Does any DM use the average instead of rolling for damage?

[Throne12]

When I'm behind the DM screen my % rolls are Terrible. I'm lucky to roll anything higher then 10 on a d20. If I started to just flip a coin giving me a 50% to hit or miss. I'll be missing about 78% of the time. Now people say we only focuse or notice the bad things. More then the good. But my last game I had 12 Nat 1's , 1 Nat 8's, 5 Nat 2's, 1 Nat 20, 3 Nat 17's , 3 Nat 6's, 2 Nat 10's, 1 Nat 18 and 16. And I went back and looked at my rolls. These are about how I roll every session and that's only on the d20. When I roll damage it all ways on the low side.

So I was thinking of switching to just using average damage instead of roll. And I want to get DM's thoughts on doing this in there games.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Taking average damage is fine. Using averages for opposed checks is also fine. I'd be leery of using them for attack rolls or saves, though-- you need randomness somewhere to keep things from getting too predictable, or else the Monk will know they'll always get hit no matter what, and the Fighter that they'll never get hit. If you're not fond of rolling, you could flip the attack/AC paradigm, so your players roll d20+(original AC-10) against 10+attack bonus.

Also, it's possible that your dice are mis-weighed. Have you tied using a different set?

[McMoria]

Have you checked your dice? They might be cursed:)

I would never use an average for that. I don't even use average hit points for enemies*. Combat can feel uninspiring sometimes and the variety leads to more realism and engagement. Not knowing if the orc you're fighting has 8, 14 or 22 hit points seems to make it more fun for everyone.

*I made an excel spreadsheet for the most common bad guys who tend to come in multiples. The hp box is just a formula for their hit points as per the stat block and when the party get attacked by 6 hobgoblins, I print out their sheet and it's good to go.

[Throne12]

Taking average damage is fine. Using averages for opposed checks is also fine. I'd be leery of using them for attack rolls or saves, though-- you need randomness somewhere to keep things from getting too predictable, or else the Monk will know they'll always get hit no matter what, and the Fighter that they'll never get hit. If you're not fond of rolling, you could flip the attack/AC paradigm, so your players roll d20+(original AC-10) against 10+attack bonus.

Also, it's possible that your dice are mis-weighed. Have you tied using a different set?

I'm just going to use averages for damage. And I have 6 sets of chessx dice and I use all of them at the table.

[Throne12]

Have you checked your dice? They might be cursed:)

I would never use an average for that. I don't even use average hit points for enemies*. Combat can feel uninspiring sometimes and the variety leads to more realism and engagement. Not knowing if the orc you're fighting has 8, 14 or 22 hit points seems to make it more fun for everyone.

*I made an excel spreadsheet for the most common bad guys who tend to come in multiples. The hp box is just a formula for their hit points as per the stat block and when the party get attacked by 6 hobgoblins, I print out their sheet and it's good to go.

I roll find when I'm playing as a player and not a DM. With the same dice.

[Sigreid]

Roll every time.

[Potato_Priest]

I use averages for damage on monsters except when players request otherwise (like when average damage will drop them, but I could roll lower) or its a crit.

As a DM, I usually have the greatest number of attacks of anyone at the table, and I don't want my turns to slow things down too much. Using average damage is just faster.

[Asmotherion]

I do most of the time, for simplicity sake, and for faster encounters. I only roll damage on significant encounters such as boss fights, dramatic encounters or when something would deal a finishing blow to a players and a low roll would save him, so that I give them a chance.

I also give my players the option to choose average damage. I find it makes regular combat both more intense, and less focused on numbers rolled, rather than actual role playing. The Role playing explaination (fluff in modern terms) is that, taking average means you take a more stable approach to what you do, wile rolling is attempting to do better at a chance of doing worse:

Spellcasters:
Average is an attempt to cast the spell in a more stable way. Rolling represents an attempt to overcharge the effect into a more powerful version, but at a chance the overcharge fails midway, and gives a less potent version of the spell. Some spells cannot be cast in a stable way (such as Chaos Bolt) because of the energies behind the spell being unpredictable by their very essance.

Martials:
Average with a sword or bow is trying to hit based on your training and instinct in the momentum of the battle. Rolling represents a calculated hit by trying to find an oppening for added damage, but by adding extra "thinking", you slow down your pace, and might actually miss a more direct approach.

[Khrysaes]

I use averages for damage on monsters except when players request otherwise (like when average damage will drop them, but I could roll lower) or its a crit.

As a DM, I usually have the greatest number of attacks of anyone at the table, and I don't want my turns to slow things down too much. Using average damage is just faster.

This is basically what we do. If pressed for it, in the interest of time our group uses averages for damage. Still rolls for saves and attacks. Sometimes the saves are grouped to multiple monsters so only a single roll is rolled for them.

[eastmabl]

When I'm behind the DM screen my % rolls are Terrible. I'm lucky to roll anything higher then 10 on a d20. If I started to just flip a coin giving me a 50% to hit or miss. I'll be missing about 78% of the time. Now people say we only focuse or notice the bad things. More then the good. But my last game I had 12 Nat 1's , 1 Nat 8's, 5 Nat 2's, 1 Nat 20, 3 Nat 17's , 3 Nat 6's, 2 Nat 10's, 1 Nat 18 and 16. And I went back and looked at my rolls. These are about how I roll every session and that's only on the d20. When I roll damage it all ways on the low side.

So I was thinking of switching to just using average damage instead of roll. And I want to get DM's thoughts on doing this in there games.

Especially at lower levels, I use the average damage to avoid killing players.

Generally, I only roll damage dice a couple of situations:

One-time use monster abilities. Sometimes, it's fun to roll the big beefy thing.
Boss fights. The gloves come off here.
Critical hits. A DM has to have her fun sometimes.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

I do that if the dice is above 5dX then i use the average below that i roll it out. Or if i'm feeling merciful and i roll lethal damage then I might use the average and let the PC live a little longer.

[Talamare]

Trash Mobs are Average
Significant Mobs are Rolls

If I see there are 3-5 of a similar mob in an encounter? Probably Average

[Theodoxus]

When the table is using standard array and average hit points, I use average damage. When the table is rolling for everything, I roll for damage.

I have a moon druid player who on his first attack, will roll it - if he rolls below the average, he'll take the average for the rest of the night - if he rolls above the average, he'll roll for the rest of the night (and complain every time he rolls below average).

[Pex]

The DM for my paladin game does this. Players are allowed to use average damage if they want, but everyone rolls. However, be careful you don't make the mistake the DM was doing early in the campaign by doubling the damage on a critical hit. That is not how it works.

Suppose a creature does 2d6 + 4 damage. Average damage is 11. Doubling that to 22 on a crit is wrong. If you were to roll normally the crit damage would be 4d6 + 4. That averages to 18 damage. Doubling the original average damage doubles the +#s when only the dice are supposed to be doubled, so make sure you only double the average of the dice and then add the +#.

[Gryndle]

I am border line discalculate (dyslexia with numbers), most of the time it isn't noticeable.
BUT when my pain (from other issues) gets bad enough it and/or the pain meds can distract me enough that even simple math can become difficult. Usually I can deal with simple rolls-one or two dice plus a static modifier like attack rolls, skill checks and saves....but on those occasions adding up multiple dice like on many damage rolls can take enough time and concentration from me that it breaks the flow of the game.
Now on these occasions I can usually mange to keep other aspects of the game flowing smooth. So when I get like that either I have someone else at the table make those big dice rolls for me, or I just use the average numbers printed in the MM.
But that is the only time I use the "average result" instead of actual die rolls.

[intermedial]

Using average damage for hits, and maximum damage for critical hits can really speed up play, especially in large encounters or situations where you need to roll a fistful of damage dice: multiattacks, fireballs, breath weapons: all of those make for a lot of dice rolled and a lot of time spent doing addition.

That said, it's a difficult habit to get the hang of because rolling a fist full of dice is hella fun.

[Chugger]

In AL average damage speeds up what can be lengthy combats and keeps damage output "evened". It's usually a good thing. If there's a lvl 1 with a party of lvl 3s sometimes I've seen the lvl 1 wiz or sorc take 4 pts a hit while the others take 6, the true average. The DM is trying not to just kill off the lvl 1 right away, which ultimately happens anyway if that caster does not get way back.

Get several d20 and switch them around. One might really have a defect. But clusters of bad rolls do happen statistically, as do clusters of very good rolls. If you roll in secret and the fight is sucking because no one on your side is hitting, you can fudge and have them hit at least some to make the fight less lame. And if you start rolling too many 20s or hits you can back off and have some "miss". There is a price for this (when a DM messes with dice rolls too much and begins to skew or not see how he/she is over-influencing, it can get bad). Some DMs roll to hits and saves in front of the players. And you just go with the dice.

[Longman]

I have the opposite problem. I roll pretty average when I'm playing but as a DM my luck is often freakishly good. I just can't miss.

I use the average damage pretty often. I like it because it helps the players to estimate what sort of danger they are in - "OK I can take another 2 hits from these guys before I go down", etc.

[The Shadowdove]

I give the players an option before every session when I run AL games 2-4 times a week.

Average damage and average initiative are popular, as they both speed things along.

Our homebrew games seem to prefer rolling damage usually, to capture the dynamic playstyle. Sometimes they still opt for average initiative to speed things along.

One funny thing that happened is one of our dms ran a module once that had a dragon roll a 18d8 breath weapon against a party of level 5s. The DM was delighted and terrified to roll this. We realized later this was a typo, and were glad that is was right before a second breath weapon that would have destroyed us even with the average.

[rooneg]

I use average damage for normal hits, I roll damage for crits. I find this speeds things up considerably, which helps a lot because most of my games are run at conventions where time is a big factor.

[rooneg]

Yes, I'm going for the Laziest DM Ever award.

Just so long as you're not competing with me for the Most Adequate DM Ever award.

[Darth_Versity]

I always use average damage (and work out average crit damage ahead of time). But I have 6-8 players every session, so with the number of creatures on the field, rolling really slows things down. It also allows me to work out the damage the barbarians take (there's two of them) because their players are very bad at math.

[djreynolds]

Taking average damage is fine. Using averages for opposed checks is also fine. I'd be leery of using them for attack rolls or saves, though-- you need randomness somewhere to keep things from getting too predictable, or else the Monk will know they'll always get hit no matter what, and the Fighter that they'll never get hit. If you're not fond of rolling, you could flip the attack/AC paradigm, so your players roll d20+(original AC-10) against 10+attack bonus.

Also, it's possible that your dice are mis-weighed. Have you tied using a different set?

100%, I use the average damage. Its easier and faster, as not only is the damage calculated but the modifier for strength or dex.

But I roll for saves and attacks.

If you have the time to roll damage go for it, IMO it may slow down game play

But if rolling damage adds excitement go for it

[Arenabait]

Not a DM, but in a very high power PbP I play in, I use the average damage for the undead created by a robe inspired by the Wand of Orcus. Making 16 different attacks per round, and then adding up the rolled damage is a pain, it's easier to just see how many of what types of things hit, and call it good.

[Sariel Vailo]

i use averge damage unless i crit than the dice com out. and zugtmoy just got dangerous. speaking of which i need to see an old deity statblock for lolth.

[greenstone]

I use average damage for monsters at 1st and 2nd levels. I've found that if I roll the die then damage is too swingy and can take a level 1 PC out of the fight in one hit, which is no fun for anyone at the table.

After that, I roll for (almost) everything and I (almost) never fudge. I also roll on the player's side of the GM screen for anything that doesn't involve secret knowledge.

[furby076]

I had a dm who would create excel sheet, and use random number generator and roll ahead of game. So each game he printed out a sheet of 100 rolls and went down the list. He said it saved time since he didnt have to grab dice and roll

[Oramac]

I don't think I've ever *not* used average damage while DMing. It's just simpler and faster.

If you're worried about crappy attack rolls, force your players to make saving throws instead. Spellcasting bag guys are great for this.

[Demonslayer666]

I use average damage most of the time.

[Doodlidoo]

Well... seems like dice rollers are less inclined to make hear their voices!

I love rolling dice. My players love rolling dice. We roll dice. Always. Some listen to the sound of waves to relax... we listen to the sound of rolling dice (credits to Lex Starwalker and his crew for that comparison). I would just not play D&D if things were that predictable.

Full disclosure : I use average HP for monsters, for the insignificant ones, anyway.

Cheers!