I'm a new DM and am feeling out some of the basics, or perhaps preferences, on my own. I could really use some insight on the following:
Do you hide all DM dice rolls? If not, which do you reveal and why?
Do you give exact health and AC numbers on enemies to your players? Why or why not?
Do you play on or off grid? What's your experience been with either?
I am a writer, and lean toward a storytelling narrative over a technical narrative, but am not set in my ways. I'd love to hear about your experiences with these and other similar facets of the game; how they helped and how they hindered. Thanks for your time!
Cadburylion wrote:
If you are new, I recommend you give all the information for two reasons.
1. It will help teach your players and yourself the rules. They will get a better sense of what they are doing, and the consequences of their actions if it is all spelled out.
2. They can help catch mistakes you might make.
Re: Technical/mechanical aspects vs. story and role playing
If you've played a bit poker and ever been dealt a full house, or drew to an inside straight, or even lost when you had four of a kind, then you know that these game specific actions or effects are real, and evoke real responses. Some people play RPGs and try to avoid all the mechanics, they want story telling, and just story telling. I do that sometimes, and I love it. BUT, sometimes playing the game, and having a natural 20 show up, or a natural 1, or rolling a big pile of dice for a fireball can itself be a highly emotional and memorable event. I can barely remember the point of the adventure where as DM I rolled 6 critical hits out of 10 rolls as some skeletons killed almost the whole party, and the the last surviving player rolled a hit every single attack thereafter and was missed by every monster attack thereafter, BUT I remember that. If the players are invested in the story or their characters then the fun and memories will follow.
Cadburylion wrote:
If the game has screen, the dice rolls will be hidden by virtue of that, but if not, my rolls are in full view.
I never reveal the HP total/remaining for the monsters, but I do try to translate remaining HP into descriptions of just how bad the monster is hurting after the PCs attack.
I absolutely hate using a battlegrid. I find that without a battlegrid in front of them, the PCs are much more likely to try creative stuff in combat. With a battlegrid, it sometimes feels like playing a game of chess. But I can understand why people like using them. Keeping it all straight can be difficult without it.
I always roll out in the open except for things like perception and insight checks where I don't want players to know if they didn't see anything because they rolled poor (causing everyone else to want to roll dice) or if they rolled well and there was nothing.
Combat dice I always roll in the open. If I roll a nat 20 on someone with low health - so be it. If I roll nothing but 1s and 2s and turn an otherwise tough encounter into a cakewalk because monster don't hit - so be it. I don't fudge combat dice (I tend to roll above average and crit often with physical dice, though, so the former tends to happen more often than the latter making my combats pretty lethal - another reason I roll out in the open. The players can see their fate and know I'm not just making up a 3 crit chain in a row. Online randomizers tend to be a little more mathematically random.)
AC - no. Players will usually figure out AC by trial and error. a 20 hits but a 14 misses - AC is between 15 and 20. An 18 hits, so the AC is between 15 and 18, etc. Once the number is 'known' I will tell players who haven't figured it out yet. The reason I don't is so that people can use things like Bardic Inspiration - which is supposed to be used after the roll, but before knowing success or failure.
Health - partially. I will tell players an enemy is 'bloodied' if it is a fleshy creature at half health (a holdover from 4e). It lets them know they are dealing a significant amount of damage to that target and that target is half way (or more) dead. I tend not to do that for constructs or other weird creatures where it may not be obvious. I will also say 'it's barely standing' if it's HP is in the single digits. I will always tell players which enemies are wounded - especially for rangers with Colossus Slayer.
I nearly alwys try to play on-grid wherever possible. I find it too hard to adjudicate who gets hit with area effect spells otherwise. "You want to cast Burning Hands? You can hit two guys I guess.. but I'm not sure if party members are in the way?" Using a grid makes it incredibly clear who does and does not get hit.
akr71 wrote:
Cadburylion wrote:
1) I roll in the open.
I don't always explain why I'm rolling at the time, but I often explain what the results meant after the outcome is resolved. For example, I occasionally do percentile dice for random encounters. The players generally know that the higher I roll, the more trouble the encounter will bring them, but they do not know the exact thresholds by which I determine the nature of the encounter, including whether its friendly, neutral or hostile.
2) I do not give exact health and AC, but my players pay close attention to figure out enemy AC on their own, and I'm perfectly okay with them announcing it to the table. For instance, if one guy missed on an attack roll of 15, and another hits on a 16, obviously the monster has 16 AC.
I never reveal max HP, but I put more effort into the narration when an attack reduces a creature to specific thresholds. Generally, I'll indicate when a creature has been reduced below half max HP, and when it is likely to die from a single attack.
3) On the grid, except in super simple combats. I rarely do super simple combats.
1) I've taken to using a die roller app on my tablet, so I'm effectively hiding all of my rolls. I also adore having Passive Perception bonuses, because I get to hide stealth rolls against the PCs. I'd prefer to roll active perception rolls for the players too, so they don't know if they missed because there was nothing to find or if they missed because they rolled low (unless they actively know there is something to find).
2) I don't give out ACs or HP. Just because the opponent is wearing a certain kind of armor doesn't mean that's their AC; they could have natural armor or feats or whatever. I don't reveal HP either, but I tell them when something is at 1/2 hp and when it's at 1/4 hp. I'm starting to think telling them the HP might be for the best, as they can alter their tactics and not feel like they're waisting an attack when something has only 1 hp.
3) I tend to always use a grid.
1) I usually let the players see what I roll, especially when I'm rolling saving throws or attack rolls. When I was a beginner, I often rolled behind a screen because it made me feel safe; I guess what led me to that was the fear of having built an unbalanced encounter, or a trap too deadly for the characters' level. However, with the passing of time I learned that rolling in the open brings you out of that "safety zone" and increases your awareness of how the game works. In addition, it prevents you from faking the rolls, and forces you to actually learn the math and odds of the system, which leads you to build better adventures, scenes and encounters.
2) I do sometimes tell them the monsters' AC; however, I never tell them the opponents' exact HP. I might say "this one looks tough", "you drive your sword deep into the creature's abdomen, and it seems a second hit might knock it down for good", stuff like that. I give particular meaning to critical hits (something I learned from Dark Heresy and the Warhammer 40K rpgs from Fantasy Flight): my players enjoy some gory details, so I try to describe the hit based on the kind of weapon used and the amount of damage dealt.
Also, remember to describe the visual effects of the monster's special defenses and vulnerabilities, such as incorporeal, elemental resistance, turning defiance... They really add to the sense of these being fantastical creatures, not just bandit statblocks with big tusks and green skin! 
3) Well, in my personal experience, using a grid is useful only if:
- You feel unsure about handwaving distances, ranges and areas of effect.
- You've got a big, crowded fight with more than four or five monsters.
- Or you're good at drawing and enjoy crafting setpiece encounters, carefully preparing the dungeon's map beforehand. I am a Fine Arts student, so I tend to be a sucker for pretty things... tactical maps especially (I even make them using photoshop sometimes!).
In the end, go with what makes you feel comfortable at the table. One thing, though: Many people say tactical maps detract from roleplaying and lead the players away from interesting tactics and improvisation. I must say that if the map is poorly drawn, devoid of any detail such as furniture, webs, braziers filled with smoking embers and the likes... Yup, it kind of ruins immersion to see a blank square where the Emerald Pharaoh's Burial Chamber should be. If you want to use tactical maps but don't like to spend time drawing them (and YES, it is time consuming and boring if you don't like it)... I'd suggest downloading some maps from the net and printing them, or buying some of the dungeon tiles sets from 4E. Both options are reasonably cheap, I think.
i use a grid more often than not[i have a battle mat]. i have tried theatre of the mind and found it doesn't work for some players [constantly repeating descriptions].
i roll in the open during combat, sometimes i roll randomly when i narrate to prod players or make a decision for myself. so they can see the numbers but not always why or what for.
exact health, no, you don't want to foster a purely numbers game. use the 4 E idea of 'bloodied' for when a monster is half HP or lower. i use generalized terms to describe the state of health. AC is trickier and its just easier to state it.
Malzerious made some good points.
it is both a story and a game, try for a good fusion and don't be married to your plot. 5 E makes it easier to make rulings on the fly, or to fit rules into a storyline. i suggest having a few rules written down for ease of access during play for quick reference until learned.
i have house ruled unlimited inspiration, and give it freely, often for remembering rules as we learn. also important because we all have different editions floating in our heads.
Cadburylion wrote:
Do you hide all DM dice rolls? If not, which do you reveal and why?
shivafang wrote:
Cadburylion wrote:
I always roll all combat dice in the open. I absolutely hate DM fudging (which I think encourages player fudging).
I do not explicitly give out AC numbers and hit point numbers for the mobs. If the players ask or make a perception, I of course tell them what type of armor enemies are wearing, and will give out general information their characters would know, such as, 'These things look agile and hard to hit' or 'He's defintely taken some wounds, but still looks like he's going strong' or 'he's wobbly'.
I very much like the grid, for all but the simplest of battles. I find that players often have quite widely different estimates of distances, physics, and geometry, and a grid helps to keep us all on the same page and solve disputes before they arise.
YMMV
Cadburylion wrote:
Cadburylion wrote:
1. I hide rolls where the player character will not automatically know the outcome, for when trying to hide from someone, hear sounds behind a door, or perceive traps in the shadows, and the player sees an exceptionally low or high roll, players will be tempted to act on knowledge their character could not have known: how reliable their effort was.
I used to fudge dice before I had a handle on the combat challenge of monsters or the difficulty of rolls, and then didn’t know when fudging would make things more fun or less (it’s not always easy to tell in the moment). Now I check numbers more closely with the DMG when writing, so I can just decide not to fudge.
2. I do not give AC and HP because I find immersion is greater the fewer game terms I use. That said, I do describe, in real-world terms, how thick a hide might feel, the armor a monster is wearing, or how spend a monster may appear, and give descriptions of far or near misses, blocks, and parries.
3. I don’t want players to be confused by things their characters wouldn’t. I use grids in encounters when there are enough things to consider at once, or when exact placement is important enough, but I usually describe only. For exploring, sometimes I show players a section of map, and other times I describe only.
4. Sometimes my players tell me that my description is too poetic or too vague, and so I try to improve my clarity and matter-of-factness, because the characters can’t sense what I don’t describe. That doesn’t mean there can’t be subtext or implications, but the bases for such nuance needs to be present.
As for narrative, I try to paint my narratives without requiring a PC to act a certain way or do a certain thing. I can control how NPCs behave and have some power in what situations PCs step into, so I work in those. It’s the players’ job to bring a character to the table (not just stats) to help the story; as DM, drawing from a PC’s bonds or past, or pushing a PC’s buttons (flaws, personality traits, ideals) makes the session feel like a story and not just a list of actions.
Cadburylion wrote:
The only time I ever fudged dice as DM was in favour to the players so they don't die in one hit. Fudging the dice to win as DM is soooo weird.
These days I don't cheat at all anymore, but that's mostly because my players said they don't want me to artificially protect them.
I try to be as descriptive as I can without using numbers whenever possible. Hopefully, the storyteller in you will be quite happy with that.
Numbers like AC and HP are really for the DM, and not the players. If the players determine the AC of a monster, I don't really care, but they won't get that information directly from me. It is metagaming, pure and simple, and I prefer to not encourage it. I do try to let them know when a creature is below half, or just barely standing though, as it can determine if a player wants to finish one enemy before another.
I roll my dice in a wooden tray beside my DM screen. I like the sound it makes when I roll, and sometimes use it to get the players' attention back to the game. I grew up keeping the DM dice behind the screen. I see no trouble with it, especially since actually seeing the die roll doesn't make much difference to the actual game. The only times I usually fudge die rolls is if I'm on a particularly good or bad streak, and I want to keep the challenge on par, rather than have it be too easy or brutally difficult.
What I do fudge are HP. I usually use a HP range for my monsters and NPCs, rather than a static value. I do this because sometimes a fireball should kill all the zombies in range, rather than leave them all with 2 hp left. I do this because sometimes the PCs might set up some elaborate plan to ambush an NPC, and I want the low level wizard who hasn't killed anything in 3 sessions to get the finishing blow. It still feels very fair since the HP value is, "valid," according to the creature statblock, and I use it to enhance the dramatic tension whenever possible.
If you are new to DM'ing, I would recommend that you at least give the no-maps method a try. It exercises different parts of your mind to describe an encounter in enough detail without overdoing it, and hopefully bring the players' imagination along for the ride. The real challenge, of course, is having attentive players. Thanks to video games and computers, players are accustomed to having information at their fingertips, but with some breaking-in, they should become accustomed to the method as well. Obviously, it won't work for all groups. But if you are lucky enough to have a group willing to try it out, you'll become a better DM for it, even if you later move to using grid-maps.
What I tell players is that they should imagine the game like making a movie. If they can think of something appropriate for the scene, and they want to use it to do something cool, then the director (me) will probably allow it. This can really open the creative floodgates for some players who really know how to take control of the scene, but other players might be intimidated and actually shrink away from the limelight. Don't allow one player to take too much away from the others and it will be okay. Again, this isn't a method that is suitable for all players, but for those that find they enjoy it, it can really make a game come alive and have a life of it's own.
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I love index cards. I make name cards for players and their characters so everybody can see and remember them. I make cards to mark inspiration so everybody can see who has it. I have cards for concentration, so people remember to make their CON checks when taking damage. The list just goes on. Just be sure to use an appropriate-sized marker, since a regular pen will be too difficult to read from across a table.
Obviously, DM'ing tips is quite the vast subject. There are just piles of information out there, so I'll just cut myself off here unless somebody asks me specific questions.
Cadburylion wrote: