Hi
I was just updating my core rule paper edition book with the errata and it reminded me of a question I was asked by a player.
In the Luck Domain, at 6th level, I gain Good Fortune which means I can re-roll a d20 roll before the result of the roll is revealed. Now what happens if I roll a 1 on an attack roll - I know that's an automatic miss but does that count as the result is revealed at that precise moment in time?
The GM within me says, yes, that's an auto reveal. Everyone knows the result, so on a critical miss, you cant re-roll.
I was just wondering what the official/popular community stance would be?
I was always bothered about the interpretation of rules for rerolls in D&D since 3rd edition anyway: player having to decide to reroll before learning if he succeeded or failed is meaningless quite often. Lots of GMs openly state the DC of the roll which means the success/failure is known immediately (hell, I and other GMs often calculate actual number needed for the player to be rolled to succeed and state it so - "with your attack bonus you need to roll 15 to hit him now). I interpret these rules that reroll must be declared before the effect of succes/failure is revealed: damage suffered on a failed saving throw for example or damage inflicted by attack. In case of failed attack roll the effect is obvious but I don't think it should negate the right to use the reroll.
I would let the player re-roll. It seems to me that rolling a 1 is the EXACT situation in which you would want to re-roll something anyway; and if you roll a 2 or a 3 it's still pretty much a given that you'll fail the save/attack/check, most of the time.
I interpret these rules that reroll must be declared before the effect of succes/failure is revealed: damage suffered on a failed saving throw for example or damage inflicted by attack. In case of failed attack roll the effect is obvious but I don't think it should negate the right to use the reroll.
This. Just because you may know whether you hit, doesn't mean you know the results of that hit or miss. Perhaps they have an ability which lets them attack you whenever you miss them. Perhaps they have an ability which lets them accept a hit which would normally miss in order to gain some advantage. Likewise with saves, just because you know you failed doesn't mean you know how much damage you're going to take, or if any of your gear is going to be damaged, and so on.
Thanks all for the feedback - very enlightening and encouraging to know I'm not the only one who struggles with this sort of thing.
Cheers.
My favorite is when the GM is the one making your roll for you. You don't even know what kind of check you're rolling, nor even if it's your roll at all.
I actually really dislike that, except under really specific circumstances, or with a really fair DM. The kind that would parse any such rolling with, "Do you want to reroll this if it's exceptionally bad, and what threshold constitutes "exceptionally bad" for you?"