Games > Role-Playing Games

RPGs and cheating

(1/3) > >>

42:
I can understand people getting upset over people blatantly disobeying rules, but I wondering if anyone really looses sleep over having not seen a roll.

Apparently its a big sin for a GM not to see every as it gets rolled. Honestly, I rarely ever watch my players rolls. They could be lying to me, but I don't care. I got sick of being paranoid that my players might be cheating on their dice rolls years ago.

Others feel differently.

So what do you think about cheating in rpg games? Should players fudge dice rolls? Should GMs fudge dice rolls? Should rules be ignored?

GITMachine:
I could never understand those who felt the need to cheat while playing an rpg,  example  "Congratulations, you fudged your funny shaped plastic die roll so your imaginary half elf just avoided an imaginary decapitation from an imaginary orc" (?!). Doesn't this kinda reek of pathos?

We typically give a 1d4 roll to each player at the beginning of each session, which the GM watches and records.
We term these 'luck' rolls, and a person can use up one of these to replace a bad roll, or spend two 'luck' rolls to force the GM to re-roll. I think people have less of a tendency to cheat knowing they have this safety net, and the GM doesn't have to worry about looking over someone's shoulder every time someone picks up a 20-sided.
But every group is different, and every group member has an idea of what is acceptable and what is not. To that end, I suggest that it is a good idea for everyone -players and GM alike - to set agreed-upon parameters of what will be tolerated and what won't in a gaming session, before beginning.
At the end of the day however, its just a game  and should be more about having fun than anything else. Players and GM's alike should feel comfortable in their group, not suspicious and paranoid or feel like they have to cheat to get ahead.

42:
Yes it is little weird that some players fudge dice rolls.

Still, it doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe it should, but I figure it's a game that doesn't have a winner or loser, so I don't care if some player feels the need to fudge dice to roll or two. It does bother me when they lie on nearly every dice roll and it bothers me even more when other players start to complain. I don't like it when players are detracting from the enjoyment of everyone for their own persnal gain.

n8sumsion:
Generally the groups I played with didn't need policing on their dice rolls. I trusted them to make their rolls, and I felt fairly confident they would police themselves if necessary. I never ran into a player that wanted to hide their dice rolls.

As the GM, I fudged my rolls all the time. They served as a good framework to give me options, but I generally went with whatever would provide the most excitement and propel the story forward. That said, I would be consistent in my fudging. I wouldn't arbitrarily assign a number to a roll one time and have some completely different target the next time for the same thing. But if a player was trying something particularly heroic, I might be more willing to let them get away with it, regardless of what the enemy happened to roll.

I think the key, though, is that even though the players knew I was fudging my rolls from time to time, they trusted me. They knew I wasn't out to get them as the GM. My primary goal was to weave an entertaining story with their participation, and if at the end of the day we all had a blast, that was the most important thing.

Mad Dr Jeffe:
I've cheated in a RPG before. Mostly its because I wanted a scene to look cool and most RPG's dont reward failure with cool. I say most because some just make the scene cooler. I like the yes you accomplish the intent of your roll, but there are consequences kind of failure. Like you kill the Orc, but rupture a potion on his body when you do dissolving your sword into goo.

Most of the time its because getting a character killed means playing catch up with everyone else in the game. Its sort of like level loss. Ok, now Im going to be one or two steps behind everyone for the rest of the game. Who wants to suddenly be relegated to sidekick after being a star.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page