Bad Hair Day
2016-03-15, 02:20 AM
Players Roll All The Dice
If an experienced swordsman, Art, is in a combat with another swordsman, Bill, the fight will go on for a few rounds, possibly even several rounds if both of them have a lot of hit points. During this time, if Art has a strong attack that hits Bill, but in the next round Art has a weak attack that doesn’t hit Bill, Bill is going to be able to sense which of Art’s attacks are stronger than the others. This is the first reason that I’ve always thought that the players ought to have an idea what the DM is rolling when he is rolling for attacks on the PC’s.
On the other hand, for a player to know “a 15 hits me but a 14 misses me” is a LOT of information, and that level of precision is probably beyond what a PC could know. Also, if the player sees the die rolls then that robs the chance for the DM to alter a die roll. I’ve never heard of a DM change a roll to cause the death of a PC, but I’ve heard of many DM’s change a roll to avoid the death of a PC. Players grow attached to their PC’s, and DM’s are friends with the players, so it’s only natural that DM’s act this way.
Personally, I never liked that. In order to feel a great reward one has to face a great risk. I’m happy to take on risks as a player with a PC, some that risk death more than others. But if I make a decision to risk death and then the DM “cheats” (personally I would remove the quotation marks, but they are there because that’s the way most people look at it in this situation. And I understand that- in a different situation I don’t think that a “white lie” is a lie in the moral sense.) to save the PC from the death he should have gotten by taking that risk, then what was I really risking anyways? Knowing a DM might cheat to help me cheapens all the rewards I might earn as a PC.
Furthermore, this gives me a false sense of reality. If I survive things I ought not to survive, then I am going to grow bolder as a result. Now I’m not even living in reality anymore. I know that the whole game is a fantasy game anyways, but if the internal rules of the fantasy game aren’t being adhered to, then I may as well just sit at home and read a book or write a story because without the imposition of the rules of the game then I don’t feel as if I am accomplishing anything at all.
The biggest problem I had with D&D and characters dying was that a character with 1 hit point can pick up a sword and be effective in combat, but a character with 0 hit points was dead and gone. There was no “grey area.” Once a PC got to 4th or 5th level, they could withstand a few hits in combat and they’d know when they were within one more hit of dying, so they’d know when it was time to retreat.
Nowadays, a PC isn’t dead until -10 hit points. Granted, a PC at -4 can’t do anything to save herself, but this is still a much wider “grey area” than there was in D&D 1.0. With this grey area, I think this is enough room for the players to maneuver and accept the added responsibility of rolling all the dice.
For combat, the player rolls a d20 and adds her AC to it. Her “Defense Roll” has to beat the “beater” number that the DM gives the player (the monster’s “to hit” plus 20).
The player will also roll the damage dice as appropriate.
This means that the players know how likely their attackers are to strike as well as how much damage they can dole out. This is some powerful information.
By giving the players this information, this means that I as the DM have the following expectations.
First, that the players have to recognize when they are overmatched. If a random encounter pits a Challenge Rating 8 monster against a 4th level party, I am not going to fudge any numbers to help the party out. I expect them to quickly recognize that they are overmatched in the combat and to do their best to retreat. I will make sure that a 1st level party doesn’t face the same Challenge Rating 8 monster in such a way that the monster will dole out the instant death to at least one PC before the party is able to act on their information. However, I do expect that at all times the party will be paying close attention to whether they are overmatched or not.
Also, if the party is in a “fair combat” (where the Challenge Rating is within 1 of the party’s level) but the PC’s are rolling 1’s all the time, then I expect them to be able to see for themselves where the battle has turned against them and for them to retreat accordingly. By allowing everyone to see all the dice rolls, it is simply not fair for me to change a die roll, even if doing so would help the party.
This puts the party in the position of having to be much more cautious in combat, especially in the early rounds until they have been able to ascertain the situation.
Second, when I am playing the monsters in combat, I am going to be much more careful in directing and organizing the attack upon the party. I am not going to hold back. If I have an opportunity to kill a PC, I will. I think most DM’s hesitate to kill a PC at the first opportunity they have to do so. I know I do. But by putting the dice rolling into the hands of the players, this gives them a lot of information. I’m happy to do that, but in giving that what I take back is the chance to be more bloodthirsty in attacking PC’s. I will not hesitate to kill a PC when given the chance.
This means that the players will have to be more conservative. I think this is a good thing, because it also gives them a better sense of just how far they are pushing the odds when they do so.
Also, I intend to give the PC’s more options in a combat as well. Few combats that they choose to go into will be the sort where they absolutely must win and kill all the enemies. If they want to avoid a combat, there will be options about how to achieve the goal without combat (although the “workaround” may not be easy nor quick, but it will be there). Unless, of course, they simply want the Dragon’s pile of gold. Goals like that are pretty much “combat to the death” anyways.
If an experienced swordsman, Art, is in a combat with another swordsman, Bill, the fight will go on for a few rounds, possibly even several rounds if both of them have a lot of hit points. During this time, if Art has a strong attack that hits Bill, but in the next round Art has a weak attack that doesn’t hit Bill, Bill is going to be able to sense which of Art’s attacks are stronger than the others. This is the first reason that I’ve always thought that the players ought to have an idea what the DM is rolling when he is rolling for attacks on the PC’s.
On the other hand, for a player to know “a 15 hits me but a 14 misses me” is a LOT of information, and that level of precision is probably beyond what a PC could know. Also, if the player sees the die rolls then that robs the chance for the DM to alter a die roll. I’ve never heard of a DM change a roll to cause the death of a PC, but I’ve heard of many DM’s change a roll to avoid the death of a PC. Players grow attached to their PC’s, and DM’s are friends with the players, so it’s only natural that DM’s act this way.
Personally, I never liked that. In order to feel a great reward one has to face a great risk. I’m happy to take on risks as a player with a PC, some that risk death more than others. But if I make a decision to risk death and then the DM “cheats” (personally I would remove the quotation marks, but they are there because that’s the way most people look at it in this situation. And I understand that- in a different situation I don’t think that a “white lie” is a lie in the moral sense.) to save the PC from the death he should have gotten by taking that risk, then what was I really risking anyways? Knowing a DM might cheat to help me cheapens all the rewards I might earn as a PC.
Furthermore, this gives me a false sense of reality. If I survive things I ought not to survive, then I am going to grow bolder as a result. Now I’m not even living in reality anymore. I know that the whole game is a fantasy game anyways, but if the internal rules of the fantasy game aren’t being adhered to, then I may as well just sit at home and read a book or write a story because without the imposition of the rules of the game then I don’t feel as if I am accomplishing anything at all.
The biggest problem I had with D&D and characters dying was that a character with 1 hit point can pick up a sword and be effective in combat, but a character with 0 hit points was dead and gone. There was no “grey area.” Once a PC got to 4th or 5th level, they could withstand a few hits in combat and they’d know when they were within one more hit of dying, so they’d know when it was time to retreat.
Nowadays, a PC isn’t dead until -10 hit points. Granted, a PC at -4 can’t do anything to save herself, but this is still a much wider “grey area” than there was in D&D 1.0. With this grey area, I think this is enough room for the players to maneuver and accept the added responsibility of rolling all the dice.
For combat, the player rolls a d20 and adds her AC to it. Her “Defense Roll” has to beat the “beater” number that the DM gives the player (the monster’s “to hit” plus 20).
The player will also roll the damage dice as appropriate.
This means that the players know how likely their attackers are to strike as well as how much damage they can dole out. This is some powerful information.
By giving the players this information, this means that I as the DM have the following expectations.
First, that the players have to recognize when they are overmatched. If a random encounter pits a Challenge Rating 8 monster against a 4th level party, I am not going to fudge any numbers to help the party out. I expect them to quickly recognize that they are overmatched in the combat and to do their best to retreat. I will make sure that a 1st level party doesn’t face the same Challenge Rating 8 monster in such a way that the monster will dole out the instant death to at least one PC before the party is able to act on their information. However, I do expect that at all times the party will be paying close attention to whether they are overmatched or not.
Also, if the party is in a “fair combat” (where the Challenge Rating is within 1 of the party’s level) but the PC’s are rolling 1’s all the time, then I expect them to be able to see for themselves where the battle has turned against them and for them to retreat accordingly. By allowing everyone to see all the dice rolls, it is simply not fair for me to change a die roll, even if doing so would help the party.
This puts the party in the position of having to be much more cautious in combat, especially in the early rounds until they have been able to ascertain the situation.
Second, when I am playing the monsters in combat, I am going to be much more careful in directing and organizing the attack upon the party. I am not going to hold back. If I have an opportunity to kill a PC, I will. I think most DM’s hesitate to kill a PC at the first opportunity they have to do so. I know I do. But by putting the dice rolling into the hands of the players, this gives them a lot of information. I’m happy to do that, but in giving that what I take back is the chance to be more bloodthirsty in attacking PC’s. I will not hesitate to kill a PC when given the chance.
This means that the players will have to be more conservative. I think this is a good thing, because it also gives them a better sense of just how far they are pushing the odds when they do so.
Also, I intend to give the PC’s more options in a combat as well. Few combats that they choose to go into will be the sort where they absolutely must win and kill all the enemies. If they want to avoid a combat, there will be options about how to achieve the goal without combat (although the “workaround” may not be easy nor quick, but it will be there). Unless, of course, they simply want the Dragon’s pile of gold. Goals like that are pretty much “combat to the death” anyways.