Fudge Factor
- Thread starter Archon
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I think I agree with this article much more so than most! I think the important point of 'do not fudge important dice rolls' is generally true. There is nothing quite as climactic as the big DM die of Doom rolling, and everyone at the table knows that if it is 8 or better, Lollie the bard is going to die. There is power in such a gameplay moent.
It is also generally accepted that sometimes, you have to save the players from stupid stuff the DM did. Like, not realizing that the monster he had created would be as effective as it was, or that he shouldn't have had quite so many. This was meant to be an easy combat, and you didn't want to kill someone!
I think fudging dice can be useful for getting past meta gameplay. The players think the encounter was random, but in reality this is the important reveal of So and So the wise, who they will demask at the conclusion. Or the random trap they triggered is set up to be a pit trap where they discover a dead adventurer... and the curious volume of dark magic he was carrying. These aren't attempting to remove importance from the players actions, but rather keep them off guard on 'what they are supposed to do'.
The whole idea of DM fudging is very VERY important to be honest. It can fix your mistakes, or draw extra drama into any encounter. Just make sure that you use it subtlely, since players will get whiff of it, and start assuming you are doing it for all the wrong reasons
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It is also generally accepted that sometimes, you have to save the players from stupid stuff the DM did. Like, not realizing that the monster he had created would be as effective as it was, or that he shouldn't have had quite so many. This was meant to be an easy combat, and you didn't want to kill someone!
I think fudging dice can be useful for getting past meta gameplay. The players think the encounter was random, but in reality this is the important reveal of So and So the wise, who they will demask at the conclusion. Or the random trap they triggered is set up to be a pit trap where they discover a dead adventurer... and the curious volume of dark magic he was carrying. These aren't attempting to remove importance from the players actions, but rather keep them off guard on 'what they are supposed to do'.
The whole idea of DM fudging is very VERY important to be honest. It can fix your mistakes, or draw extra drama into any encounter. Just make sure that you use it subtlely, since players will get whiff of it, and start assuming you are doing it for all the wrong reasons
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I agree with this. It's a good thing to do sometimes but I have had a DM be obvious about it before and all I could do was think that he was cheating and wonder how many other rolls he fudged, it ruined the session.Zechnophobe said:Just make sure that you use it subtlely, since players will get whiff of it, and start assuming you are doing it for all the wrong reasons
When ever I read these articles it makes me wanna grab a group and start playing again.
I've just started tabletop gaming within the past year. Since very few of my friends role-play, I've been the exclusive GM each time. It's been a very daunting task not only to familiarize myself with new games and systems, but to be responsible for bringing everything together without a frame of reference to work from! Check For Traps has been invaluable in helping form a plan for my sessions. My Serenity RPG group finished its first campaign this weekend, and these articles have played a huge part in making the game a success.
Has The Escapist given any thought to publishing a selection of these articles as a book? I wouldn?t mind having a copy of that on my shelf!
As for fudging dice, the first scenario definitely comes up a lot for me. Using Serenity as an example, the system allows most characters to take a great deal of punishment before going down, so even a one-sided fight can drag on longer than necessary. When the fight itself isn't really going anywhere, it can be much easier for everyone involved if I fudge the dice so the opponent passes out, and we can move on to something more interesting.
Has The Escapist given any thought to publishing a selection of these articles as a book? I wouldn?t mind having a copy of that on my shelf!
As for fudging dice, the first scenario definitely comes up a lot for me. Using Serenity as an example, the system allows most characters to take a great deal of punishment before going down, so even a one-sided fight can drag on longer than necessary. When the fight itself isn't really going anywhere, it can be much easier for everyone involved if I fudge the dice so the opponent passes out, and we can move on to something more interesting.
Exactly the same. I really like this column and it just makes me want to put it in practice.kalt_13 said:
Also, is there anyone who knows a nice DM community where a 4e Rookie like me would be welcome? (Or is there something like that already on The Escapist? I don't know.)
These articles are fantastic. They've greatly improved my DMing skills.
I've encountered a situation like that last one presented. The climactic battle in the campaign was a fight against a Liche, however since the characters were levelled high enough to ignore his aura of fear I ignored it. I had forgotten that it would affect the pets of certain party members and upon reflection a pet that would have simply run at the first sight of the Liche played a pivotal role in the encounter. It was a tough call to make but I allowed the game to continue without changing after asking my players. It became a rather trivial encounter, but I think the players would have been frustrated if I had decided to change it.
I've encountered a situation like that last one presented. The climactic battle in the campaign was a fight against a Liche, however since the characters were levelled high enough to ignore his aura of fear I ignored it. I had forgotten that it would affect the pets of certain party members and upon reflection a pet that would have simply run at the first sight of the Liche played a pivotal role in the encounter. It was a tough call to make but I allowed the game to continue without changing after asking my players. It became a rather trivial encounter, but I think the players would have been frustrated if I had decided to change it.
Sometimes, it is a lot of fun to embrace the randomness. I was running a bit of modern horror in the savage worlds system (mistake if you don't want camp) with an explanation of the weirdness being a selection process for the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I had 4 players, and you know where I was going with this.
The catch occurred when one guy decides he wants to go out in a blaze of glory. He's in melee with a sentient undead entomologist, his improvised flamethrower is useless at this range... he pulls a grenade, flicks the pin, and prepares to take the fiend with him to hell in a dual explosion.
The damage roll was pathetic. Not enough to wound the human, let alone the monster. I had been trying to figure out what minor benefits of being an aspect of War was going to do to that player... it was a good excuse to make defense part of it, and make the incident a piece of foreshadowing.
The catch occurred when one guy decides he wants to go out in a blaze of glory. He's in melee with a sentient undead entomologist, his improvised flamethrower is useless at this range... he pulls a grenade, flicks the pin, and prepares to take the fiend with him to hell in a dual explosion.
The damage roll was pathetic. Not enough to wound the human, let alone the monster. I had been trying to figure out what minor benefits of being an aspect of War was going to do to that player... it was a good excuse to make defense part of it, and make the incident a piece of foreshadowing.
I agree with Dannyboy; generally I allow the incredibly abnormal to happen, and just go through great lengths to meld it into the original story. Just recently, I had a 1/10,000 roll
The group was bringing a bounty back through an 80 mile tunnel that connected the largest city in the nation and nearest outpost. On the random encounter table I wrote up for this campaign, 100 is "natural disaster", in this case an earthquake. So of course, I roll 100, then roll 92 on the Magnitude table, putting it at a healthy 8.8 magnitude. Amid the chaos of the cave crashing around them, the bounty (thanks to actions the party took earlier, such as giving him back his possessions), slips off the manacles, and stumbles down one of the tunnels. Ultimately, he got away, the cave structure is now completely rewritten, and it opened up some wonderful plot points for a few months to a year from now, depending on how much effort they put into clearing the mines and finding this guy. Now I just need to decide if the earthquake was shifting teutonic plates, or if it was something much more sinister...
The group was bringing a bounty back through an 80 mile tunnel that connected the largest city in the nation and nearest outpost. On the random encounter table I wrote up for this campaign, 100 is "natural disaster", in this case an earthquake. So of course, I roll 100, then roll 92 on the Magnitude table, putting it at a healthy 8.8 magnitude. Amid the chaos of the cave crashing around them, the bounty (thanks to actions the party took earlier, such as giving him back his possessions), slips off the manacles, and stumbles down one of the tunnels. Ultimately, he got away, the cave structure is now completely rewritten, and it opened up some wonderful plot points for a few months to a year from now, depending on how much effort they put into clearing the mines and finding this guy. Now I just need to decide if the earthquake was shifting teutonic plates, or if it was something much more sinister...
I look forward to reading these every time they show up! They are my favorite read on this site and often inspire me. My favorite is the article on D&D's alignments. My group has fully adopted the way the alignments were defined in Check for Traps.
OT: The most common fudge I make is reducing critical hits to normal hits. Some nights you just get on a roll and simple encounters become WAY TOO DANGEROUS.
OT: The most common fudge I make is reducing critical hits to normal hits. Some nights you just get on a roll and simple encounters become WAY TOO DANGEROUS.
Thank you for the article, fudging dice is something I've always made my own judgement calls on without a real frame of reference. Now I have one!
Though, I find the second example a hilariously silly idea. Really, you're going to drop down a dragon because you decided to have a random encounter and that was what you rolled? Be willing to think outside the box people! The module should be used as a guide, not a damned bible!
Though, I find the second example a hilariously silly idea. Really, you're going to drop down a dragon because you decided to have a random encounter and that was what you rolled? Be willing to think outside the box people! The module should be used as a guide, not a damned bible!
You obviously haven't read the rest of my columns, but that's ok. Suffice to say that, yes, I absolutely do allow random encounters to occur based on what the dice roll, and I recommend that other GMs do the same. The links in my article above explain why in considerable detail.Panayjon said:
I'm really glad these articles are back, they are among few of the really great stuff on Escapist, I become GM literary because of them. I used to play a little table-top not just DnD but various stuff, but after reading few of these I took up some GMing, first with just running some scripts for games, and later I begun creating my own games, in no small thanks to you. I discovered that GMing is as much fun as playing, maybe even more (we don't won't that to pass around because soon it won't be any more players )
I try to follow what you have written, and tend to adjust you instruction to the type of games I run and experience I want to achieve.
You literary made me GM. Thanks.
)I try to follow what you have written, and tend to adjust you instruction to the type of games I run and experience I want to achieve.
You literary made me GM. Thanks.
Yes, it would be great if you collected all of these into a book. I have to say I enjoy your column a lot. As a long time player only recently making a foray into running games, I've found these very helpful and useful. It's always a treat to see a new one up and I wish you'd write them with more regularity.Archon said:
One thing I'm slowly realizing, that I think all of columns touch on but you've never (or at least i don't remember), is that the GM needs to be confident. This is your world, so own it. Fudging is just an example of that. If you have an idea for a creature that doesn't exist in the monster manual, make it up. If you want something to happen, make it happen. Nothing can ruin a game experience faster than a GM trying to make excuses for why what's happening is happening. Well, except a very outgoing player bending that GM to his wants. That'll ruin it faster. So a good GM never gets into that position.
Thanks again for these wonderful columns, I look forward to the next one.