Feb 24, 2016, 2:07 PM

Though I missed most of the action, apparently there was a hot argument on reddit drummed up by a GM-type saying that he often would fudge rolls to enhance his story. I figured we could use some focused, constructive arguing here, so I wanted to bring the topic over!

When you are controlling the story, NPCs, etc, do you fudge rolls?

Obviously you cannot do it quite like you can in real life, where you roll dice behind a screen and lie about the results. But on my MUs, I will give people numbers to beat, difficulty modifiers I made up right then, and or simply tell PCs their powers failed, or the like. The goal is to enhance the story as I see it. Generally speaking, I will warn players before I do this that I am doing it. Even if I don't, it's not like I can really fudge the results of a roll I put on screen.

I've had players get pretty upset with me on and off over this. People who need to see the dice and demand I follow the rules. Alternately, I've had a good many players who get quite agitated when I put checks on their nigh limitless powers (eff off, mages! this is my reality not yours!). So, what do you all think?