Great GM: When you should cheat and fudge rolls in your tabletop rpg game - Game Master Tips

[@StarmanGhost]

Confession time: I cheated as the GM in Call of Cthulhu once. It was the last leg of the adventure, and to reach the monsters' lair they intended to destroy, the PCs needed to rappel down a cliff. The one guy who failed his Climb roll (which should have been easy, but the dice weren't on his side) was the one who'd gotten badly wounded in a gunfight earlier, and the damage I rolled would've killed him. I fudged it so he survived with a single hit point, because dying right before the climax of the adventure, and without a chance to roll a new character before the conclusion, would've just been fucking lame.

[@Jebu911]

Well sometimes anticlimactic deaths are really funny but if it doesn't fit in the playstyle of the group then sure miraculously save him. Personally, I hate Deus ex machinas :D

[@Lionrhod212]

I don't call that cheating, I call it good GMing.

[@RaiderAvian]

Talk about divine intervention. There should be lore somewhere where some groups of adventures are somehow protected, lead or just caught up in the influneces of an unseen entity. This entity can change whole rooms no one in its group has seen. Can bring a character back from an inch to death. The one who conjured entire worlds for the group of wayward souls to explore and give voice to the smallest creature to the biggest villains. Those are Dungeon Masters.

[@dealerofdeeth6043]

Sure out right killing them is not desirable its boring to just leave them at one hit point, let's say they make it to bottom successfully however slip at the last possible steps and losses 5 to 15 hp... But now hes sprained his ankle and his Dex mod is halved(or something in that vain). Now the party has a choice do they use a healing potion to heal less health for a *chance* to heal his ankle or power through it as he can *technically* still fight and save the potions for the actual fight.

[@manueleverduci9978]

Next time just avoid calling a roll... the cliff is easy to climb and they reach the floor without problem.

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

A fun thing to do as a GM, is just randomly roll something. For no reason. (if your using an online thing like roll20, just roll it visible to them, then say you mistyped, they shouldn't have seen that). The dice roll is for nothing, but it can be fun watching your players frantically try to figure out what you just rolled for, or immediately become extremely paranoid.

[@sonicloyalfan]

I bet that would work well if you were doing a horror setting like call of Cthulhu and you wanted to play up the paranoia or if all of the players have lost some sanity points. it would be like the tabletop version of the tricks eternal darkness use on the player.

[@VestedUTuber]

Make sure to time it and don't do it too often. If you do it at some arbitrary moment, they'd be less concerned and more confused. If you do it too often they'll realize you're just rolling randomly.

[@taoalexis]

You know what another fun thing to do is? Keep an axe under the table, then in the middle of a session, pull it out, for no reason! Swing it around, then say you forgot it was an axe and that they shouldn't have seen it. This serves no purpose, but it can be fun watching your players freak out, as they frantically try to escape your apartment, or immediately become extremely paranoid.

[@FireDragons42]

I do that sort of thing all the time. It keeps the players guessing and gives me cover when I actually want to roll to see if a creature or person is sneaking up on them. I also roll no matter what whenever a player tries to insight an NPC, this is their deception roll if the NPC is telling a lie. Otherwise it is either a persuasion roll to see how high the player needs to roll on their insight to be convinced they are telling the truth or it is just rolling so the players don't actually know when my NPCs are lying to them. Since the NPCs are making potential deception rolls they don't know if their high rolls are good enough or if their low rolls are bad enough to see through the lie which reduces Metagaming based on how high they rolled.

[@BarokaiRein]

Our GM has done stuff like "Hey,Telanadas. Roll wisdom save..oh..well that's too bad.." and never follow up on it. We never know for a fact but I'm seriously certain that he's just fucking with us

[@adamrobinson9150]

"Feel free to execute them." A brilliant moment of deadpan humor in an otherwise serious and educational video. Bravo, sir.

[@Vinemaple]

As someone who lives in the US, I am now worried about some of my local GMs not realizing this was just a joke...

[@HTYM]

@@Vinemaple Especially if they're from Florida or Texas.

[@maximusspqr]

You're the David Attenborough of RPGing....that's a compliment. :)

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

You just put a smile on my face. I really thank you for that. Also it means I'll be 90 and still making these which is awesome!

[@daveb1101]

It’s definitely in the voice... I find there’s something very calming and welcoming in it!

[@jerbilcraft3352]

My rule of "cheating" for all games is based off the idea that, Games are played so the player can have fun. If the game is not fun you should change (or cheat) to make it fun. if you can not have fun you should not play. Cheating can be justified if it helps everyone have fun.

[@JohnPC00]

Rules for being a GM; 1: There are no rules. 2: Cheat anyway.

[@jtreview7506]

Create the rules just so you have something to break

[@Roterstaub]

Rules are just guidelines for exceptions

[@kagareshtipa]

This👍🏻

[@Nailguy101]

Words to live by

[@nana-rt6zt]

third rule for being a gm: don't talk about being a gm?

[@hammycan]

I caught my wife cheating once. I could have won if not for her.

[@pandoratheclay]

Spam Box Was she a GM?

[@christossamaltanos6277]

@@pandoratheclay nah just an adulterer *ba dum tssss*

[@ashtonburroughs8944]

Not gonna lie, you had us in the first half

[@RikazeMA]

I've been a GM and a Player for nearly 15 years, and I've learned a lot in my time, and as someone who's now GM'ing/Playing various things for a much larger number of people than I ever have in the past for the first time, I'm loving these videos. This one in particular. Now, I take a more collaborative approach with my players than the view you're presenting, which is to say it seems like you write a plot of some kind, and the players move through it, the narrative being created as you go - With my players, we often work on specific plot points together to create moments that the individuals want, as well as moments that the whole group will enjoy. But the idea of fudging rolls is perfect for that narrative-focus sort of gameplay, where maybe you ignore a certain rule, or even outright change what a roll means in your head before announcing to your players to enhance or shift the narrative. An example of this I experienced recently was a group of seven players fighting one very well-equipped, slightly demon-possessed bad guy. Earlier in the fight, he'd forced three of my players into a hole and they'd been removed from the fight for two rounds. At the top of the third round, on the villains turn, he went to destroy one of the summons of the party. Rather than kill the summon and force its player to receive the backlash, the villain batted said summon away, and knock the three players who had just exited the hole back into the hole. My players all got a kick out of this, since I'd just gone summon bowling, they all failed attempts to dodge, and suddenly, I had somehow gotten a strike in bowling while playing a totally unrelated game. And they enjoyed getting to play their characters falling back into this hole and saying stuff like, "Are you KIDDING me?!" I was rolling like a beast that night, and they... Were not, so we all understood, but rather than inject dire consequences, I got a chance to actually throw some comic relief in for my players who were feeling the dire-ness of the combat.

[@JackTheCarver]

"The rulebooks are there and they're all very very complete" *laughs in Shadowrun*

[@Cathowl]

I'm a new GM who's just starting running a campaign with my players in Pathfinder, and I'm loving your videos as I learn what I'm doing. But I want to say, I notice you put a lot of stress on Story vs Rules, and I don't want to say you're "too much" of a storyteller, as each group is going to have different interests and needs in their games... But your version of story seems to be very "top down". You're making a narrative and presenting it to the players. And clearly you get a lot of fans of that! I'm *not* speaking against your chosen playstyle. Everyone has their favorite spice. But "rules-heavy non-narrative" isn't the only other option. I wanted to champion what I've been doing with my group so far. I've been writing the story together *with* my players. We talk about their backstories and what it means for the world they're in and what are some likely plot events for them to get into down the line. It's a much more communal approach and it obviously wouldn't work with every group -- or even most groups. But it *is* another option than a GM-led narrative or non/low-narrative rules crunching. Thank you for these videos! I criticize but if I didn't both love them and think you're a reasonable man, I wouldn't say anything I'd just leave. You're doing fledgling GMs like me a great service.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

You deserve a medal for tact. Part of my teaching style - rightly or wrongly - is to present extremes so that people can look at it, and then temper it with their own thoughts and feelings - just has you have done here. Thank you for raising this fact, and you are so right. There are many GM's who hate my approach and think I'm totally daft, and that GM'ing has nothing to do with telling a story. On the other hand there are GM's who have a balanced approach and who mix in all the mechanics fluidly with a narrative. I was once a GM like that until I realized that I could tell a better story if I allowed the mechanics to work for the players characters and not for my NPC's. There is a fine balance and we all need to find it in our own way. But please never hesitate to argue with me, or point out that you feel I'm wrong! It allows us all to grow!

[@Damnationization]

I have been playing on and off for YEARS. I started before I could read in basic D&D. I played 1st and 2nd. A little 3rd and am into Pathfinder. I am into story telling as are you. I have a total story plan. I stick with the roll over 99.9% of the time and have fudged a roll before. I don't agree with the level 20th character falling to their death. In reality their is a max velocity for falling object and people have survived extreme falls. But their could be a creature in the bottom of the pit. I believe in always giving players a chance, even if it's almost impossible. That's why a natural 20 hits. I don't believe in instant death set ups. As a players it's bs and I try to make my games realistic, non-instant death, have a good story, and something I would like. Recently I have been trying to different things in my campaign. A basic dungeon crawl, then a destroyed town with evil on the horizon, then a escort mission of a arrogant merchant. Next a ancient crypt. Next against a secret thieves guild and the players being on trial, sentenced/killed only to be sent to the negative plan. Then battling orc armies.

[@JosephKiewra]

Mr Son - I think you are going to be a great GM because you are already grasping some of the more complex ideas about game mastering.

[@Cathowl]

Thank you kindly. :3 I try to read a lot of theory on the subject, and learn as much as possible.

[@Arkhansyd]

You are, or were 2 months ago, at the point where you totally get what table top games are all about. I worry about more new, naive or even last resort GM's who don't really get how to behave and might take HtBaGGM's advice on this. Because an experienced GM could, and I put a strong emphasis in could, make that orc encounter not look fake as hell, but a new one will bum their players out. Even if we're talking level 15, it's the first second or third time they're there. It's not going to be easy (nor gratifying in my opinion. Where's the thrill of not knowing if they're going to make it?). Also making railroading work is hard as fuck because you're basically trying to force your idea of fun into the players of a game whose very foundation is "do what you want". And players usually don't play to have a prescripted story be told *at* them while they get to roll inconsecuential dice (and by the way, they're not dumb, they're going to notice). Even new ones. They might not know what they want, but I can asure you, most know at least the basics of the game and if they're into it, they want to play not be railroaded to a point where you're just a pupet in the DM's show. I have the sneaking suspicion that they way HtBaGGM put this examples is not excactly how he thinks, just a poorly expresed concept. But still, the video says what the video says. And to me this is the perfect advice to how *not* be a great GM. Matthew Mercer (geek and Sundry) and Matthew Colville have a way of mastering much more similar to yours (and mine). You should really watch their respective series on how to DM if you haven't already.

[@RobotsPajamas]

It's not cheating if it: A. It benefits the players (their enjoyment factor). B. Serves the story. C. The players aren't aware of the cheating.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

And D: Might save the player from being killed by accident by their other party member who rolled a crit on his critical fail which hit a fellow party member... lol Great comment!

[@paperplanegamer5947]

Pretty much

[@snartgaming4922]

Cool over rules

[@MatangaBoots]

I love your style of teaching. Please keep pushing the idea that story is important. And when I hear you say story is important I hear that you have something that others what to listen to and be apart of. I personnel am I rules lawyer and number cruncher. I like to focus on all the actions of the players and there interactions with the world. Some would call that micro focused as opposed to Macro focused. It took me a couple years to figure out what I am and what I like and to be ok with this. I often felt guilty I knew the rules and did not keep up with the big picture story. Well I still feel guilty about not understanding the GM and his world some times. But I have come to accept that I am good at something in the hobby. You-tubers like you have help me learn how I can play to my strength while still working with others and not against them. What I want to say is your helping me to keep the focus on the players and what they want out of the game. FUN! And if the dice are not helping to do that then I need to stop looking at them. Also I think most don't want to spend a couple of gaming sessions traveling to the temple in the jungle. They just want me to gloss over the fact that they fought a couple encounters with the local wildlife and have now arrived at the temples steps. Then after getting there don't take 6 sessions to complete the temple. The point is I had a story reason for them to come to the temple. I should really try to get that scene to unfold in 1 session. Thanks again for focusing my thoughts on what is important. :) And sorry for rambling.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Not rambling at all! You make a very good point - a few actually. Play to your strengths, look for areas where you want to improve or change, and then work on it. We are the exact opposite, as I get a new rules system, it takes me a looooong time to learn the rules, and even then I am slow to adopt the rules lol. But I'm working on knowing more rules, my brain just doesn't like remembering them all :)

[@Zhon66]

I agree with this so much. As a DM, my primary goal (and some might say my only goal) is to make sure my players are having fun. The dice don't always accomplish this on their own. In fact, they often don't. Sometimes it's one player having a run of bad luck, and feeling useless compared to the rest of the party, though no fault of their own. Sometimes it's the way the rules are written, which means that the tactically sound option is to stand in place and swing your sword every round until someone falls over, and the player doesn't want to do that. I want to encourage my players to do things that are interesting and fun - it's fantasy, and they're heroes! If my players want to leap heroically off a building onto the back of the dragon they're fighting, then I am going to encourage the dice to let them do that. If I shut them down every time they do something silly, they won't do the silly things they enjoy anymore. Conversely, I make sure that just because they can do silly things doesn't mean there won't be any consequences - I don't shy away from killing players. They may have successfully jumped on that dragon's back but it's still going to keep trying to eat them. On the flip side, I will try to avoid killing players who have done nothing but roll badly. It sucks to die that way, because it's totally out of your control, and it doesn't advance the story and it doesn't make the player feel good. D&D is like any good game in that regard - death should feel like your own fault, always. Never make it the fault of the numbers.

[@heroesdelve]

I agree completely. Use the dice (either hidden rolls or open rolls) to create tension and mood. advance the story. The repeated encounters are a GREAT example of why you, as a GM would want to fudge/ignore the roll results. Thanks for the Great Video!

[@gambitraven]

so player death should be determined by story, tension, players, fun, and dice. not by dice or narrative alone. this is great I always ask my self am I to story focused

[@RaiderAvian]

A PC's life is more valuable than a randomised death.

[@TheProfProfessor]

After wondering aimlessly in the swamp, you... wonder aimlessly in the swamp!

[@jackjohnston8048]

I greatly enjoy your videos. I'm writing my first campaign right now and this is giving me good information on how I should play.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Glad to hear it!

[@snappygum1721]

I think you make the most important point towards the end - that you will attract players who like your style. This works in life too - there will always be people who like your 'thang', and others not some much. Learning when to let players go, or relationships, or whatever to let others in is the greatest life skill of all. Love your work mate.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Well thank you sir. And although I avoid deep philosophical conversations without wine or beer... it is true. We can't please everybody. Having said that - I believe it is part of our requirements as a human beings to attempt to learn and improve ourselves. Mainly those opportunities come from those that don't like us :)

[@steveslothstorm1155]

I very much like your delivery, it's full of character and clear. Top notch.

[@KarizmaSan]

I always find my attention drifting away and thinking about where my homebrew campaign is going. This isn't a negative it's really helpful. Keep it up.

[@bearriver685]

Bold GM decisions are perfectly acceptable and are not considered cheating by definition. Cheating is to "act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage". The GM is not a player and has nothing to gain. If a rule detracts from the overall player experience then it is the responsibility of the GM to suspend that rule. If you don't like a GM's decisions then don't play his games. Simple.

[@EMDream1990]

I just started to GM, and I just wanted to say that your videos are really helping me out. This one, in particular, has really helped me understand my role as the GM.

[@thedirtyfecker]

I love your videos! I am not a D&D player. I am more of a WFRP V1 kind of guy but I love listening to your videos and love your enthusiasm and creativity. Well done. Loads of great advice here!

[@sethhawkins3878]

Thank you so so so much for all the videos you make, I'm a new D&D player and honestly I have NEVER played a game of D&D before in my life, I do know the basics though (from watching critical role) and I badly want to play. I First saw your video on 10 players that annoy you and decided to watch it because why not? Then I thought about it and decided that instead of being able to relate to them i could learn from them, these are mistakes? I'll try to not do this in my first games. I've watched so many of your videos and this one here is one of the most helpful (to me) my family has agreed that when I have gotten everything I need and know all the rules then they will allow me to teach them and be their GM. Your videos have helped me so much I really really appreciate your dedication to D&D and your fans so thank you so much, lot's of respect!

[@Xardis]

The rules are not for you to strickly enforce them, they are for you to use in order to create enjoyable and intresting session.

[@MrJayberry176]

Wow I'm so glad I found you. It's so refreshing to find someone that agrees with my thoughts on dnd. The ultimate goal is to roleplay and enjoy the narrative. If you want raw combat play a video game by yourself, glad you seem to agree with your thoughts on rolls. Everyone in my area are basically dnd neophytes that treat it like a video game and it wears on me.

[@kennedygrant6417]

I love your videos. I am a new upcoming DM and watching your videos along with Matt Mercer's and Wil Wheaton's has been enlightening in helping me create the world in which my players participate in. Thank you for the work you put into making these!

[@petrofski88]

Indeed fantastic videos. I am not usually one to "look up" to others and I like to think and find things independently (call it controlled arrogance). But I have learned a lot and have been inspired by watching your videos :). All the great insights, the examples given, the touch of humour and the epic yet calm voice (I think you'll age to sound like a true elder wizard). Thank you so much for contributing to the D&D community with this! Cheers!

[@QuestingBeast]

Interesting. I've completely stopped fudging my rolls, and I've found that it adds tremendously to the game. I roll everything out in the open. If a roll could result in a player's death, and they were the ones who knowingly put themselves in that position, then a bad roll means death. The game lacks tension if there are not consistent, logical consequences for PC actions. As soon as player figure out that I'm shielding them from consequences, everything goes off the rails. Enforce real consequences, and players will start playing smarter.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

I love the idea of 'Players playing smarter'. In principal it is excellent. In story it is a hindrance. Here is my logic: The players characters are supposed to represent Hero's in the world. If they go into every combat with a massive plan, with options, back-doors, back-ups, or avoid certain situations because they can't see a win by numbers, then the game isn't heroic. It's tactical. Now that might be fun if the GM is being tactical as well. In which case that's awesome. However I want my players to make their characters do illogical cool and extravagant stuff. To take crazy leaps of faith and jump onto the dragons back - not because it's tactically advantageous, but because it looks awesome and makes a great story. Both points of play are valid - for me it is the difference between watching a cheesy movie and a documentary. It really depends on preference.

[@QuestingBeast]

That's fair. My goal is to get my players to think hard about how they engage with my world, and to come up with creative solutions to problems. In other words, I want my players to feel smart when they succeed, rather than heroic. Story, for me, is what the players end up doing, so I usually don't have plot lines prepared apart from a number of hooks that they can choose to explore.

[@QuestingBeast]

This style of play is usually called OSR or old-school revival. I haven't heard of Iron Man D&D, personally.

[@QuestingBeast]

When OSR folks say old school, they're typically referring to the style that began with OD&D, which was definitely played in what we today call the OSR playstyle. Strong emphasis on player skill over PC skill, high lethality, strong GM authority, a tendency to make rulings on the fly, etc. That's how all of the original players describe the game.

[@QuestingBeast]

I feel like we're talking past each other. I would absolutely categorize what you've just described as Old School play. An open world, with lots of roleplaying, adventure hooks and seeded encounters is not in conflict with the style of play I've described at all. The types of games that I would consider non-old-school are ones where death is very rare, adventures are pretty railroady, problems are mostly solved with character abilities rather than player creativity, and the GM has to consult the rulebook frequently to find the proper way to do anything, rather than just making a call. Does this describe the way that you played?

[@clabarnes7293]

I just finished watching Harmon Quest, and it just looks like everyone was having such a good time. I'm definitely getting into your videos and I've learned alot already! Thank you, because i would have never known where to start!

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

My pleasure. HQ is a great bunch of stories, glad you found your way here after that ;)

[@stevensheldon1748]

As a beginner gm, I really appreciated this video. I need to work on adding tension and keeping it in the game. I have a lot of fun with the story and role playing but with combat I can’t make it seem like they will die. I enjoyed this video so thanks

[@ultraloyalist4554]

Session one, first combat, rogue wins initiative, rolls nat 20 on first attack against boss, killing him outright in a single blow. Party seemed almost disappointed that the hulking armoured monster was killed so easily. I stuck to the rules and decreed the villain dead, but in hindsight, I probably should have ruled differently. Setting aside strict interpretation of the rules, that boss simply should not have been that easily killable. If I could do it over again, I probably would have declared a grievous injury to the villain, depleting most of his hit points and removing the use of his arm or something with visible and rewarding consequences for the crit while still letting the villain live long enough to put up the sort of fight the heroes were expecting. I think you make a good rule in this video: if your players are consistantly having fun, you're not doing it wrong. Happy gaming!

[@philippereeves9241]

I am glad you did this video for us; it seems like it was a hard one to pull off. The way you answer your viewers questions, commentaries and critics is truly remarkable. I am sure we all feel privilege by the care, the attention and the respect you allocate to your public. About the delicate topic you’ve chosen this time, do you see a difference between cheating the system, by openly disregarding a specific rule or stats, and cheating the players, by make-belief or flat-out lies?

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Thank you for your comment. I feel we can all learn and improve from one another. As to your question - that's a really tricky one. I think I need more beer to answer it correctly... So I believe in the first part - disregarding rules and stats. They're a guide anyway, so I'm happy to do that. Cheating players through deception - I do occasionally pretend that the outcome was my plan all along, or that they had a greater impact that they actually did... but outright lying to them I'm not sure what would precipitate that. As a human I have no issues with altering my comments to be more appropriate for my audience (players). does that answer your question?

[@philippereeves9241]

Thank you for your quick and nuanced answer. It does answer to my question, but immediately raise another. Do not feel obligate to answer or even consider it, but it makes me wonder : How would you feel about one player cheating against you? Either by disregarding a rule (for instance, spell range or components) or by lying to you (as an example, about the HP he's left with)? What would you answer to that player if he told you « i did it to make a better story, to bring more fun to the game. » ?

[@DrummClem]

This video made me realise something : I used to be too kind with my players because I wanted them to have fun, live epic adventures where they do amazing stuff... but that negates all the tension, all the drama which IS an inherent part of storytelling. I may use it from now on. Thank you.

[@BB-pn2qv]

Very well explained in a wonderfully nuanced argument and exploration.

[@lysander1]

i wouldn't call it cheating if my players enjoy it.... :S

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Well there you go. I couldn't have said it better myself :)

[@lysander1]

I have a further questions sir... any ideas for rewards that are not gold or magical items? i feel this might be contributing to a level of player boredom. Cheers big time, you are a real source of inspiration to my games.

[@jules3484]

how about, for one day, they unlock their ultimate level 20 ability from their main class. Like seriously, when was the last time you saw a level 20 character being bad ass with his ULTI ?

[@victoralmeida6855]

I guess you could reward them with allegiances, discounts in shops, treasure maps, schematics, unlock services in the town, plot items that seem worthless now, valuable lore such as creatures weak points or blackmail oportunities, enable sidequests, secret passages, items that help players circumvent another encounter

[@gogogo123454321]

i wouldn't call it cheating if my GM enjoys the outcome of my roll.... :S

[@Thearmedpainter]

I've somehow stumbled across your videos here on KZbin and I really enjoyed listening to what you've had to say. I've not had many opportunities to role play but listening to you talk about being a game master got my hyped! Would be awesome to find someone locally who shared your views :)

[@Nibilli]

Cool video really helps understand previous statements. My rule i recommend on fudging is : fudge only if you anticipated the fudge, don't roll then decide it is not optimal. This way you can concentrate this powerful tool on important parts. Like all lies it must not be abused. I really feel like the "designing combat for non combat focused players" could be really cool tho. That example on death and the non combat character just feeling punished for nothing really reenforces this. Anyway, keep it up ! ^^

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Thank you! I'm glad it helped clarify my points. As a lecturer I usually have an hour to explore a topic with students, which used to bring greater clarity to the topic at hand. So thank you :)

[@OokhEekh]

Great video, I fully agree. I think experiencing a good story is the main idea and part of the job is fudging the rolls and not letting the players notice ;-)

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

We agree :)

[@ClickToPreview]

I like how you gave poor Broderick multiple chances to escape death. Great tension. Brilliant in fact.

[@ZeroJ]

I just started as a GM and your videos are very very helpful.

[@puellanivis]

Wow, this is a really good discussion on the topic. It's not a lecture, sure only one person is talking, but you really look all around the issue, and explore it well.

[@kharnthebetrayer8251]

Fun thing to try as a GM, just randomly roll something. For no reason. The party freaks out trying to figure out why you're rolling, or just become really paranoid for a few minutes.

[@puellanivis]

Followed with, "MUHAHAHHAHAhahahahahahahahaha"

[@rogerwilco2]

I don't believe for a second that Gary Gygax actually followed his own rules as stated. A 70% survival chance per encounter is so low, after 2 encounters half your characters are dead, after 10 encounters there is a 2% chance anyone is alive. Assuming 20 encounters per level as stated in various sources, and 20 levels, characters would have a chance of 1 in 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 of ever making it to level 20. Characters need to have a survival chance above 99% to have a 50% chance to make it to level 3. I don't believe for a chance that Gary Gygax followed the rules as printed by a long shot given how many of his early players survived to a high level.

[@michaelcaplan1589]

This was quoted from 1989 and, at that point, I think you're correct -- Gygax couldn't have followed a 70% survival per encounter. However, from my understanding, at the beginning of the process of creating D&D, Gygax's miniature-based system did have a very low survival rate. But that would have been about 15 years earlier than the quote as attributed in Guy's video.

[@Wolfphototech]

I'm amazed the both of you guys missed the two words *"feels like"* when referencing the 70/30 rule .

[@xKingGeorgeTheThirdx]

The tension is so goddamn important. We had a party of lycanthropes recently, and used the similar suggestion of yours to nerf them slightly from having damage imunities to damage resistances, and weakness to silver. They creamed an entire caravan's worth of guards, and while they still put up a fight, there was one last noble they had to kill. Turns out that one of the players, trying to rush him, met the business end of a silvered rapier that the noble drew. So everyone at the table pretty much felt their hearts sink into their stomachs.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Sounds like a hell of a fun group!

[@TimHisk]

Great discussion piece. I echo a lot of the opinions presented in this video, so you're certainly not alone in your style of preferred game. I've had a few players join a campaign and not like this style. But I'm of the mind that it's better for everyone if they move on and find a game that suits them.

[@foxunix101]

Maybe try this? You need to learn the rules very well and follow them. However, you need to know them so well that you have to be able to feel when to bend or even break them. The best sessions I have had as a DM and player is when the DM or I just ran with a crazy idea or plan. None of those experiences would have been possible with a slave to dice mentality. Good video

[@ohmyflippiningod]

I've always felt that it's like this. Stick to the role when the game is fun, fudge the roll when the game is fun. Unless your goal is specifically to be realistic.

[@OnEiNsAnEmOtHeRfUcKa]

I gotta say, you seem like a real sweetheart going by your responses in the comments section. =) As a first-time DM (my first campaign will be starting a few weeks from now), and I've found your advice quite helpful so far! =0 Hopefully I'll be able to strike a balance between narrative impact and gameplay proper, heheh. Subscribed, and I look forward to seeing more content in future from you. ^-^

[@matthewlafee5165]

I found your channel when I was looking for tips on dungeons and dragons and I am happy that I have found a creative and energetic and above all else passionate player who can explain rules about the game to a deep extent as you do for Noobs like me The first time and currently I have been part of a campaign that I started about half a year ago let’s say and during those times I have been making a character that is based off of my favourite anime naruto my GM who is my oldest step brother helped me make a balanced and sensible character for the game so that I could enjoy it to the best extent while also being viable and fair, through his help along with yours and another channel that I have discovered about dnd named Matthew colville I have made a character that I am truly happy with named Hiei (no last name given) a elemental ninja of wind so far. I know you must get people writing to you all the time about their experiences . And I am no different.......I’d like to thank you for your videos they are creative comical and have a dry sense of humour I think is awesome. Please keep up the good work P.s I might keep you posted on how he does in the future Again, thank you ✌🏻 -Matthew Lafee, Kitchener,Ontario ,Canada

[@DearthXalex]

If its a game, go by the rules. If its a story find the perfect balance. Thats what i feel is correct

[@Jeffk1]

This was really handy. I'm good at reading people because of time spent with poker players so I usually just look at my player's faces to see what they're feeling.

[@HunterDaggers]

I recently had a circumstance where the DM shouldve done just this. And simply him doing that actually derailed his entire campaign. Well, there was this NPC he had generated who was incredibly vital to the main plot of his story (he was way too attached to his main quest that when we attempted to diverge our goals from what he wanted it made things worse, but thats another topic). He was a high level archer who was a high ranking member of a spy group in the kingdom, and he was watching us to figure out an opportune moment to engage us and get us rolling on the main quest. Well, DM figured the best way to introduce him would be to have a bandit attempt to ambush us, he shoots the bandit, saving us the hassle, and then introduces himself. Well, when he shot at the bandit, the DM decided to make the archer roll for it. Shouldnt have done that. He rolled a crit fail. His "critical failure shot repercussion"? He shot me. A NE Sorceror Gnome. We look for the attacker, friend got a nat 20 Perception, we found the archer immediately. He then drops a vial of salve directly on top of another member of our party, which hurt him. He then dropped a small piece of flint to ignite it. I used Prestidigitation to catch the flint out of the air. Then, out of that option, the archer starts pointing out the bandit. I deal with the bandit, and turn back to him trying to stealth. He failed. Intimidated him into facing us. Felt cornered, he pulled a large jumble of bombs out of his bag and straight up threatened to kill us all if we dont let him leave. I, of course, was having none of that. I normally use Diplomacy and Bluff to deal with encounters with this character, a Gnome Illusionist, but after shooting me, dropping what we assumed were explosives on an ally, and then threatening the whole party, i wasnt gonna pursue that path. I Color Sprayed him, our Monk knocked him out with a blow to the back of the head, and then I killed him. DM openly blamed me for ruining his campaign saying that I shouldve tried talking to him to see if it was an accident or not because he was important, even though the turn of events were entirely his fault. Our DM had a bad habit of assuming we would use out of game knowledge at all times. But he ignores the in-game experiences hes giving. To my Gnomes perspective, this guy and the bandit were working together. He engaged us, and we spotted him immediately, freaking him out, so he sold his friend out hoping to run away. And when we didnt let him, he threatened to take us all out. So yeah, I was gonna kill the guy. Screw him. To my knowledge hes a risk. But yeah. He blamed me for derailing his main quest. And then when i tried talking to him on the side, one-on-one, (there were other issues, many of them brought to me by the other players since im the old and soon-to-be-new-again DM myself) he continued to blame me, got upset, and then threatened to quit if i tried bringing up issues in his campaign again because it isnt worth the drama. Didnt sit well as a player.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

It's a horrid day when a GM blames a player for derailing a campaign if it is such a simple like that. Thank you for sharing!

[@OzixiThrill]

That's the kind of DM I'd tell to go write his own novels and replace him. Being a DM is about working with and for the players, not forcing them to be puppets in your story to the point that you might as well be playng alone as the DM and having the "PC"s be nothing but characters you're playing yourself. Which is essentially the same as writing a novel...

[@arlaxazure486]

What I would have personally done if a character fudges up like that archer dude, I'd immediately turn him into a bandit with slightly lower stats to match the other enemies, have him gtfo, then when the party goes into a chase have the REAL archer hold up the now-dead bandit with an arrow through his heart. That's when an improvised greeting can happen. There. Problem solved. The #1 trait for a GM I believe is knowing when and how to improvise.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

This guy is no longer running your game right? If he IS running your game still, I'd ask around with the other players whether or not to boot him. If they all agree, do it. He sounds like a jackass. In fact I know a very similar jackass. We don't play together anymore. He ran a one-shot where we were supposed to investigate a mansion. Simple enough. But he put a bottomless ravine in between us and the mansion and none of us could cast "fly" or anything. There was the ricketiest bridge in existence between the two sides of the ravine that if we tried to use, we would die. This is what the DM described to us. I, being the barbarian, decided it was a good idea to toss everyone to the other side since we had no grappling hook or anything. It worked for one character but when i threw the second one he crit failed his acrobatics check. After about an hour of falling and catching people, we made it to the mansion where one of the characters stole something from my character so I wasn't being nice to them (obviously). The DM then ended the game early and proceeded to blame me publicly for how his game was going to shit. I then pointed out all the stupid scenarios he gave us that led up to it and the other players supported me. This guy no longer runs D&D for any of us.

[@HunterDaggers]

Were letting him finish what he had planned for the campaign, but yeah. Im taking over after this. I was our dedicated DM for awhile, then a player wanted to try so he did, learned he didnt like it at all because he steamrolled too but for simplicity sake not for plot so he gave it up, then the current guy wanted to give it a go. A few weeks later and this is where we are. And this was only some of it. One instance was apparently the queen of the land, someone who he purposefully gave a stingy as hell personality to, was vital to plot, and yet when my guy met up with an old assassin that i was supposed to defeat, even though Im an Illusionist and my DM even said that this guy was high level and could kill me if he really cared enough, I instead grew interested in the assassin and pressed the topic of who HE was rather than what he knew and implied heavily that i wished to join his ranks. The old assassin, impressed by my moxie and the fact that i had dropped one his men fairly easily, told me that if i could kill the queen he would take me up as an apprentice. This scenario i had no issues with, the opportunity was literally the palm of my hand. Almost like a cut scene. Well, i get the castle post-war cleanup for the reward with the queen. Things go well, and the guards step away and most everyone leaves but me, the queen, and one of the other PCs that my character trusted in-game (i didnt trust the others because he had us start out feuding and forgot to fix it), so i pulled him aside and basically told him my plan and asked if he wanted in. He did. Well, thats when the DM steamrolling kicked back in. Suddenly DM is just like: Perception check! Never a good sign. I rolled well. Next thing i hear: theres a small midget standing beside you pacing excited, who asks "Is it time to kill the queen now yeees". I say no, and he just screams "alright, QUEEN THE GNOME SAYS ITS TIME TO DIIIE" and he attacks her. I managed to Bluff her to believe i didnt know what he was talking about and had my ally fight the midget so i was able to slip behind the queen to "watch" and then made my move. The midget i guess immediately booked it AND TOLD THE ENTIRE COUNTRY AND THE NEIGHBORING KINGDOMS. So i was irritated from that. We moved on to a new kingdom, where all the nobles and guards knew i had killed the queen already. And then we got enrolled in a tournament that i didnt agree to fight in, and they announced to the country that i was "TIPS THE QUEEN SLAYER" (Tips the Gnome is the name, enchants and illusions are my game). Then my opponent was an auto stealthed halfling behind a pillar telepathically controlling an arcane suit of armor thats immune to enchantments and illusions that moves at 30ft (im a gnome) and can grapple with a high bonus to remove control from the opponent, tear their skin open, and render them powerless. So obviously i lost, literally stopped fighting back i just didnt care. The DM didnt understand why i didnt think i had a chance. He even told me after that if i had just fired off as many Color Sprays as my lvl 3 self could manage in all directions i wouldve eventually hit the Halfling. I didnt even bring up how retarded that battle plan sounded. I couldnt even.

[@Chameleonxx3]

It is always that you cheat or change rolls to guide the story and the player characters. As you said in the description, saving a player character is a good example.

[@adamdahlberg3401]

I love your video's, I should be GMing my first game soon (SW). Some of the players I will be playing with range in Age from 43 to 13. So I think with this in mind the story aspect of the game will be really important. Great job yet again.

[@Akravator12]

Great video! This was a really good follow up to the last one, and I think it better illustrates your point. While I'm not a huge fan of the idea of changing the modifiers on the fly, there are ways to do it and it not break consistency. These Orcs have a pact with a demon and then suddenly they transform...now you have a good reason for them to hit harder that doesn't break consistency (as long as you don't always pull this rabbit out of the hat. There's only so many demon pacts to go around!) That last example of the falling player was really good. That's the way to do it by giving them multiple chances to avoid certain death; and if a player comes up with something creative, give them a bonus or advantage.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

There are only so many demon pacts to go around - I love that. I'm glad you liked the video. What I really loved about your comment is that you turned to a Narrative story driven reason for the number change. I appreciate that deeply.

[@Akravator12]

No problem! I always enjoy your videos and you're always very gracious in the comments section which must be hard sometimes. I actually did this recently when my player decided to run out by himself to kill "just a couple orcs"...I don't think so. One of them was a werewolf, which was part of the story, but this one wasn't originally going to be one.

[@lorec9795]

Thank you for this very informative and heartfelt video. I could not agree with you more on all the subjects and ideas you have placed in this video. It truly defines the multitudes of levels that RPGs can attain, if one is willing to put the time and effort into their game. Recently I have seen some videos appearing here at KZbin that disparage DMs from thinking that DnD can or should be run as an Epic story telling experience. Their concepts for the game are heavily reliant on more the gaming aspects then the RP. They argue that stories are rigid and defined in that they have a beginning and ending and that archetypes are always true to form and never stray from the narrative structure of the story. But as I have argued most great tales are far from your average defined beginning and ending narration. A lot of people that have this misguided concept are fine with just the video gaming aspects of RPG and do not want to immerse or invest themselves into the tale that the DM is creating in this cooperative setting. Now there is nothing wrong with dungeon crawling hack and slash gaming, for the beauty of DnD is that those types of games are part of this community as well. But there are many players like myself that enjoy the immersive aspects of the game, and are willing to invest themselves in creating a living character in these worlds. Where things are not always Good or Evil but the pale shades in between. It is great GMs like yourself who seek to achieve that balance of both immersive world creation and the strictures of the dice rolls and rules. You are intelligent enough to know that the core game rules are malleable and changeable at the discretion of the GM and the game he is running. For their focus is to provide a basic guideline that can be changed by the DM to better suit the enjoyment of the game as a whole for his players. If other DMs enjoy running tedious games that have no real plot or effort then more power to them. But I would advise those that want to create a world of wonder and legends to follow your example as set upon by these guidelines you have set forth in this video. For those that have the imagination and creativity to want to create Epic Stories to immerse your players in then this video will definitely be of great value to you. Thank you.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

thank you for that lovely comment. You are right - there are many ways to play our beloved game - and to each the other way is strange or cold. Is there an ultimate unifying style? I don't think so, it think it's about having fun with the group of people you call friends! Thanks again for such a nice comment.

[@lorec9795]

It is a comment and compliment very well deserved. Thank you for providing this wonderful community these insightful view points and varied ideas on this glorious amazing game. In the end these are tales we tell, whether short or long, where all of us find the hero within ourselves. Or villain. There are a myriad of possibilities on how DnD can be played. There is never a wrong way for it is only limited by ones imagination. When you tell an epic tale all will come to hear, or be a part of it. Best wishes on your future insightful videos, many of us look forward to viewing and learning from them.

[@Cartoonicus]

THANK YOU! Roll playing characters are always HIGHLY overlooked by GM's. I'm constantly seeing the story or my character's personality being undermined because of a bunch of random numbers.

[@Yourehistronic]

The most dissapointing game experience as a player was, as i noticed, that the GM fudged all sorts of rolls on the final boss encounter in the first adventure. Even though we simply charged in, split up and made several mistakes.. there was no real consequence or challenge As i build enemies and encounters on my own anyway, there is no need for me to fudge the rolls in most cases - actually, more often then not, i up some rolls, when i notice the tension lacking. Not to long ago, just at the end of combat a character was severly wounded and my players sighed with relief, as i told them, that i'm not going to now "lessen" the following encounters. I only disagree on a single point: Not every encounter should be challenging, most yes, but as a campaign progresses, the players should sometimes re-encounter an old enemy (type) that made them trouble - which they now can defeat with less trouble. Otherwise there really is no point in any xp reward/level progression.

[@Nibilli]

Great point ! Scale up rolls if needed is the best way to have flexibility in your game. Just be sure to be consistent. Also, Contrast is important, having low threat games with high ones, and that will create tension. Something to keep in mind is sending the right signs to the players, they have to know if this is a hard encounter quite quickly, because they will want to manage there resources.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

I agree with you both - it's about making sure that there is an ebb and flow to combat encounters. Some hard, some easy. The idea of bringing back an old enemy that was difficult and is now easier, is a great way to give a world a sense of realism too! Thank you for sharing and reminding me too!

[@dragonstryk7280]

Who doesn't like a good mook fight? Where the players can really break free, and just stunt like mad bastards? I break up the fights in an arc, with the initial fights being pretty bland mook fights. It actually helps me as GM to see how my players actually use their characters, and how well they function as a unit. this can aid greatly later in the game, when you need to be able to push your players, but maybe shake things up. So, my PCs had gotten into fights with a bunch of trolls, but had leveled by being the survivors of the engagements. In fact, they'd gotten to the legit points of being incredibly efficient at troll encounters. Now, I could have simply beefed up the trolls, but I thought about the numbers for a moment: they had wiped out so many trolls, that more than tribe would have been without any warriors, so I rolled with it: The trolls, losing their people left, right, and center, began to refer to the trollslayers as "The Reavers", and a single, more powerful Troll, took over several local tribes, uniting them into a single unified force. The PCs had been very explicit about being certain to burn the bodies, so there's nothing but charred ground where all these warriors died. Their legend was born, and it was hilarious when I had one troll bellow out, "Death to the Reavers!" in Giant and every troll with him, an easy fight for the party, charges in fearlessly, like they've already accepted death. The bard, who ironically was leading the party, understsood the call, and marked the crier to live. The encounter was actually a little below their level at this point, but it was fun nonetheless. The fun was in the party now seeing just how far they'd come: The trolls they had fought so brutally for so long were now little more than a warmup exercise, while at the same time, showing them that their actions had created a profound impact. They were now that which the monsters told their children of at night to frighten them into obeyance.

[@ClickToPreview]

I say DON'T scale up rolls, just use a story device that explains why the Big Bad was easy to defeat. Maybe he/she was too distracted trying to defend something that he/she didn't want the PC's to get their hands on... maybe he/she has a cold and isn't quite up to snuff battling a whole party of adventurers... encounter balance is hard to achieve just using a chart. Go with a STORY explanation and make it interesting. Same with scaling down rolls... Don't do it... instead give your party an OUT, let them FLEE, regroup, get healthy, and try again... maybe your Big Bad is tied to a place and won't pursue past a certain point, maybe it's too big to fit down the tiny passageways to pursue as your party flees... If the dice are failing the party, give them an OUT, they may be smart enough to take it... or not, to their well-deserved detriment.

[@edschramm6757]

you're not wrong. not every encounter needs to be high-stress, or it becomes the norm. but if the group is never threatened, that is bad too. one thing i have done a couple times so far is "layer" encounters. so i throw one or two pretty easy fights, followed by a fight that would be moderately difficult on its own. the group caught on fast, but initially, they were confused - every other campaign we have had has been a one-encounter, then rest. one fight, then rest. so people would blow all their spell slots and resources on that first fight. when you come up to a normally moderate fight injured and low on spell slots, suddenly that fight becomes much more threatening.

[@helixxharpell]

Loving everything Guy does! Even 7 yrs past! These elements are still tried & true! Just watch Chronicles of Duskmourn and see how guy makes rolls. He's good. REALLY GOOD!

[@anathema1828]

Intelligent conversation- thanks for that!

[@kevinmason1310]

Finding balance when done right the players will ever notice. I find the rule of fudging is "Will this dice roll add or subtract from the fun of the party"

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

That's in in a nutshell. Perfect solution.

[@kimberlysimmons4949]

Just discovered your channel, can't wait to dig into some more!

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Welcome to the table! Please feel free to ask questions, make comments etc. we love interacting with people!

[@pppgggr]

There's a very noticeable lip de-sync in this one. XD

[@jordank6961]

pppgggr I KNOW RIGHT!? XD I like to read lips while I watch the vedio

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Can I just say I HATE AUDIO. So there is a new glitch in the system somewhere. And if there are any Audacity champions please let me know. The glitch is the PC seems to... lose time and will randomly compress it or expand it. I sat for hours trying to resync the damned thing and got it mostly right I think?

[@jordank6961]

It did pretty well for the most part

[@MrStoltverd]

How to be a Great Game Master maybe you still need the help and if not, for future reference or anyone suffering the same: Try dragging the wave while holding ALT. It should compress or expand the length of the wave. Be weary tough... This WILL affect tempo and percieved tone. Only use this if the WAVE was compressed.

[@SkylarKeystone]

Why did you feel the need to point this our. Now I cant unsee it.

[@tygrahof9268]

Well addressed. Would love to play like I did but no one lives near my home anymore. Real life, you're getting in my way again!

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Damn real life! Have you tried VTT? Online play can be really fun!

[@RoryStarr]

The best advice I ever got was, "every decision should move the story forward." That resolves a great deal of things for me. If someone risks a silly thing, and rolls mediocre, I'll find a way to balance the roll against encouraging that kind of entertaining silliness. However, if something inarguably stupid is done, I make it clear I'm not bailing them out unless something truly inspired is done. For example, I had a player slash the membrane under the boiling lake in White Plume Mountain. No idea what he thought was going to happen, but the flood came and slammed the flood door shut behind them. Then the Crab started trying to escape and blocked their escape. They boiled. I gave them a few rounds to try and come up with something, but they could muster no solutions. If you're going to slash a membrane holding back boiling water, you get what you get haha. As far as the 70%/30% rule, I use a lot of out-of-game "teasers" to toy with my player's expectations. I say things like, "I have no idea how you are going to survive this battle. Hope you folks really think about it because so much can one-hit you." Or "I'm excited about Sunday, I came up with a lot of really nefarious tricks. You're not going to know what to trust." It's all half truths. Maybe nothing can one hit them. At any rate, so long as they are engaged, I will help them through. But then they enter with a sense of doom, and that's my goal.

[@jacobgoertzen7765]

I'm not sure how it is in all systems of table top games, but in the 5e GM handbook there is a quote that I think explains this perfectly. "Remember that the dice don't run your game - you do. Dice are like rules. They're a tool to help keep things moving" (page 237 of the 5e DMG). I would argue that the rules are simply there to keep the story fluid and that the focus of the game should be narrative. In My 4 years of GMing I have always done what I feel will give my players the most enjoyment and what I've found is that a roleplay heavy game is much more appealing and are less likely to foster meta game thinking. When relying only on dice rolls the players have to optimize their characters so that they can survive and sometimes even do things outside of what their characters would do just to keep them alive. By fudging a few rolls, players get the chance to play weaker characters who have goals and really enjoy the game because they don't have to be constantly be on guard for random crit fails that immediately kill them out of nowhere. I don't think you should ignore the rules and I still do believe in killing PCs if they are being stupid but there is no fun to be had when you're playing an equation instead of a game. If my players gave me a speech when trying to persuade an npc and that speech was good enough to persuade me but they roll a 5 when the DC was 10, then I would lower the DC of the check to reflect the impact of their roleplay or to suit the needs of the narrative. I find the best success comes when you allow the players to enjoy the story instead of crunching numbers and making rolls. Let them feel like they are their character rather than a block of stats to be optimized. D&D is a game not an equation and the players lose interest if they can solve that game. Great video by the way.

[@DireSwift]

Following along through these videos and reading the comments and it is fairly obvious some players are strict Rules as Written type. There are very few rules that are written in stone, if any. Rule 0 exists for a reason and the rulebooks themselves are guidelines to be deviated from when the situation calls for it.

[@chakatRiversand]

I personally have a "Rule:0" 'Before all else, It must be fun'

[@lord_wyran]

this is how our DM plays (and how im trying to learn how to play) and it makes the game so much more fun, it makes the game so fluid and allows for alot more creativity, so much so that in one of our guild based campaigns we have created a group called the "hold mah ale, i got this" legion, who specialize in unpredictable, insane, and often times stupid methods of solving problems. our motto is "if we dont know what were doin, they cant either". for example in our last session we were looking to take down this encampment of orcs, they had dug into a mountainside, created a layered defensive wall, heavy gates, watchtowers, a sheer cliff face at there back ect, so what do we do? scale the mountain with a large keg of oil, wait for a scouting party to come back, launch the flaming keg into the camp then parachute in while our cavalry charged thru the now open gate in the middle of the chaos. i asked the DM after the game how many of the rules he had to bend to allow the bullshit we get away with and he told me "well, at the point you said do we still have that 40 gallon keg of oil? i basically threw the book away, there is no rule set that covers amazing idiocy."

[@drabephone8617]

I'm writing my first campaign ever as a completely fresh player in order to learn the game and I will definitely use home made rules and cheat a bit for the purpose of narrative. I've also decided that (without telling my players) no PC will die in the first 5 sessions so that we can all get used to things before forcing some to make a new character

[@SultanoX]

Thank you for this, it has hlped me a LOT on my first homebrew :3

[@HappyBrontosaurus]

Love the presentation. And I'm always looking to improve my narrative focused games. I'm subscribing and I hope you keep making stuff, it's great!

[@Noobshire]

I liked the Paranoia model of GM'ing - creative ideas should be rewarded, and vice versa. Well, there's always the next clone when things go wrong. :) In digital forms of RP'ing, there's the old random number generator problem that at times, you can miss a 95% chance 'roll' five times on the trot because 'random', regardless of a character's innate abilities. When comparing to table RPGs, it would be fair for a GM to step in on one of the rolls, whether the 3rd, 4th, 5th, at their discretion.

[@kyle1598hffgyfv]

I had one GM that did a Persona based GURPS campaign. My character was the only one with a wielded persona summon (my character was a 15 yr old Asian kid with the delusion of being King Arthur with a living whip sword). We all had to have a duel again an evil version of ourselves before facing the Big Bad. The rest of the party one-shotted their doubles (an oversight the GM decided just to cope with), mine, having a wielded summon, had to have a legit fair fight. My reward for not cheaping out and having a proper battle was the GM ran the encounter with no dice, allowing some of my hits to miss, block, and get parried, as I narrated my character's action. The result was my character ending victorious over his fallen foe, though rather bloodied up. I stood up to make a victory speech, and then the GM demanded a dice roll for public speaking (which I defaulted on as I lacked the skill). I, of course, failed the roll, allowing the running gag of my character failing inspirational speeches. That narrated, diceless battle is still one of my favorite moments in gaming.

[@TheEthiopian1987]

This has actually helped our GM become better. He is not as much of a hard ass on us now.

[@godhandstan3908]

As someone with consistently poor duce rolls, I will point out that DnD also likes to punish people for simply being unlucky, and it can be/feel really unfair. When i both play and GM, i like to give people to rp their way into better rolls. For instance, when i was playing as an artificer with a thunder cannon and kept missing shots, so what i did was crouch next to a barrel, steadied my aim, and fired. i had advantage because i rp'ed in a clever way. first roll was an 8, second was nat20. The enemy leader died and his minions gave up. it was nobody's fault for my poor luck, but it was my responsibility to negate it with tactics. So i did it. It's like you said, i refused to be a slave to the dice, and my dm isn't a Nazi about these things so he didn't force me to be said slave.

[@padalan2504]

I think that the video was a bit delayed from the audio. it was a strange, because it fixed itself after a while.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

The audio was drifting in and out of sync everywhere. I tried to manually fix it in editing but obviously missed whole pieces :(

[@padalan2504]

It does not really matter to me, I am here for the content. but it was a strange experience and I found it hard to watch, so I just used it as a short podcast :)

[@KangarooKommando]

I've been scouring the comments to see if it was an issue on my side or the videos, and got absorbed in bad GM stories instead :P Thanks!

[@ZombieRat8bit]

If you look at video games, balancing the randomness of outcomes is key for good gameplay. Same here. A die is often random in wrong ways where bad luck can create ridicolus scenarios. Saw a D&D game where a master assassin (due to bad luck) failed to stab sleeping people twice. When the player rolls low, and asks if the attack hit, unless the roll is a 1, then I think the GM should have let it hit.

[@elmohead]

I just make assassination attempts be a STEALTH check, then roll for CRIT damage (or just instant kill). Instead, roll for the target's reaction (did he drown in his own blood as he's dying? did he knock a vase as he's grasping for life, alrting the guards outside? etc.) It doesn't make sense narratively for a master assassin who managed to sneak to the bedroom of a sleeping noble and managed to miss his throat.

[@ClickToPreview]

If a master assassin fails to stab sleeping people, you have a seriously flawed game mechanic. There should be like a 3% chance that you fail, because maybe they woke up from a bad dream or something in time for you to fail stabbing them where you were aiming.

[@randomlygeneratedname2671]

ZombieRat8bit this is like a sorcerer I had who always Nat 20d cooking rolls so we ended up with a soup elemental hence why fudging in situations is good

[@BlackmistMithra]

having an alternating G.M sounds like it could be fun. every 3rd turn switch the g.m. for encounter or actions\ story. could make a very unique tale

[@Weary_Wizard]

One session i had a party was fighting a magical construct on a mountain top. the wizard was knocked out and was bleeding badly. the party( a newer bunch) looted instead of helped him causing him to die. I fudged the rules a bit and when they realized i still let him be dead but i also let them make a bunch of (pretty pointless) heal roles to attempt to bring him back to life, obviously useless but then i got a flash of hilarity/brilliance and told the would-be-surgeon that he thought if he replaced his heart with the golem he may come back to life. which i decided he did. Now on constructing golems and magical constructs this is absolutely not how it works lol but i thought it was funny to make the wizard into a golem to save his character have a bit of a funny story and even start some new plots as hes now an abomination and a bunch of wizards were interested ink kidnapping him to see what the hell a golem had a soul for. Just an exmaple of cheating to save the game and the story.

[@Allycat101010]

I like it! Things like this, where the fudge is not due to the GMs own desires but rather to save one player from his friends ignoring him or messing up irl, is one of the best times, in my opinion. There is a difference between wanting your story to progress, and not wanting someone irl to suffer because their friends literally forgot them or did something stupid/shitty to them. OOC problem? OOC solution. It's only good group management.

[@Vinemaple]

Oh, gad, yes, this is anticanon. Anticanon is good. It's YOUR table, your version of the world. And now you have a story arc you're all invested in and enthusiastic about, because you created it together and it was good times, bro, good times.

[@MsSPAMKING]

My theory is: "The rule of cool is the most important of all the rules."

[@Lionrhod212]

Absolutely great video. And an intriguing point. I am more of a story based GM. I prefer to keep my players alive when possible, unless they do something incredibly stupid. And yes I might fudge a roll to keep them alive. But if they do something crazy stupid AND it makes a great story...

[@nathanperkins5353]

The background music was selected quite well!

[@therealshadow99]

Much like you talk about, when I've been a GM before I 'fudge' dice rolls in combat to increase tension and yet not decimate players. A random encounter should not decimate the players and 'end' a game, making everyone create new characters. Characters can get maimed, lose equipment, need to escape, etc from a random encounter. It's entirely possible that the players can be in no shape for the next piece of actual story 'encounter' and are quite likely to die there.

[@MabaseDrifter]

In the example, what you might do is decide on an additional number to add to the roll, like for example adding 1 for every encounter that they've already done, because any future enemies would see or smell the gore already on the heroes from the previous encounters and thus be less inclined to attack.

[@iglidor]

Interesting look on fudging. I personaly am using made-up rolls for balancing my group. In my group we have two guys who have habit of min-maxing to certain degree, making effective characters and then we have two guys who are almost complete oposite. Ie they will make almost useless characters if going by numbers but they roleplay them perfectly. This often leads to situation where enemy is either unable to harm those effective characters or if that enemy is strong enough to harm them, then he is too strong for those less efective characters. Thus balance is silently striked by having enemies targeting less effective characters little bit less and fuding rolls in way where those strong characters will get some wounds while weaker characters are not anihilated. As was mentioned in this vid, I am actively but discreetly using fudging to make sure that players will not get into stage where they will go "I must make stronger character otherwise I die" and allow them to make any character that they will enjoy while keeping enviroment where weaker characters will not envy too much to stronger one. One thing I also would really recomend is to sometimes, when situation is proper for it, to send against experienced players enemy that is way below their level. idealy some type of enemy that was threat to them when they were greenhorns. Do not send lvl 15 orcs against lvl 15 characters. Send lvl 4-5 orcs and let them be masacred by characters, showing them in gruesome example how much they growed in power after all their adventures. If players played with their characters for so long and managed to keep them alive and healthy, it can be quite frustrating to never met anything weaker then you. Also it can break immersion if all orcs keep lvling with your characters. So for unimportant random encounters it is very refreshing to every once in while throw bone to players and let them go wild and dominate. Same thing with quests. If every quests has some unexpected problem, then they will very quickly became expected. I make aproximately 20-25% of all quests without any complications. It keeps players off balance :-D Nothing better then with quest "bring parcel from point A to point B" watch players paranoia work overtime, watching every patron in all tavers, checking all passerbys on route... only for nothing happening for entire quest. Such quest does not take long since nothing is really happening except what players themselve start but as with case I mentioned above, it makes players feel better if you throw them bone every once in while. It gets old pretty quickly if all jobs they take always turn south at some point. Having few jobs that goes without hitch and are litteraly easy money is nice balance for having to do a lot of underpaid jobs with great danger of injury/death. If all jobs for heroes would be hard, dificult and full of nasty unexpected suprises, no one would want to do that job.

[@miniatureanvil3187]

Love this show keep it up . It makes my long graveyard shifts fly bye

[@Pdro-gw7lu]

This is a great vid on an excellent topic. Please though, try to improve the audio sync. That aside thank you, subscribed

[@morgankaines2423]

The background music is really spooky when I'm home alone, lol. I was sitting here going, man, I'm about to get assaulted by some kind of demon thing. What soundtrack/music is that? Perfect to run in the background when you're doing horror campaigns!

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

www.battlebards.com - they gave me a bunch of music to use. You're one of the first to comment on it, so thank you!

[@ParanormalEncyclopedia]

I'll give a good example of when to fudge. A few years back I was playing in a playtest of a horror game. I was playing a medium (the game was in 1840s) with no combat abilities and we'd come up on the final battle. Trying to think of how to be useful with no combat abilities I first suggested being able to call visions of the victims of the killer we'd cornered (the power was deliberately pretty vague to allow for more story telling). We agreed it wasn't quite in theme with how things were going so I suggested channeling, where she would speak in the voices of the victims. Part of the games idea was that characters were fighting there own inner darkness and you rolled two sets of dice to use a power. Which got the higher total skewed the use toward good or evil. I thought the story would be more interesting if the power turned evil (still works just darker), the GM thought that would be more interesting. The dice decided otherwise. That would be a good time to go eff the dice lets go with the more interesting out come.

[@peridoodle2644]

I once played a session where the DM had 15 to 20 pre made character sheets already made, and we each got to pick one. The session was quite hard and meant to kill us quite often, and when one died, you had to pick a new character sheet and come in the next day in game. My younger brother and I managed to keep our first characters alive through the whole thing, but it was quite a fun and different experience, knowing how easy it was for the characters we'd been with thus far to be killed.

[@eightywight]

The rule of thumb for when to fudge/cheat the dice is called the 'rule of awesome'. If it would make the game more awesome or fun, do it. Blind adherence to the rules will make for a sour game, I speak from experience. At the same time, don't be hypocritical or change the rules or die rolls willy nilly, the players will grow to resent it. Always keep the players fun in mind when making decisions, they are here to have fun, not slog through rules and delays. However, if a player is breaking the game or acting irrationally in relation to the game or setting, then bring out the smack-down table. If the player does not learn, you may need to kill the character as a last resort and tell them to roll another one. Most all, be adaptive and consistent.

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

Totally agree with you!

[@congruentleek414]

Here is my simple view of this issue. There is nothing wrong with fudging rolls (or even ignoring them) with the following caveats. 1. It is done for reasons of entertainment (whether it adds to the story or simply creates a cool scene), not for personal or other motivations. 2. It isn't very common at the table. It should be a special event else it starts to stale or feel abusive.Story and mechanics must be balanced as it is both roleplaying AND a game. If one of the two becomes too dominant, it is no longer an RPG. It is merely then either a storytelling group or a hardcore game.By the way, there can be occasions where one dominates the other (and probably should). But, that occasion should be temporary. For example, combats can be mechanics focused and noncombat encounters story driven.

[@revshad4226]

My main experience as a game master in table tops is in d&d 5e. I mainly use rolls in regards to combat. For me in many ways I try to balance the hit:miss ratio of my monsters to that of my players. So if my players are rolling poorly than my monsters miss more. Outside combat when dealing with skill challenges I usually say the rolling is more formally and as long as they come out as a reasonable number it works.

[@scttlewis02]

i completely agree with you that balance is needed to make the players emersion better and also for them to understand the world the gm has created. Story is important because players don't want to come together and only hack and slash for 3 hours, intead they are improving their characters seeing them better themselves, readying for that round two with bbbg that nearly wiped the party. And as the bbbg roles are nat 1 after nat 1 and the rogue roled two nat 20 on sneak attack, this makes that climax disappointing and the bbbg seem like a whimp dying on the second round. This is when i fudging the roles or give the bbbg some extra hp help the story. I also take note when i fudge the roles for me, i tend to be less likely to kill all the players otherwise it would be impossible to beat the bbbg. This can be done by doing less damage, spreading monsters attacks, and calling hits as misses or even ignoring the nat 20. If you fudge the roles for the monsters' benefit, you also have to do it for the players. With the idea of balance. Also the rules need to be set so everyone has a base understand on how to use it. The players should have some Meta of the gm world. Figuring how things work is apart of life and players enjoy figuring things out. Like zombies don't die when their heads get cut off in dnd. apologize for the rant, just got excited at how well you explained fudging the roles because some of my friends want to gm but I have been reluctant to tell that I fudge my roles for I didn't know how to tell them how to balance it. Now I can guide them to this video to explain it!!

[@HowtobeaGreatGM]

No ranting there - just excellent examples. I really like your comment about what is good for the PC's is good for the NPC's too! Glad you found the video useful, and I hope your new GM will too.

[@Frederic_S]

Still a very good video to watch. I love it.

[@OpposingReflection]

I've always felt the Rules are like guidelines instead of an absolute. One of my characters I just created is a sorcerer. However due to, in world lore reasons, I can also wield a longsword. The focus should, as you say, be balanced and for me fun for myself the player and the DM. I've often, as DM, had to make up things in the moment due to I thought it'd be fun. Fortunately my players are friends I've known for ages. So I tend to know the boundaries I can push to achieve both their and my amount of fun achieved in game. Also it can help in narrative situations. The rules are great but even rules can be improved upon depending on situations. :)

[@AlexBrowningPX]

This is exactly the video I was looking for today.

[@HollyBusker]

A bit of a late comment, but heard the last part, about having always players that will hate your dm style, and it cheered me up. Recently in one of my games I had a bad experience with a player that i had to kick from my table, not because they were being toxic (they were a bit of a gm browbeater, but not something that i couldn't handle), but because they wanted a different experience, to roll everything, even every interaction between PC, and i was not ok with that for my reasons, and the rest of the table also wasn't ok with that. They were becoming frustrated, and i was also frustrated with the situation, and had low morale because of that. I had a session 0, but that thing is not something i was expecting to happen, so it didn't cover that. Is always a bad experience to kick someone, specially for diffenence in play styles. Hoping to have a blast with the rest of the table and some new players that i got.Thanks for those words, cheered me up a lot :D

[@TheReaverOfDarkness]

I like to decide how well the event went based on the roll. For instance, if he needs a dexterity roll of 15 or higher to grab the rope: 1.) He rolls, a 19. He grabs the rope like a boss and swings himself up to safety. 2.) He rolls a 15. He just barely grabs the rope and is hanging precariously over the ravine with one hand on the rope. He must roll again to see if he succeeds in pulling himself up, but this time he needs an 8 or higher to succeed. 3.) He rolls a 13. He fumbles the rope and ultimately loses it but grabs onto a branch jutting out of the side of the ravine. His friend can attempt to save him but it might require a high roll. 4.) He rolls an 8. He misses the rope and tumbles down but might survive if his defense and HP are high enough. 5.) He rolls a 3. He misses the rope and plummets onto a sharp rock, instantly killing him. Might have been best to avoid the rope but that's how a precarious situation might play out if I were GM.