. In those situations, I have provided for the beverages. Snacks are optional. If you want some for yourself, bring some. If you feel like sharing, no one is going to stop you. Since our games start at 7:30pm, I expect everyone to have eaten dinner beforehand. I do not want to have to take time out of game for people to go to Taco Bell or whatever to pick up food. If you MUST stop the game to get dinner, you WILL bring me a Caramel Apple Empanada.
That's about all I can think of right now. I might add more later, but I'm already pretty lengthy here.
Players cannot import their characters from other DMs' campaigns to mine and if they go play their characters to some other DM's campaign, any experience, treasure etc. from that campaign won't come to mine.
Do people actually do this?!?!?
Greg
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Players cannot import their characters from other DMs' campaigns to mine and if they go play their characters to some other DM's campaign, any experience, treasure etc. from that campaign won't come to mine.Do people actually do this?!?!?
Greg
It used to be really popular back in 2nd Edition for people to have "their" character that they've played in numerous campaigns and carried around all their treasure from campaign to campaign. With the quicker (and easier, imo) character creation rules in 3.X, most people started just making characters for each campaign individually.
It used to be really popular back in 2nd Edition for people to have "their" character that they've played in numerous campaigns and carried around all their treasure from campaign to campaign. With the quicker (and easier, imo) character creation rules in 3.X, most people started just making characters for each campaign individually.
It's odd, cause I've been playing since 1st ed, and have never seen that. And, as a DM, I'd never accept it. It's my story to develop. I don't know how a DM can keep some measure of control on the game if some character is showing up with some uber-magic item he garnered in someone else's Monty Haul campaign.
It just strikes me as odd, is all.
Greg
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Wow - some strict rules here! But being a newb-ish DM myself, maybe I'll come to see the wisdom of your ways before long.
The only "rules of the table" I currently use are: if you can't make it to a session and you notify me reasonably in advance (ie - NOT the same day), your character gets NPC'd and earns anywhere from 1/2 to full XP depending on the reason for your absence; if you are a no-show, character is ghosted and no XP (as a caveat to this - I have not had to use either of these rules yet...so far, they're more likely to call me and beg for an extra session than cancel a scheduled one...lol); character creation involves a one-on-one session with myself, and you can earn 2 extra ability points by writing a decent backstory, and 1 more for each named NPC (up to 2) in the backstory that I can use
I may need to add in a rule about keeping track of important info I give out, so I don't have to flip back and look it up for them next session...
Haven't had to formalize food-bringing etiquette at this point - someone usually brings/orders pizza without being asked and it seems to balance out fine. Another couple usually brings wine, or if I'm feeling generous I'll break out some of my mead stash.
I have let people do this; and have done it in the past infrequently; sucks to loose playing a character that you really liked and have developed just because a gm moved away or something.
Players cannot import their characters from other DMs' campaigns to mine and if they go play their characters to some other DM's campaign, any experience, treasure etc. from that campaign won't come to mine.Do people actually do this?!?!?
Greg
hehe Fatespinner; am not really a drunkard and I only drink at home and with my blood pressure I cant drink more than two without some risk and never more than one an hour. Unlike many people; I just have a beer and never am giggly and do not like getting intoxicated.
Sir Kaikillah’s rules for the game table.
No argument over DMs rulings on the game table. All Dm rulings are up for discussion after the game.
If you walk from the game table in disgust over the DM’s ruling and lack of willingness to discuss the issue during the game, don’t come back.
All dice rolls are subject to re-roll at the DM’s whim. I often use a 1,2,3 count for most rolls, especially initiative. It brings the groups focus back to the game table, especially when rolling initiative. It also builds suspense and tension and gets everyone watching the die for attack rolls and saving throws. If you roll before I count 3, you have to re-roll, that’s the rule. But a lot of times when the game is flowing, I forget to make the count. That is usually when I miss seeing the roll and call for a re-roll.
All hit points are rolled in front of the DM. (Some people have terrible math, even if they rolled a number of ones and twos in front of me, when I check the character sheet they have max. hit points. Go figure). This leads me into my next two rules.
When I kill a PC I celebrate by having the player roll new stats then and there for their new character. I will stop the game, gloat a bit, then we start rolling stats. Everyone gets into the new character. We use the best three dice out of four method. Everyone will know if you rolled 3 or more 18s or not, you come with a cheat character everyone will call you on it. Players have the option of letting the DM re-roll one stat. But if a player opts for this option then they take the DM’s roll, good or bad.
No PC secrets from the DM. I reserve the right to look at anyones character sheet at anytime during, before or after the game. If you don’t like it, go play WoW.
If you bring snacks expect to share. It is just bad manors to bring something to a gathering and not share. I think this is a Hawaiian thing, because people from America always get in trouble with this one. This DM gives XP for bringing snacks and drinks.
I give Xp for bringing new and cool miniatures to the game. You don’t have to give the DM the miniatures (One guy tried to give me his miniatures for the xp, I gave him the xp for bringing the miniatures and told him keep his minis.) I don’t want your minis, I just want to play with them.
Don’t come to the game table drunk. I can tolerate a few drinks, but if your bombed don’t come. In my experience gaming with drunks is no fun (unless you’re drunk as well, but it is hard to DM drunk). I have asked players to leave the game because of obnoxious drunk behavior. Come back and play when you are sober.
At the end of a game I keep all character sheets, unless a player is leveling up.
If you miss a game, someone else gets to play your character. As a Dm I will assign that character to a player. You can always request for a certain player to run your character if you wish. But I have found some players just can’t handle two PCs. So I reserve the right to assign the character to someone else. If your character dies while you were away, the person playing your character gets to roll the stats for your new PC. The stand in player is responsible for letting the missing player know about his characters demise and what the new ability score are. You don’t like it don’t miss a game.
As DM I can be bribed. The going rate is 10xp/ $1.00. A bottle of Jack Daniels is guarantee level up, I limit this to one bottle per player per month. I just can’t drink like I used to in my youth.
My table rules:
* Characters of people who don't show are PPCs (Pink Puffy Clouds). It's simply presumed the character is there, and acting off camera as it were.
* Everyone gains equal XP for the adventure, even if they missed sessions. My players WANT to game. They don't blow off sessions willy nilly, so I'm not going to punish them when something more important happens.
* No arguing with the DM. They can bring up problems or disagreements with me after the game. By the same token, I expect they won't argue with each other either. Still, it happens now and then. We're adults and all friends, so we get over it.
* DM has Right of Recall. In short, if I make a judgement call on a rule or situation, I reserve the right to change my mind about it later. It may be that I wasn't right about a rule, or I find a better way to handle things in the future. I get to change my mind, but there's the expectation any changes will be an improvement or at least fair.
For the rest, I just expect my players to conduct themselves like civilized adults. That /is/ what we are, after all, and most of the time it works out that way. Sometimes tempers flare, other times we get very little done because things have devolved into a laugh-fest. In the end, we're just there to have fun, and D&D is the excuse to get together.
* DM has Right of Recall. In short, if I make a judgement call on a rule or situation, I reserve the right to change my mind about it later. It may be that I wasn't right about a rule, or I find a better way to handle things in the future. I get to change my mind, but there's the expectation any changes will be an improvement or at least fair.
Oh yaah I forgot, I use this one too. Xellan I could not state it any better.
There is only one exception to this rule: when a character is near death (around 10% HP remaining) any attack/damage rolls made against him or saving throws he makes will be done in the open so that the player knows I'm not screwing them over. Plus, it adds a lot of dramatic tension. When a character's life hangs in the balance, ALL EYES at the table are on that die, waiting to see if he lives.... or dies....
Ooh, I love this. Something I noticed in White Wolf games too...when you have less die rolls, they become much more dramatic.
Some alcohol is allowed in our table though nobody should get drunk...sometimes it even adds a nice atmosphere (like sipping red wine while playing Vampire).
DM rulings are argued during the game, and quite often all the players discuss together what would be the most sensible way of handling something...sometimes this goes to excess, like this one scifi campaign where good chunk of the time went in discussing operation of spaceships etc...it would have been very punishing experience for any player who didn't have background in science and generic technogeekery, luckily there were none of those in that campaign :)
But our games also include lots of intra-party arguments so things are dealt with quite well...
No secrets in character sheets from DM though couple of times some players have gone to other room to discuss things secret from DM...but as long as it is character interaction and planning, it is ok. However, it is bad manners for players to look at other players' sheets since there might be secrets there.
That issue about same character playing in various campaigns with different DMs did happen occasionally back in the day, but indeed it has been quite a while since I have come across to it.
Excellent ideas!
One thing I do as a DM is insist that all players use the same style character sheet.
This is a courtesy to other players who may have to run your character while you're gone and to the DM when I have to look things up on your sheet.
If everyone uses the same style sheet we all know where to find things quickly and easily on the character sheet.
Ok, forum swallowed my post yesterday and that seriously pissed me off. Retry.
-Dm gets to take apart your sheet. If I find out you're cheating on rolls because you(on purpose) calculated something wrong I will be very angry.
-We game every saturday from 12.30 till whenever we get sick of each other. If you don't show and have no acceptable excuse I will be angry. I can understand your girlfriend, parents, work or whatever getting in the way once or twice. But three times in a row means you're out. I will simply not call you any more to schedule sessions.
-Food and drinks are the responsibility of the person hosting the session. Dinner(unless paid for by a generous parent) is free-for-all.
-If I say you re-roll, you re-roll.
-You don't have to be a masterful roleplayer at my table but if you refer to your longsword as 'my little swordie' constantly so help me god I will kill you.
-If you have your nose in a book(heaven's forbid) while I'm explaining something don't ask me to repeat.
-Probably a few more I can't think of right now.
Paizo ate my first attempt at posting this, but I saved it. Apologies if it ends up showing back up later as a duplicate:
Things NOT related to mechanics, eh? Okay, I'll bite...
I roll all dice. ALL OF THEM. No one gets to see the results.
Man I have lots of respect for your opinions on these boards, but I could not play in your game. What fun is role playing if there are no dice to roll. I don't even get to see the results? Both as a player and DM watching those dice fall, good or bad, has always been a part of the fun for me.
Wow you are Iron Fisted
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Paizo ate my first attempt at posting this, but I saved it. Apologies if it ends up showing back up later as a duplicate:
Things NOT related to mechanics, eh? Okay, I'll bite...
I roll all dice. ALL OF THEM. No one gets to see the results.
Man I have lots of respect for your opinions on these boards, but I could not play in your game. What fun is role playing if there are no dice to roll. I don't even get to see the results? Both as a player and DM watching those dice fall, good or bad, has always been a part of the fun for me.
Wow you are Iron Fisted
Yeah, I agree.
My personal rules have never been ironed out 100%. I just let everyone know that they need to treat everyone at the table with respect and courtesy. If that rule is followed everything else falls into place nicely. If it doesn't I may need to pound someone (and with 10yrs of martial art of varying styles, 202lbs, and a bit of a pain fetish, I am usually the baddest dude at the table), but it has never come to that.
BTW: Joking, I don't go around pounding people much.
FH
Going around the table when not in combat to reduce game hogging and makes sure everyone gets a chance to talk/particpate.
Dinner is coordinated via e-mail before the game--someone brings or makes the entree' and others bring the side dishes. If someone makes all the food, the others bring lots of alcohol that everyone can share.
Die rolls in the open, even the DM unless I'm rolling secret spot/listen checks etc.
100xp available once per gaming session if you post your PC's perspective on my Paizo campaign log.
Drinking to excess discouraged.
Players write their characters vital stats in my game notebook before the game so I don't have to ask for spot/listen/disable device bonuses during the game.
Discourage your kids from running around and playing near the gaming table. We have anywhere from 6-15 kids in the house when we game...what can I say, we're a "fertile" group of gamers.
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Man I have lots of respect for your opinions on these boards, but I could not play in your game. What fun is role playing if there are no dice to roll. I don't even get to see the results? Both as a player and DM watching those dice fall, good or bad, has always been a part of the fun for me.
Wow you are Iron Fisted
It's true that my style is not for everyone. I've had a few newcomers who had issues with the fact that they don't get to roll any dice in my games. Eventually, one of two things happened: They learned to deal and realized that without the distraction of dice, the story flows much more smoothly OR they got frustrated and left.
Personally, my reasons for this rule are simple. Without looking at dice, hearing numbers shouted around the table, or degenerating into mechanical arguements, the game's action sequences become much more like a movie. All you hear is the DM's narration. I tell you about the bite of a sword, the clashing of weapons against steel, the smell of blood on the battlefield, and the rush of defeating your foes... and you never get to hear "Your bonus is +4, so your first attack hits but the second one misses. He takes 6 damage. yadda yadda yadda..." It's just much more cinematic this way, imo.
Really, to those of you who consider themselves strong roleplayers, try it this way for a game session or two. If your DM is descriptive and true to the story, I think some of you might be surprised at how much you like it. Obviously, it's not for everyone and your mileage will vary.
Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention, I *DO* let the players roll their own hit dice when they level, so that's something...
Personally, my reasons for this rule are simple. Without looking at dice, hearing numbers shouted around the table, or degenerating into mechanical arguements, the game's action sequences become much more like a movie. All you hear is the DM's narration. I tell you about the bite of a sword, the clashing of weapons against steel, the smell of blood on the battlefield, and the rush of defeating your foes... and you never get to hear "Your bonus is +4, so your first attack hits but the second one misses. He takes 6 damage. yadda yadda yadda..." It's just much more cinematic this way, imo.
I don't like arguments over game mechanics, but a lot of the other stuff is what makes D&D a GAME.
I guess for some D&D players, there is a balance between roleplaying and gaming. I've played with groups that were difinitly more game drivin. I even tried a group of diceless roleplayers, not for me (This is where I got the saying, "How can it be roleplaying if there are no dice to roll).
I like my roleplaying. I like speaking in character. I like background story. I like stats that are reflected in my character descriptions and visa versa. I like good combat description, as a DM I let the dice rolls dictate combat descriptions(nothing bothers me more than a Dm descriping combat like "you take 5 points damage" How? Why? What Happened?). I like characters actions to effect the campaign world and visa vers
But I also like the gaming part of roleplaying games. I like the battlemat. I like the strategy in the game. I like moving the miniatures around the battle mat. I like rolling the dice. I like the oohs and aahs as players watch the dice fall. Nothing like a life and death situation settled by a single die roll.
I don't know it seems you take the game out of roleplaying game, when you take the dice rolling away from the game.
I guess i got have both a fun game and a good roleplaying experience when I play D&D.
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I don't like arguments over game mechanics, but a lot of the other stuff is what makes D&D a GAME.
I guess for some D&D players, there is a balance between roleplaying and gaming. I've played with groups that were difinitly more game drivin. I even tried a group of diceless roleplayers, not for me (This is where I got the saying, "How can it be roleplaying if there are no dice to roll).
I like my roleplaying. I like speaking in character. I like background story. I like stats that are reflected in my character descriptions and visa versa. I like good combat description, as a DM I let the dice rolls dictate combat descriptions(nothing bothers me more than a Dm descriping combat like "you take 5 points damage" How? Why? What Happened?). I like characters actions to effect the campaign world and visa vers
But I also like the gaming part of roleplaying games. I like the battlemat. I like the strategy in the game. I like moving the miniatures around the battle mat. I like rolling the dice. I like the oohs and aahs as players watch the dice fall. Nothing like a life and death situation settled by a single die roll.
I don't know it seems you take the game out of roleplaying game, when you take the dice rolling away from the game.
I guess i got have both a fun game and a good roleplaying experience when I play D&D.
Exactly. It isn't just roleplaying, it is a game to me. I like the feeling of my PC's life is dependent on me rolling these little dice and getting a high enough number to pull him through. I wouldn't get that with someone rolling the dice for me, behind a screen, where they can alter the roll to add "dramatic flavor" or just tell me whatever they want to. Whenever I DM, my job is to set up the stage and let the actors do their jobs, then I narrate the results. That is just my way, and I am not saying any other way is wrong but it just isn't for me.
FH
One additional "rule" is to hold breaks away from the table so players can chat, eat, use the bathroom, check up on sports scores, or whatever. This allows player to keep the game at the table, hopefully resulting in better roleplaying and immersion into their characters. The best time would be when delivered food arrives or when the GM calls for a break.
I remember letting players bring characters from other campaigns in back in 2nd edition and it always ended badly. So this is a rule I agree with 100%.
I allow alcohol in limited quantities as long as the player can handle it. If it becomes a problem then it's out.
Once the players are familiar with the campaign give them the option of making up rumors about different things in the campaign. With the idea being that these are things they might be interested in. This allows you to work some of that stuff into adventures and lets you know what direction they might want to take their characters.
So if they tell you that their is a rumor of a powerful double bladed sword in a certain forest guarded by some powerful creature. You could work this into an adventure (with modfications of course), but if the rumor is that one of the characters is actually a god or some such nonsense then you could toss it or use it to screw with the character. I use the ones I like and discard the rest without telling the player.
Another rule to remember, "Keep the drama on the table."
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Heh, I'm beginning to wonder if my reputation on these boards has become one of an absolute bastard or something!
I wholeheartedly agree that you should play the game the way you want. If your players love to roll their own dice and they wouldn't have it any other way, then by all means, let them. The only reason I do things the way I do them now is because, once upon a time, I had a couple of new players at the table. In order to cut down on the confusion, I offered to roll their dice for them and do the calculations on my own. They agreed that it would help the game progress more steadily if I did not need to explain every roll to them. After a couple of game sessions of this, I realized that things were MUCH smoother this way. Then, I asked my other, veteran players if they would like me to do the same for them in order to smooth out the gameplay. Their agreement was unanimous. Since then, in every game I've run, I've rolled the dice for everything and not let the players know what's happening... and my players wouldn't have it any other way. My players like this so much, in fact, that when we've gotten new players, we always let them know that this is just the way it is in my games and if they want to roll their own dice, they need to go elsewhere. Are we elitist? Yeah, probably. Do we still have fun? Absolutely.
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Yeh but don't you miss handing a guy a d20 and saying,
"roll d20."
And he looks at you and says, "what am I rolling for?"
And you say, "Oh,....just because."
And he gets all panicky and says, "bu-bu...do I wanna roll high or low?"
And you say, "I want you to roll high..."
"Oh. Okay...HEY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?"
Or, no I don't think you're an utter and complete bastard...
;)
Yeh but don't you miss handing a guy a d20 and saying,
"roll d20."
And he looks at you and says, "what am I rolling for?"
And you say, "Oh,....just because."
And he gets all panicky and says, "bu-bu...do I wanna roll high or low?"
And you say, "I want you to roll high..."
"Oh. Okay...HEY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?"Or, no I don't think you're an utter and complete bastard...
;)
~laughter~
They agreed that it would help the game progress more steadily if I did not need to explain every roll to them. After a couple of game sessions of this, I realized that things were MUCH smoother this way.
Actually, I do the opposite of this for almost the exact same reason. I use the "players roll all the dice" option presented in Unearthed Arcana. First this keeps the players active, even when it's not their turns. More importantly though, it frees me up to concentrate on telling the story parts of the game. I don't have to roll a bundle of dice while trying to keep track of my notes and flipping through sourcebooks. Now I just have DC's listed for attacks and abilities, and they roll everything, even the damage.
Heh, I'm beginning to wonder if my reputation on these boards has become one of an absolute bastard or something!
Your reputation is fine by me. You got to be good at what you do, or players wouldn't be coming back.
1) I like to argue.
2) I enjoy a different style, man! It' s all groovey.
Much respect,
Sir K.