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Here is the situation.
I have a player who intentionally sits as far away from me (As the DM) as possible during the games, which where we play is quite a ways. I cannot see what he is rolling from where I am, and even if my eyes were better he always throws his hand up in front of the die to "keep it from rolling all over the place."
He is (In everyday life) a compulsive liar. He is still my friend, and I still like having him at my table as do others in the game, but it is growing more and more obvious that his streak of lucky rolls is just him lying about his results. I threw 13 high DC fort and will saves at him this game (along with a few other party member who wanted to stand in the stinking cloud... that was obscuring 2 spider swarms) and he reported totals of no less than 18 on every single one. He does this same thing to a lesser extent with attacks and skill checks in particular.
I don't want to call him out on it because I know for a fact that it will cause some conflict but it is not only bothering the HELL of me knowing that he is doing this but the other players are beginning to notice as well.
What am I to do? I don't want to make a fool of him by going to him with the other players to corroborate against him but I know he will immediately jump to being offended if I approach him personally with the problem. I don't want to have to babysit him or have someone else have to WATCH him roll...
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I have had similar problems before. The best way I found to deal with it is just to ask everyone to leave the dice where they lie once they are rolled, and ask my players to keep each other honest. If theres one particular offender, attempt to have him near you but also ask a trusted player to keep an eye on his dice rolls and call them out when it happens, but in a non-confrontational manner.
I got an 18!
But you only rolled a 2, are you sure you've got +16 to your will save as a fighter...?
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In my experience, the most fashionable way to do this is to add about +10 to 15 to your DCs involving him. Figure that his dice are rolling at +10-15, and adjust accordingly. I had to do this once for someone in the same boat - and it's very obvious that his cheating's been seen when he suddenly isn't making the saves he says he is. It'll teach him passively, since the one in this example actually ceased doing it after about 3 sessions of necromantic wizards in our homebrew.
"I need Fortitude saves for the waves of fatigue hitting you this round."
"I rolled an 18! That's like 28!"
"Sorry, you failed. It seemed more potent to you than it did the wizard."
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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You could always try giving lots of attention to people who fail rolls - think up interesting and fun consequences on the fly and really get enthusiastic.
"Jake? 12? Oh dear oh dear oh dear... Even with your eyes half-closed the pungent fumes are starting to choke you. Your hands, your face, your neck.. all that exposed skin is itching and burning, and every hacking cough drags the evil smoke deeper into your lungs. You're wearing greaves? And sandals? Oh boy! Worse still, that burning sensation seems different around your calves. Sharper, more intense, more... specific! Mother of God the floor is covered in biting spiders and centipedes! They're all over you!"
"Fred? 19? Fair enough."
"What about you Jake? 14? Oh my giddy aunt! Not only have you the same choking/ puking/ blinding fume problems as Pete here (did I mention they were climbing your legs and heading for the 'warm zones'? heeheehee, and not only are you standing in the other half of that ENORMOUS crowd of biting insects, but... <has an idea> Hmmm, what's your Perception score? you've noticed there's some sort of air current at floor level - except the walls all look normal."
I find people who do this want to 'win' - and if you redefine winning as getting all the action, attention and DM-attention then you may get them involved that way.
Yeah dice have to be rolled out on the open where they can be seen.
have a mat or something for the players to roll on in the middle of the table.
I think you're screwed: You can either let him keep on doing it, get more and more annoyed, until you explode and really let him have it (or at least be so annoyed during the game that it stops being fun for you), or confront him and have him all annoyed.
Great scheme he worked out: Be a lie and a cheat and throw a tantrum when your friends bring it up. That way you can make anything bad that comes of it their fault for "looking for an argument".
My advice: Talk to him. If he's offended, then tough luck - if you're a cheat you should be prepared to be offended on a regular basis.
Of course, you should be real sure about his cheating before you do anything.
I cannot see what he is rolling from where I am, and even if my eyes were better he always throws his hand up in front of the die to "keep it from rolling all over the place."
we made it obligatory back in the 90's to use a dice shaker.
There was one guy who could roll the dice so good that it became unfair.Since then the leather dice shaker and a cork-coaster are mandatory (and beloved) equipment for every player in our 3 groups.
Everyone can see what is rolled when the shaker is lifted, no dice get lost or get thrown under the table and you can roll all the dice at once (good to speed up high level play)
I have had the same exact problem with a player at my game, and we, i beeing the dm, tryed all sort of soluctions from having an other player watch his roles, to a rule about using very clear dice, but non of it helped prevent the problem, and finally we called him on it, in front of everybody. To say the least it ended very badly.
If i ever happen to be in the same situation again, i will talk to the offender in private.
In my expirience there is no way around it, so do it before you find yourself without a gaming crew.
There is always a reason why people cheat, often it is because the want to be a valuable member of the party, so try to see if you can feed that need without him having to cheat, just tell him that he is a very valuable member of the gaming crew and that as a friend you have noticed that he seems to be under a lot of pressure/stress and you can understand why he might want to succede on his roles in the game, but that cheating is not ok.
He might be angry, but there is nothing else you can do.
Combine the methods:
Try to change seatings that you will have clear view of everyone.
Rearrange playing area so that everone will roll there where it will be visible.
Do not tell player's DC before roll so they will roll in blind.
Two notes however. I know two players who are just LUCKY. They roll amazing results. Without cheating and in plain view. Some just seems to be favored by the dice.
Second is that, if he is really compulsive liar and is your very good friend try consider with other of his friends, if you have contact with them, to subtly persuade him for therapy. If he is not so close friend take into account that it *might* end with his removal from the group. Certain degree of trust is required to make game work and be enjoyable for everyone.
You could always try giving lots of attention to people who fail rolls - think up interesting and fun consequences on the fly and really get enthusiastic.
"Jake? 12? Oh dear oh dear oh dear... Even with your eyes half-closed the pungent fumes are starting to choke you. Your hands, your face, your neck.. all that exposed skin is itching and burning, and every hacking cough drags the evil smoke deeper into your lungs. You're wearing greaves? And sandals? Oh boy! Worse still, that burning sensation seems different around your calves. Sharper, more intense, more... specific! Mother of God the floor is covered in biting spiders and....
+1
This is brilliant. I don't have any cheaters, myself, but it helps to be reminded that a DM should attempt to make failures just as entertaining as successes.
have a central dice tray where all player rolls can be seen. Alternatively I have seen D20's the size of tennis balls make all the players roll the mega D20 - no way it can be hidden and everybody can see the roll. If he complains about the big dice say your eyes are getting bad.
The last time I ran a game with a excessive and not very subtle cheater I started getting upset but then I asked my-self a couple of questions: Is his cheating ruining the fun of the other players? Is it damaging to the overall game? Is the cheater having fun?
I talked to the other players, who had also noticed his cheating, and asked them if it was negatively impacting their gaming experience. They said it wasn't a big deal for them and he seemed to be enjoying him-self, so ultimately I just let it go.
If the other players had had a problem with it then I would have put a stop to it.
Some people just like to play the invincible hero who never fails.
If you do choose to do something about his cheating I would advise caution. I've been on the receiving end of some of the above suggestions (not for cheating but rather for a controlling Dungeon Master) and it was not enjoyable.
The only time I've ever put earnest thought into just getting up and walking out on a game was when I had a Dungeon Master decided to increase the difficulties of my skill checks as opposed to the other players. He had taken offense at my fighter character having the Knowledge (Religion) and Spellcraft skills, despite my backstory as a temple guard/paladin trainee washout who was very devout in game and having given my sheet approval before the start of the game, and so increased all the related DCs for those skills by ten (to start with).
The first couple of times I sort of glossed over it but after a while he just started messing with me. By the time I had the sense to give up my character had just murdered someone because with a Knowledge (Religion) check of 32 I had misidentified some random drunk as a zombie. I found out later from another player that my character was taking something like negative thirty to his skill checks by that time.
So don't go overboard on the increased checks and but discrete about it if you go that route.
Combine the methods:
Try to change seatings that you will have clear view of everyone.
Rearrange playing area so that everone will roll there where it will be visible.
Do not tell player's DC before roll so they will roll in blind.
This + ask the other players to keep him honest. Just tell him you don't feel comfortable not seeing everyone's rolls. If you don't want it to seem obvious that he is being called out have the other player's rolls confirmed also.
Two words: Axe Handle
Ahhh, the get a stick method. Mr. Fishy's personal favorite.
The last time I ran a game with a excessive and not very subtle cheater I started getting upset but then I asked my-self a couple of questions: Is his cheating ruining the fun of the other players? Is it damaging to the overall game? Is the cheater having fun?
I talked to the other players, who had also noticed his cheating, and asked them if it was negatively impacting their gaming experience. They said it wasn't a big deal for them and he seemed to be enjoying him-self, so ultimately I just let it go.
If the other players had had a problem with it then I would have put a stop to it.
This is probably the best advice I can think of, if you want to remain non-confrontational. Every other method is just another version of pointing and saying "cheater, cheater, pumpkin-eater!!" (with a greater or lesser degree of subtlety).
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I don't want to call him out on it because I know for a fact that it will cause some conflict but it is not only bothering the HELL of me knowing that he is doing this but the other players are beginning to notice as well.
Well, in situations like this, your responsibility as the GM is to call him out on it. Don't make it public or confrontational or angry. Just take him aside and tell him that you notice he's been fudging dice rolls, and that you don't approve of that at your table. If he denies it or gets mad, tell him that you've seen what you've seen and him denying it doesn't help either of you. Be firm and gentle, and tell him that he needs to stop, then leave it at that. If he does it again, ask him to leave the game. That's unpleasant, but if cheating bothers you at your table, then it's what you need to do--as a last resort, if talking to him fails.
Don't go behind his back, don't be passive-aggressive, don't be tiptoeing around him. Just be up-front about it.
Jeremy Puckett
First, make sure he is cheating. Write down everyone's rolls. So if the party is up against the spider swarm, make a few columns on a piece of paper with the creature's AC and DCs for it's abilities. Write each player's result. After the game, check to see if he is really cheating or if you are misreading him. Maybe he actually has a reasonable distribution and you are missing it. Maybe he is rolling more average than you think. Remember that he is probably rolling that d20 often.
Second, I don't tell my players the DCs for their saving throws or the AC they need to beat. I like the tension that it gives them. They don't know if their 12 or 18 or even 25 is going to be good enough.
Third, if you have a copy of each character, you can throw some effects that attack his weakest saves. If Reflex is his weakest saving throw, then it's time to see how he handles that. If he only has a +3 and managed to roll an 18 or more consistently, then he is probably cheating.
Fourth, you can actually check to see if his die is actually biased. It's possible that he accidentally found an imperfect die and is just using it because it's favorable.
Fifth, if he's your friend you should be able to talk to him about something like this. Sure he might get upset but a friend would listen, make changes, and get over it. If he is unwilling to make some changes, then it might be time to tell him that since you are not enjoying the game then you are not willing to run it anymore.
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Talk to him in private about it. Don't flat accuse him of cheating, but voice your concerns about his streaks and how some of the other players have as well. Mention how it is starting to effect everyones fun and that you think it would be best he sit near you so you can confirm his rolls so everyone knows he really is just that lucky.
Of course that is the points you want to make how you do it depends on you and your friend.
The end results are you have two choices.
1) Do nothing until it either gets to you or one of the players so bad they say something at the game. That is bad because he will get defensive in front of everyone and it will end badly.
2) Talk to them in private and try and resolve it.
Talk to him in private about it.
I have never, in all my years of gaming, heard of a case where talking to a player about cheating caused him to stop cheating. There's always a first time, I guess...
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Talk to him in private about it.I have never, in all my years of gaming, heard of a case where talking to a player about cheating caused him to stop cheating. There's always a first time, I guess...
Stop him? No unlikely, but if he thinks everyone is aware and will start watching him. He likely will cut it way back to only key moments.
The choices are limited. If he won't stop, your choices are make a issue out of it and try and make him stop or at least cut down on it. Or do nothing and hope no one loses it or leaves the group. Or you ask him to leave. I prefer to try and resolve the issue and at the very least keep the friend.
Larger dice
Memorized his character sheet.
Ask him to check his math.. cheating is dishonest, but everyone makes a math error now and again.
If that doesn't work
http://www.google.com/images?q=iniflatable+d20&oe=utf-8&rls=org.moz illa:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=o g&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=569
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I don't want to call him out on it because I know for a fact that it will cause some conflict but it is not only bothering the HELL of me knowing that he is doing this but the other players are beginning to notice as well.What am I to do? I don't want to make a fool of him by going to him with the other players to corroborate against him but I know he will immediately jump to being offended if I approach him personally with the problem. I don't want to have to babysit him or have someone else have to WATCH him roll...
The easiest passive way to try and control this would be to put a shoebox in the middle of the table and require everyone to roll in the box. If you don't see it it doesn't count. That being said...
I know you don't want to confront him, but if you don't the problem will never get resolved. Trying to passively control it will just lead to more desperate attempts to cheat or cries of "unfair" from the guy.
Now, you don't have to confront him in front of the other players. Pull him aside and let him know that you would like him to stop his behavior. If he's anyone worth playing with he'll knock it off.
==
AKA 8one6
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There are a number of programs/sheets out there where you can keep track of everyone's saves, ac, hp, and basic skill bonuses.
As such, you can just simply ask for "roll a d20 and tell me what you get" and see where it goes from there.
While the vast majority of the PF rules are looking for HIGHER results, often we like to make "Stat challenges" have to roll UNDER the required stat on a d20.
For instance, to figure out a particularly clever trap/puzzle...roll UNDER your INT/WIS on a d20.
Sprinkle a few of those type of rolls into a game or situation/encounter, and watch his crestfallen face as he realizes that always "luckily rolling high" isn't that great of a thing.
"Roll me a d20 and tell me what you get? 14, great. 11? good job. 18? Wow Fred, you are really rolling high tonight! 4? Ok. Everyone who rolled under their WIS is pretty sure that the object of the chains/pulleys and golden braziers is to alternatingly raise and lower the lighting level inside this chamber of the dungeon...."
Something like that perhaps.
It seems to me that in every case the player that always wants to roll high is either disliking their character because they feel its inadequate in some manner and they are trying to compensate by always succeeding in the rolls.
I also advocate speaking to the player in private. Even so, nobody likes to be called out or caught doing something "wrong" and it will more than likely turn into a confrontation, unless you are really good at schmoozing your players/friends.
Good Luck!
Yeah dice have to be rolled out on the open where they can be seen.
have a mat or something for the players to roll on in the middle of the table.
i have a friend that does the exact same thing. it becomes a problem when he plays characters that have spells or abilities per day. i just have everyone roll out in the open. thats for when i run games. if he wants to cheat in someone elses game then let that gm deal with it his way.
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have a central dice tray where all player rolls can be seen. Alternatively I have seen D20's the size of tennis balls make all the players roll the mega D20 - no way it can be hidden and everybody can see the roll. If he complains about the big dice say your eyes are getting bad.
I did the same in the past, for initiative rolls, attack rolls and save rolls.
A medium sized dice tray does pretty much the trick: it's near to each and every player (so they can throw and retrieve their d20) and close enough to our poor stressed DM's eyes that we can see the result - plus it's also obvious to everyone at the table, and a single cheating player usually does not get away with his habits so easily.
Being used by every player at the table also does not give any impression of unfairness or desire to single out an individual (even if the latter is the real scope).
I understand that asking him to sit somewhere closer or roll a bigger die might be pretty obvious that you're suggesting he's cheating.
If you want to make sure, and you are running your own adventures, consider adding something in the next adventure or so that requires all of the characters splitting up and being separated. You could then move the the players and go to each one individually for their part of the adventure. Sit right next to them in a small space so that it's impossible not to see their rolling. However, DON'T make this a chance to "punish" him for cheating. If he rolls a 2 and you kill him, that's only going to encourage him to continue cheating when you're not looking over his shoulder. As above, take the time right then to make some of the failures stand out.
You could attempt this a couple of times to see if he'll take some of the playing one-on-one to the regular game.
Or if you using a map and miniatures, it sounds like this player may have extra space around him. I DM and sit at the end of very large table at a friend's house, i commonly get up to set up the miniatures. Instead of setting them up and then immediately going back to my seat, sometimes I linger and have players roll initiatives and then their first few roles when I'm right next to them.
Also, if you roll behind a screen, that could be his excuse to himself to cheat. Maybe he thinks he has to cheat because he suspects that you are cheating (not suggesting you are, just letting you know how compulsive liars usually think). Try removing the screen sometimes, or like I said, you move to a new seat instead of asking the players to.
Or to add to what is posted above, don't just make failures spectacular, make them actually benefits in disguise:
* Everyone make a saving throw from the spores of this plant...oh no, you three players have taking this much damage. The next day. Oh, you three players who took damage from that plant yesterday, you now have a permanent +3 natural armor like barkskin.
There's plenty of things like that you could do for whoever rolled the lowest.
And for always rolling highest, how about this: OK, everyone roll a d20 and let me know what you got. What's it for? I'll tell you after. OK, the assassin attacks the person who rolled the highest, oh, it's you Player X again, man, bad luck.
And if it seems like you're picking on him, simple, ask everyone to roll, pass a piece of paper around and ask the players to right down their number without telling you and before you get the paper, announce that the highest roll is a bad roll this time. Do this a few times and change it up, sometimes rolling high is bad sometimes rolling low is bad, if the player doesn't know what a good roll is, then there's less reason to claim they keep rolling certain numbers.
However, as also stated above, if your friend is literally a compulsive liar, then most of this won't matter. Compulsive liars can't help themselves. Compulsive lying is many times a symptom of a much larger problem. Without professional help they are unlikely to change their ways.
I understand avoiding a confrontation, however, ignoring the problem might not be wise either. Every lie (or cheat in this case) that they get away with gives them more incentive to continue that behavior. Politely confronting them and asking them to either stop cheating or stop playing may be awkward but may be beneficial to everyone in the long run.
Shock collars also work in my experience.
+1. She put one on me and I just started obeying like crazy.
I'm not in agreement with those suggesting you let this slide. It sets a precedent that you don't want set. If you bury your head in the sand with his dice rolls, it's likely on a matter of time before he starts doing other things, like not ticking down uses of channel energy or spells, or other abilities with limited use. Are you really going to count rounds of rage? Was that two or three potions of useful whatever that he bought? How many got used?
My point is that someone who is willing to cheat at a cooperative game with his friends has a problem.
I also don't recommend confronting him. He knows what he's doing. There's no point telling people what they already know. In fact, he likely knows you're aware too, but has learned that you're not doing anything about it. He's safe.
Bottom line is you can't change others' behaviour. Change your own. Your table requires all PC dice rolls to be rolled out in the middle of the table. Any questionable rolls (dice that end up touching objects, dice that aren't level) must be re-rolled. Dice that are snapped up before you see the results must be re-rolled.
Just enact a reasonable rule at the table and apply it universally and consistently. It isn't about him.
Here's the sell: Rolling in the open lets the DM and the group help. Everyone pretty quickly learns what their companions' attack modifiers are (for instance). An 11 gets rolled, a player says "okay, I hit 18". At that moment, the DM and other players can (and will) say "you forgot you're flanking" or "you forgot bless is up" or any of a number of other useful things that might be being forgotten. Rolling in the open helps players. INSIST that you believe that. There's no argument for that. "No, rolling in secret is better for me." Uh-huh. Nobody's going to claim that. Even if one roll in a thousand gets a bonus because of extra eyes on it, that's more than none. So forbid secret rolls.
Easy. Simple. Fair. Problem solved. AND it sends a message that you're interested in fair. Doesn't preclude the problems I mentioned at the start, but says you're willing to take steps to stamp out cheating.
I'm going to suggest something completely out of the box.
Put him in situations where he's by himself, and don't even ask him to roll. Just let him automatically succeed. Here's the trick though, make these automatic success boring. Yes, he wins, but he doesn't get to describe any cool actions and he gets no treasure/xp/rewards. When he asks why, tell him that he always wins anyways and you didn't feel like wasting time and effort describing a forgone conclusion.
Stuff.
Best post in this thread IMO.
Just tell him to stop it. I don't know. Cheating in D&D is fine sometimes-- but fudging your rolls all of the time is just shameful. Like others have been saying, take him aside, tell him you know what he's doing and ask him why he does it. Strike up a deal, work it out, and then you can come back to the game and he can start playing it.
Useless Anecdote:
I had a cheater in my game once. He felt very ashamed after he rolled a lucky critical at an opportune time and picked up the die and told me about it. I told him "I don't believe you" and made him re-roll. He did it like a champion and still succeeded but after that he didn't cheat anymore. I don't know if that critical was real or not (he and his girlfriend claimed that it was later) but it definitely served to humble him a bit.
Stuff
+1
"You touched the dice, you have to roll again after I walk over there with this flashlight!"
My friend stopped using the mottled, hard to read favorite dice after I picked it up and held it near my eye a few times.
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There are a number of programs/sheets out there where you can keep track of everyone's saves, ac, hp, and basic skill bonuses.
Before I started using a laptop at the game table, I would pass around a sheet that the players would fill in. It would have save bonuses and particular skill check modifiers (Spot, Listen, Hide, Sense Motive, Bluff). Then prior to the game the players would roll a d20 about 5-6 times each and I would write them on a separate sheet of paper.
This allowed me to use their rolls when I needed to make a "private" save or skill check. After all, many checks are supposed to be made by the GM and the result revealed to the player. This gets difficult if the PC has some in-game mechanic for changing things, such as a "once per day reroll any d20". When I used a player's pre-rolled value if it was less than 10 I would ask whether they wanted to use that or reroll (if they had such a feature).
This will also make it clear whether the player is getting a lot of great rolls all at once. And because it's done prior to the game, you can sit right next to the player and watch the dice while you write them down.
Last, turn the tables on the PCs. For example, in a situation where a basilisk is coming around a corner, I will tell the players that anyone who wants to should make a Spot check (er, Perception). Anyone who rolls is potentially affected by the gaze attack. If they succeed and see the creature, then they *are* affected. All of a sudden having a really high roll isn't such a good thing anymore! ;-)
Before I started using a laptop at the game table, I would pass around a sheet that the players would fill in. It would have save bonuses and particular skill check modifiers (Spot, Listen, Hide, Sense Motive, Bluff). Then prior to the game the players would roll a d20 about 5-6 times each and I would write them on a separate sheet of paper.
This allowed me to use their rolls when I needed to make a "private" save or skill check. After all, many checks are supposed to be made by the GM and the result revealed to the player. This gets difficult if the PC has some in-game mechanic for changing things, such as a "once per day reroll any d20".
We use this method in our game too, save for the pre-rolling part. The other bit that makes it tricky is conditional modifiers (favored enemies, bonuses vs enchantments, etc). For the most part it works though. Sometimes the DM will roll perception checks for us, sometimes he'll just ask for a d20 roll and not tell us what it was for.
Oh, and another +1 for Anguish's post.
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May I suggest this die? It's big, each side is nearly the size of a dime. But more importantly, it lights up when you roll a 20. It's so awesome. Thinkgeek also has a giant inflatable d20 if you just want to make him look like an ass.
He's an insecure jerk who has a long history of using other people to meet his own needs through lying. Why, exactly, are you friends with this person? I think you need to take inventory on whether you tolerate his presence or actually like him.
He's stealing the spotlight from other players. I'm SURE that they've noticed this too. It drives me !#$!# bonkers when I see that kind of selfish play. So, let them handle it. They'll gradually freeze this guy out of their combat plans, because they'll realize that dangers don't affect him. So he doesn't need their help. Frankly, this kind of thing makes me so angry that as a DM I'd let the other PCs do anything they wanted to get even. Sometimes mob justice is justice.
If I had to resolve it in game, I'd have a plot hook be about how his character has somehow offended the god of Luck and thus been cursed. That PC gets -5 to all rolls until he appeases the luck gods... by letting the dice fall where they may in a game of chance where his PC's life is the stake.
And if that thinly disguised moral didn't change his behavior, then he's booted and I thank my lucky stars that I no longer have a serial liar as a "friend".
Seriously, dude, why be friends with this guy?
My group had a cheater a while back. Luckily our GM calls it like he sees it and warned the cheater he'd be removed if he continued to cheat. I suggested the cheater should have to roll a 6" foam d20 where everyone could see. Further, I thought we should have all the player's modifiers written on a dry-erase board on the wall. No chance for cheating when everyone is doing the math. The cheater left the group shortly after.
I agree with the strong stance Jake, a cheater kinda ruins the mood, however the guy was going to end up leaving as its kind of hard to come back from that and not feel awkward.
There are a number of programs/sheets out there where you can keep track of everyone's saves, ac, hp, and basic skill bonuses.Last, turn the tables on the PCs. For example, in a situation where a basilisk is coming around a corner, I will tell the players that anyone who wants to should make a Spot check (er, Perception). Anyone who rolls is potentially affected by the gaze attack. If they succeed and see the creature, then they *are* affected. All of a sudden having a really high roll isn't such a good thing anymore! ;-)
+2 for saying better what I was thinking.
One last suggestion- Ask your players to list their saving throws and roll them on their behalf (use software on a laptop to do this quickly and efficiently).
No.
No way in all the lower planes.
It's one thing to try curtailing cheating, but if I play a game, I play it myself. That means I'll roll my checks and saves and attacks myself.
There's always the hidden roll exception, of course, but other than that I want the fate of my character resting in my hand.
That way, when my character is left a wet smear or crimson mist by a failed roll, I just curse my luck. I won't murder my GM for killing my character - either by rolling bad or by intentionally fixing the rolls behind the screen (and the first one applies even if you do it in the open).
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks like that. So everyone who takes the players' dice away: If you don't have a death wish, get a panic room!
Two notes however. I know two players who are just LUCKY. They roll amazing results. Without cheating and in plain view. Some just seems to be favored by the dice.
I had my bad streaks (or it is just selective memory, of course), but one character in particular was deadly - and a lot of that deadliness was because of some of the most awesome rolls I ever had.
I mean, a paladin/duellist with a crit range of 15-20 will get his fair share of crits, but I had what seemed like whole sessions where the worst thing that happened to me was not hitting with a crit with one or more attacks. I usually roll all attack rolls for the round at once and read them in row, and I had rows like 20-19-18-20.
Last, turn the tables on the PCs. For example, in a situation where a basilisk is coming around a corner, I will tell the players that anyone who wants to should make a Spot check (er, Perception). Anyone who rolls is potentially affected by the gaze attack. If they succeed and see the creature, then they *are* affected. All of a sudden having a really high roll isn't such a good thing anymore! ;-)
I don't like cures that are as dangerous as the condition.
In this case, screwing people for good rolls. It might seem "justified" in this case, but it will set a bad precedent