Jandolar wrote:The Paladin made a serious misjudgment call and ended up doing a slide down 150' of "razor tube". When she hit the ground outside she was breathing but bleeding out at a rate of 10hp/round.
Egad. What was this, Tomb of Horrors? No "normal" dungeon should contain something that lethal, unless it is in fact an intentional "killer dungeon" like the aforementioned module.
It was in the module I was running. Something "Nightspire". I'll see if I can find it. It was not my intention to kill off that character.
AH! Just re-read that. It should have been 15' not 150' and she came out 50' above ground.
Basically I take the same approach as what Smoot said earlier. I'll make it easy for players to do stuff, if it's a good idea. Especially out of combat. If it's a really good idea I won't even roll, I'll just say it worked.
That's kinda cheating. Or, maybe it's in the spirit of 1e? I'm not sure.
But if they're in combat and the monster rolls a 20...that's gotta stand, even if it could kill them. Otherwise, you are just encouraging players not to learn from their mistakes.
Having said that, I don't generally put players in situation where they couldn't have avoided the danger, somehow. If they're in great danger, it's always either because they think it's worth the risk, or, because they are dumb.
I will cheat and fudge - judiciously- to make a cool game. I am not out to get my players, but to challenge them.
But all combat/damage rolls are open. The players need to feel fear... the PCs are not invulnerable. And sometimes they die. Whether that's a perm death or not is another matter.
@----
3rd year of GMing BFRPG on the Savea Costa. Now back to a six player table.
In my opinion, I don't think a DM needs to cheat or fudge. If you want the players to succeed at a task then either just rule that they succeeded or give them a really good bonus to the roll. But if you are going to roll, then roll and let the dice decide.
I usually let the dice fall but then fudge the outcomes. (Un)lucky hit by a vorpal sword? No worries... post-combat the party finds an animate dead scroll, just what the shortened barbarian needs. Near-wipe from orc marauders? Next wandering monster is a elvish ranger party willing to bandage up the party with poultrices and hot mint tea. That sort of thing.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)
When I ran a game for adult friends for several years I never cheated with dice rolls or even to balance things, "on principle". If they stumbled upon a something to big to handle, tough luck -- you can always run away -- and if it was very easy, congrats. This was to give the game world a feeling of "reality", and sure, sometimes it was boring and sometimes frustrating, but in the long run people got very into it and became quite careful -- as you would in reality.
Now, that I've picked up role-playing gaming with my kids, I cheat all the time, to create a good story and just have plain fun!
Playing with kids is always different than playing with adults. We all cheat with kids. I mean, I could whip there ass at chess or basketball if I wanted to ...
