In Negative Points Mark talks about random chargen and gives some good insight into what Mark feels are strong points for that type of system. While reading this I began thinking of other randomly generated things in our games, like wandering monsters, to hit rolls and damage rolls.



As Mark pointed out, not everyone likes random chargen. I would expand that to say that some folks aren’t too happy with randomness during gameplay either. In combat, one of the main areas of randomness in a game, we have the chance that a single roll of the dice can wipe out a character that took five years of real time to develop. That’s not easy for some players to get used to, and it can be hard for GMs to be the deliverer of that kind of bad news as well.



In order to avoid what may seem like a random character death or tragic dismemberment, GMs have been known to bend the truth a bit. We look at the dice and say “You’re hit for ten points of damage” even though the dice and damage modifiers should clearly double that amount and slay the PC on the spot. I’ve argued this with other gamers in the past, and with Mark’s article I thought now would be a good time to bring it up here. What I’m talking about is the art of fudging, shaving or just plain lying about the random numbers that come up during combat or other potentially deadly events.



Everyone who has GMed has messed with the numbers at some point. Even those who proclaim they always “Let the dice fall where they may” don’t follow that creed 100% of the time. Part of the GM’s job is to bend and tweak numbers to help ensure that everyone is having fun. But, if it’s not done properly, we run the risk of upsetting our players or even being labeled cheaters or bad GMs. I’ll lead off with a short example that my regular group loves to remind me of from time to time and then we’ll get into this a bit more.



In one of my Vampire sessions some years back I brought my girlfriend to one of my games. She wanted to see what the gaming experience was about, so she sat behind the screen observing what I was doing.



In the process of running a very large, dramatic combat with a female NPC, I picked up a fist full of ten siders and rolled to hit one of the PCs. I rolled obviously well, lots of tens, eights and nines. However, I didn’t want to slay the PC then, the time wasn’t right for such an event, so without missing a beat I glanced at the dice, shook my head in disappointment and announced:



“Damn! So close! Her claws rake through your shirt, not close enough to scar you but…”



To which my girlfriend cut in with:



“If your not going to use the numbers you get why do you bother to roll the dice?”



That of course stopped the game in it’s tracks as the entire table erupted in laughter. I could only stand there, mouth hanging open, with no response to my being called on my actions.



The reasons that GMs tweak the numbers are many, but it’s the How that I want to focus on today. Whenever a GM decides that it’s time to bend the rules, tweak the numbers or, as some folks would call it, cheat, he needs to do it in a way that convinces the players he’s not actually doing anything of the kind.





One of the main tools for this is to always roll the dice away from the players eyes. No matter if your rolling damage or for a chance the PC may hear some goblins approaching, keep your GM rolls hidden. Even though you’re not going to mess with the numbers all the time, in keeping the dice hidden the players are none the wiser if/when you want to make a change to the number you rolled. Sounds very elementary I know, but if you fail to maintain an air of mystery about the dice rolls you make as a GM, you’re going to get questioned about why you suddenly are hiding the dice or modifying the numbers. This can lead to arguments and a breakdown in trust between players and GM. Neither of these is a good thing.



The other thing you need is to make sure that the expressions you use when you mess with the numbers is the same as when you don’t. I’m a very physical GM, I stand through the entire game, shouting, laughing, jumping around, whispering, waving my hands, frowning, smiling, and generally wearing myself out during the game. When I need to announce the results of a die roll I use the same facial and body expressions no matter if I messed with the numbers or not.



Even if you don’t stand up or gesture wildly during combat, we all have methods we use to deliver good and bad news. Just make sure that you stay “in character” when you deliver news based on fudged die rolls. Consistency in delivery is big in getting the players to believe your telling the truth.



There are times you know you need to tweak the dice, but you don’t know how far to go. You want to modify an encounter, but you don’t want it to be too obvious. I mean, if the giant the PCs are fighting has been handing out at least ten points of damage with every hit, it’s going to look strange if you suddenly drop it to four or five points. Just as consistency is key with your delivery, you need to maintain consistency during the encounter.



One of my tricks in this situation is to ask, just before I roll the damage dice, “How many hit points do you have left?”



I then roll the dice, put on my “Wow you are sooo lucky!” face and announce damage that is so very close to killing the PC it practically makes the player sweat, but still leaves them barely alive. The player gets the relived look of someone who just cheated death, and the rest of the party is elated that their companion survived a close call. While useful, this strategy isn’t alwasy going to work. The consistency during your encounter is the factor that can override your number tweaking.



Let’s say the PC you ask for a HP count from tells you that he only has five HP left. And let’s say the giant has been pounding the PCs for at least 15 points of damage with each hit. You can’t cut the damage to four as that will break the consistency of the encounter. This leaves you in a tough spot to try and pull off your number crunching. However, that doesn’t mean we still can’t salvage our need to mess with the dice and the outcome of the encounter.



If you use negative HP in your games (e.g. the old “negative ten equals death” in D&D) you don’t announce the damage number. Instead you tell the player that his PC is down to negative ten and he’ll be dead next round unless someone can heal or stabilize him.



If you don’t use negative HP, you can still tell the player that his PC is down and dying unless help arrives in the next round. Again, you don’t announce the damage number, just give the results of the hit and let the players react.





Those are some of the tricks I use to make the times I mess with the dice seem as natural as possible. I’m sure others have their own tricks and tools that help so feel free to share in the forums. We’ll just have to be sure our players don’t read the posts or we’ll have some explaining to do at the next game.