2- d4s
5- d6s
3- d8s
2- d10s (seprate from d%)
1- d12
1 set- d%
Should I use them? The rest of my gaming group is crazy about dice, they only use their own and no one else can use them...
Victory is meaningless if you can't lose.
If by 'fixed' you mean 'loaded', aka 'cheating', no you should not use them, and if you do, your group should immediately eject you with no chance of readmittance, and blacklist you to every other game group within two countries of your location.
I agree with the slightly edited version. Course I once spent several hours testing dice and recording rolls to root out a d10 with an air bubble in it that wanted to roll 9s too often, and eliminate it from a group of identical dice. I really don't like cheating, and "fudging rolls" is essentially the same thing.
DMs shouldn't cheat, either.
They don't cheat, they adjust the variables to take into account unknown and unforeseen circumstances. And of course the DMs serve as Karmatic forces over the PC's lives.
Like an arrow coming out of nowhere and killing a PC because an NPC rolled 21 to hit, but that doesn't take into account the possibility of a gust of wind changing the path of the arror, or for that matter a flawed arrow, perhaps it has a weak shaft and breaks doing half damage or it is off balanced and imposes an unknown -5 to hit. Did anyone roll a Profession: Fletching to make these arrows? Could they have messed up? Who knows?
and is it cheating? If it is cheating to fudge a die roll as a DM, then isn't it also cheating to place a Dragon in their path? We make up events as we go adding chalenges and taking them away or altering their difficulty. If it isn't cheating to decide that the next room should only contain 6 Ogres instead of 24 Minatuars, then how can it be cheating to decide that perhaps that goblin rogue who just rolled high enough to disembowel the fighter isn't as skilled as you orriginally planned and thus missed?
As for the Fixed Dice, I wouldn't actually use them, except as a joke. Like a level 1 Goblin attacks you he rolls a nat 20, wow, lets confirm wow another 20, ok lets make a confirm if it's a death attack, OMG another 20!!! Thats not right, sorry man. Ok he attacks the next player with his second attack wow another 20......see how much they fear that lucky little Goblin before letting them know it was a joke.
They don't cheat, they adjust the variables to take into account unknown and unforeseen circumstances. And of course the DMs serve as Karmatic forces over the PC's lives.
If an ogre has a +10 to bash my character with a club, and my AC is 23, I expect the DM to roll a 13 or better. Anything less is a miss, and if the DM rolls an 8 and declares the attack roll a miss, then the DM is cheating. It's as simple as that.
And the same is true for a PC.
Like an arrow coming out of nowhere and killing a PC because an NPC rolled 21 to hit, but that doesn't take into account the possibility of a gust of wind changing the path of the arror, or for that matter a flawed arrow, perhaps it has a weak shaft and breaks doing half damage or it is off balanced and imposes an unknown -5 to hit. Did anyone roll a Profession: Fletching to make these arrows? Could they have messed up? Who knows?
The system already accounts for a weird gust of wind, or flawed arrow, or bad fletching, or whatever else you want to come up with. It's called "the dice." Roll poorly enough to miss, and you can explain the miss any way you like; roll well enough to hit, and you can explain the hit any way you like.
If an ogre has a +10 to bash my character with a club, and my AC is 23, I expect the DM to roll a 13 or better. Anything less is a miss, and if the DM rolls an 8 and declares the attack roll a miss, then the DM is cheating. It's as simple as that.
And the same is true for a PC.
Well a roll of 8 and +10 for the Ogre's attack bonus would be 18, your AC is 23 so it would be a miss. DM ain't cheating.
But what does the DM do when he makes an PC with an attack bonus of +15 and then halfway during the battle realizes he messed up and made the encounter too difficult and the PC's don't stand a chance and are going to die?
I think he should correct his error and reduce the attack bonus and fudge some details to correct the encounter to his intended difficulty
Just as what should a DM do when he realizes the PCs aren't strong enough to take on the encounter in the upcoming room in the dungeon? Just leave the 2 dozen Ancient dragons sitting there? Isn't making 23 Ancient dragons disapear cheating? even if the players don't know about those dragons yet.
I think the DM should correct his mistake and adjust the dungeon's chalenges to better fit the intended difficulty for the PCs.
the numbers are really abstracts, designed to achieve an intended chalenge for the PCs, if the chosen numbers don't meet the intended challenge, then they are wrong. In your example perhaps the DM made a mistake when he decided that an Ogre with a +10 attack was an appropriate encounter for your party.
He made a mistake.
He realized he was mistaken when said Ogre was thrashing you soundly and was about to kill you and wipe the party.
If he corrects the mistake that is not cheating imo
Sure sometimes things go bad and a PC dies, or an NPC dies when he shouldn't :P that shouldn't be corrected by the DM without good reason, but often times creating a balanced encounter is difficult to do and the results are unpredictable, then the DM might be inclined to Correct mistakes on his part to bring the encounter to it's intended challenge.
Allowing the characters to beat everything no matter what, not by merit but by cheating, is crap. It's not correcting, it's coddling, and it makes thin-skinned players with no common sense and no hard-won tactical or strategic insight.
First the basics - nobody has a right or a privilege to cheat. Not the DM or the players. Which is to say that "to cheat" implies an intent - the intent to decieve, to be arbitrarily UNfair, to deny to others the things to which they are entitled.
Next, the DM is not a slave to the dice. Dice don't run the game - the DM does. The dice are tools the DM uses to help him do that. The DM that lets dice results always dictate what happens is doing his players a DISSERVICE. Theoretically at least, a DM has superior judgement of what is best and most enjoyable for the game to occur instead of what the dice say. The DM gets to invent new rules, to change existing rules, to create things that are not limited by the rules - and that extends to dice results. The DM must, however, also use good judgement and use these priviliges responsibly and SPARINGLY.
The DM wins whenever he wants. He can't NOT win - he controls EVERYTHING except the PC's. He controls what, when, where, how many, etc. Even if he did act as a mindless dice slave he still wins whenever he wants to. Therefore "cheating" at dice results is in a sense unnecessary. The only time a DM should consider "fudging" dice rolls is when it is actually in the PLAYERS favor to do so, or possibly if the campaign as a whole will be disrupted more by NOT doing so (although the latter gets into the issue of how stupid the DM is in having things get even close to that point at all). When fudging in favor of the players the DM must take care that he is not being irresponsibly kind or too easy on the players when they need and deserve more severe consequences, and that he is not playing favorites among players/PC's, etc.
In any case, it is my personal opinion that DM's should never make ANY rolls in the open - with one exception. By doing so it makes it understood to the players that the DM - for whatever reasons - publicly absolves himself of all responsibility for the result and is by doing so also insisting that the players are aware of this - not that they remain UNaware of the DM's concern or lack thereof. This then is a situation that the DM would NOT fudge the roll. He is disavowing for THIS ROLL what is otherwise his OBLIGATION in being responsible for the continued enjoyment and success of his campaign.
For example, the OP gives the scenario of making a dice roll to stop a PC death and not having them know the die is loaded. If the DM is going to take responsibility for the outcome of the die roll (as is NORMAL) then he does the everyone a disservice in attempting to decieve them into thinking that he is NOT taking responsibility for the outcome. If the DM thinks the PC should survive then the PC should survive - end of story. If the DM thinks the PC should die - then he dies. If the DM thinks the die roll should determine life and death - then let it be so. I can think of no reason, however, that the DM should overtly FAKE that result with the intent of concealing his motives for doing so. If the DM wants his motives concealed from the players then he should NOT be making public die rolls - they should be concealed as is normal.
As a DM I occasionally fudge die rolls. I do so in the interests of maximizing the enjoyment of the game for all concerned. I do not, however, do so often enough to meaningfully affect the level of challenge to the characters and especially in life/death situations for the PC's I studiously avoid things coming down to MY decision, but instead keeping it a consequence of PLAYER decisions. I tell players this right from the start. But, they will also never know which ones I fudge as I do not make my rolls in the open.
The only times I do make rolls in the open anymore is when a player is being a jerk and/or making accusations of MY being partial and arbitrary. Rather than quietly and effortlessly giving them a break when they need and deserve it (as is normal, and as I openly tell them) I publicly absolve myself of responsibility for the outcome. I make it a point of being CRUELLY impartial. Dice don't know the players and dice don't care what happens or why. They have yet to fail to inevitably demonstrate their cold, callous and deadly nature, eventually putting the player back in their place.
So, if _I_ were to use loaded dice I can only see the point in doing so if the players KNOW the dice are loaded. Their use would be a lesson to reinforce the knowledge that I don't NEED to cheat to win. I win whenever and however I want, and thus that is NEVER my reason for being the DM, nor how I go about the job. Their use would never be something I would have a reason to conceal from the players.
Fudging by the DM and using loaded dice as a matter of course are not the same thing.
First the basics - nobody has a right or a privilege to cheat. Not the DM or the players. Which is to say that "to cheat" implies an intent - the intent to decieve, to be arbitrarily UNfair, to deny to others the things to which they are entitled.
OK - I agree here...
Next, the DM is not a slave to the dice. Dice don't run the game - the DM does. The dice are tools the DM uses to help him do that. The DM that lets dice results always dictate what happens is doing his players a DISSERVICE. Theoretically at least, a DM has superior judgement of what is best and most enjoyable for the game to occur instead of what the dice say. The DM gets to invent new rules, to change existing rules, to create things that are not limited by the rules - and that extends to dice results. The DM must, however, also use good judgement and use these priviliges responsibly and SPARINGLY.
So... you're OK with this:
DM: Bob, the orc attacks you with his flail. He raises it over his head and swings it down in a wide arc towards your head.
* rolls dice, gets a natural 20 *
DM: And he misses!
I mean, why bother rolling dice? Just make up a story at that point.
OK - I agree here...
So... you're OK with this:
DM: Bob, the orc attacks you with his flail. He raises it over his head and swings it down in a wide arc towards your head.
* rolls dice, gets a natural 20 *
DM: And he misses!
I mean, why bother rolling dice? Just make up a story at that point.
For me it is a spectrum bounded by pure storytelling on one end and pure game mechanics on the other. As a DM, where I place myself within that spectrum is highly variable. I dislike D&D campaigns that are played as pure games, and only marginally prefer pure storytelling.
As I've said elsewhere, the dice are used to maintain the illusion, much like maintaining the illusion that Captain Kirk will die in any given Trek episode. Yes the dice play a part for me, but the heroic journey is far more important.
DMs shouldn't cheat, either.
Only by merit of The DM making the rules.
OK - I agree here...
So... you're OK with this:
DM: Bob, the orc attacks you with his flail. He raises it over his head and swings it down in a wide arc towards your head.
* rolls dice, gets a natural 20 *
DM: And he misses!
I mean, why bother rolling dice? Just make up a story at that point.
Because the DM intended for a dramatic event where the player got hurt (or was at risk of getting hurt), as opposed to a dramatic event where the player got smooshed and is dead forever.
I mean said Orc was orriginally attacking the fighter, but the DM decided it would charge the Rogue (and take a couple off attacks of opportunity by doing so) who was already injured and was trying to get free of the fray, this makes the scene dramatic right? But was it the DM's idea to kill the rogue here or really build the tension?
In this case I could understand fudging the roll and ignoring the Critical Hit, but otherwise declaring a miss is cheap.
But hey if this is just a random encounter, and a fight that the PCs could easily win and the rogue was just the victim of a couple of bad rolls, and was doing the smart thing by tumbling out of combat, then the Orc breaks the line to chase ofter him, because the DM feels it would be dramatic and maybe comical to chase the rogue around. Then I feel that whacking his head off and sending it flying is pretty darned lame way for him to get killed, and fudging the dice is perfectly in order.
If it was the fighter who decided to stand toe to toe against the Orc and duel it out, yelling at the others to "leave this one to me" then the dice land where they land. But sometimes, especially when it is a trivial encounter, the DM shouldn't allow a bad run of dice rolls to ruin the game.
Besides you can call it cheating, or you could read page 18 of the DMG where it suggests doing exactly that
You will get caught cheating if you use them.
If by 'fixed' you mean 'loaded', aka 'cheating', no you should not use them, and if you do, your group should immediately eject you with no chance of readmittance, and blacklist you to every other game group within two counties of your location.
Three counties.
I guess so, but when I DM I could use these dice quite legitimately to fudge rolls to stop PC deaths and they would SEE the roll and not think I'm fudging it.
Honnestly, I'd rather the DM roll any non-secret rolls (secret rolls being things like various skill checks for the players like Hide, Move Silently, Sense Motive, etc...) out in the open. Assuming he's not using rediculously tough monsters, I'd like to know I won on my own. And I'm not a fan of casting a spell only to have the DM fudge the saving throw and have the monster auto-succeed.
I don't really let players die unless it's a (mini)boss battle. Or, if it would be a cool way to die.
First, I never let players die. That's one reason that copious amounts of alcohol are not at the gaming table -- we all have to drive home. :P
Now, if you mean CHARACTERS, I only really fudge rolls when the party (or a subset thereof) are in a patently unfair and unwinnable situation, and they were put there my MY miscalculation. If the PCs at 1st level WANT to fight Dragotha the epic Dracolich, fine. I just remind them it's 4d6, reroll ones once. After that subtle hint, it's out of my hands.
And to bring this back to the OP -- loaded dice are wrong. Think of it this way -- you may not like that the casinos have the games often subtly rigged in their favor. But if you were to smuggle in loaded dice or a marked deck, they'd throw you out on your ass and call the cops if you're lucky (and, for that matter, using a legal system of card-counting in blackjack will pretty much yield the same result if they catch you doing it).
I guess so, but when I DM I could use these dice quite legitimately to fudge rolls to stop PC deaths and they would SEE the roll and not think I'm fudging it.
Are these dice fixed to roll low or something? Because fixed dice are typically designed to roll high, which would usually not be in the PC's favor if you used them as a DM.
So... you're OK with this:
DM: Bob, the orc attacks you with his flail. He raises it over his head and swings it down in a wide arc towards your head.
* rolls dice, gets a natural 20 *
DM: And he misses!
I mean, why bother rolling dice? Just make up a story at that point.
The DM decides how many orcs there are. He decides what the area looks like when they attack. He decides what weapons they use. He decides what tactics they use. He decides if they will all fight to the death or flee if the battle goes against them. He decides how many hit points they have, what classes they have, allocation of skill points, how soon after the last battle the next one happens, etc. The DM is already making up everything but the actions of the PC's in response to what he sets up.
All I'm suggesting is that the DM has every reason and right to change die results if that single, stupid, random number between 1 and 20 screws something up and the DM decides the game would be better off with a different result. That doesn't mean ignore ALL dice rolls. It means don't assume that dice rolls are SACRED. Dice don't run the game. The DM does.
Your only a cheater if your caught. Otherwise your just "savvy".;)
No, you're still a cheater.