Do you fudge?

Montague · Post by **Montague** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:02 pm

Mmmmm.... fudge.....
Err... well anyway. Do you fudge die rolls?

I don't. The campaigns I played in with a certain DM it was obvious when die rolls were being fudged. When the Magic-user is the last guy standing and those two Hobgoblins miss four rounds in a row... yeah.

For me it takes something away from the game. I know that nobody particularly likes the Total Party Kill but in my games I've taken to rolling my combat dice out in the open. It seems to add another layer of tension to the games I've run where players that might otherwise expect some DM assistance know that none is forthcoming. It also seems to get my players more pro-active and more careful about combat.

Anyone else do this?

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:11 pm

I fudge under very special circumstances, when it would result in the adventure being more interesting, or memorable... like, say, the party is on a rope bridge across a pool of acid, and the evil little kobold bastards on the other side set fire to the bridge. The lead PC starts running to get across, and the guys behind turn and flee the other way, but the rogue in the middle gets screwed, and fails his Dex check; I'll give him another one, as the bridge starts to fall, to see if he can catch the rope and swing to the other side. He fails that, too. One last chance... and if he fails, goodbye.

Sometimes the situation is so against the party it doesn't feel "fair" to just hose them, and other times, its just because they've had a string of very crappy rolls... but in the end, I want the players to have enjoyed dying. If that takes a little saving graces now and then, oh well.

Harry Joy · Post by **Harry Joy** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:20 pm

serleran wrote:
... I want the players to have enjoyed dying. If that takes a little saving graces now and then, oh well.

Excellent way of putting it. I don't mind character death, as long as the death is epic or heroic. I've had a DM put a character of mine back into play, so to speak, through a gracious resurrection, because my fighter had died an excruciatingly pointless death, bad rolls and bad luck. Just so I could go and kill him again at the next opportunity, but with more grandeur the second time.

Orpheus · Post by **Orpheus** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:21 pm

I'm with Ser. I fudge sometimes and other times I don't. It just depends on the situation and if I think that a really crappy roll will kill the story or destroy the entire evening for everyone. We're all there to have fun so I don't mind doing it. I still let them fail a good bit of the time when they actually do. If I happened to underestimate the power of the bad guys versus the PC's then I'll make a couple of fudges there definitely. I haven't had a campaing go on for a while in years, but as the campaign goes on I fudge less since everyone is getting a little more powerful and accustomed to the rules and nuances of the game.

Jyrdan Fairblade · Post by **Jyrdan Fairblade** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:26 pm

I fudge from time to time. If it's been a few rounds since either side in combat has scored a hit, then I'll "nudge" the dice. I'll admit that I'm a bit of a softy, too.

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:44 pm

I fudge die rolls when neccessary. If it is to hold up a story and make the overall gaming experience better, then I fudge when needed. I do what it takes to make sure the players (and myself) are as happy and having as much fun as possible.

-O
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:54 pm

98% of the time no, I roll in the open and le the dice fall where they may.

That said, for 1st and 2nd level characters, I *might* occasionally fudge. Heck, a black cat sneak attack could demolish an injured first level party.

shane · Post by **shane** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:58 pm

Oh yeah, fer sure. I try to mold events to suit the needs of the story.
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mordrene · Post by **mordrene** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:00 pm

I rarely fudge but its up to what the characters are doing. If they deside to split up and do generally stoopid stuff, i will fudge stats of monsters to make the encounter more difficult and fudge for the monsters. However, once a group is working together and I am running a group that really gets the working together concept, i will help them out for the sake of the story.

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:01 pm

Also.

Damn this thread for making me crave fudge.

Coleston the Cavalier · Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:05 pm

serleran wrote:
but in the end, I want the players to have enjoyed dying. If that takes a little saving graces now and then, oh well.

What's Inzae compared to Serl's homebrew?

Good explanation of you fudging technique.

DangerDwarf wrote:
Damn this thread for making me crave fudge.

MMMMNNN. Christmas Fudge.

Nobody makes it in my family anymore!
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Alcahaelas · Post by **Alcahaelas** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:24 pm

Omote wrote:
I fudge die rolls when neccessary. If it is to hold up a story and make the overall gaming experience better, then I fudge when needed. I do what it takes to make sure the players (and myself) are as happy and having as much fun as possible.

-O

Yep.
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Zudrak · Post by **Zudrak** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:35 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
Also.

Damn this thread for making me crave fudge.

http://www.fudgekitchens.com/

Order now! I love their vanilla fudge... Darn you guys, now I'll have to drive to Cape May soon to stock up on fudge.
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Aladar · Post by **Aladar** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:00 pm

I will fudge the die rolls when it is important to the story.

Don't forget peanutbutter fudge.
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:08 pm

Alwyn wrote:
Don't forget peanutbutter fudge.

You people are killing me.

I'm seriously craving some now. My wife will be cussing you all from the kitchen later.

Zudrak · Post by **Zudrak** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:11 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
You people are killing me.

I'm seriously craving some now. My wife will be cussing you all from the kitchen later.

Order her some fudge, too, DD. I don't know if they do this for orders via phone, but in the stores, if you order 2 pounds of fudge, you get 1 pound of salt water taffy.

My late wife and I would ALWAYS stop at the Fudge Kitchen. Mmm!
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"Galstaff, ye are in a cornfield, when a moustachioed man approaches. What say ye?"

"I shun him."

-----

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-- E. Gary Gygax

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:11 pm

White divinity fudge, with a little bit of blueberry extract. Mmm.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:50 pm

I fudge in my games, but only to help keep characters alive. They still die, but a little less often.

Like Rhuveins's Jorel would have died last night, but I have "Luck points" and Rhu decided to permanently burn a point to keep his PC alive. If I could have thought of a way to fudge things to keep him from dying I would have done so, but I wasn't creative enough last night, so the safety net of Luck Points served its purpose. Rhuvein gets to keep playing a character he likes.

Sometimes I fudge to keep monsters alive. Like if a battle was "too" easy I might decide to keep it alive just to make the fight more intense of an experience. I rarely have ever done this though. The vast majority of fights manage to do fine without any fudging on my part.

As for real fudge, my wife makes awesome home made fudge. Considering how expensive it is to make at home I can understand why its so high priced in stores.
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:56 pm

serleran wrote:
White divinity fudge, with a little bit of blueberry extract. Mmm.

Mmmm......divinity.

I think I'm gonna have one of my officers buy me some pecan rolls at work tonight now.

Post by **Breakdaddy** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:06 pm

serleran wrote:
I fudge under very special circumstances, when it would result in the adventure being more interesting, or memorable... like, say, the party is on a rope bridge across a pool of acid, and the evil little kobold bastards on the other side set fire to the bridge. The lead PC starts running to get across, and the guys behind turn and flee the other way, but the rogue in the middle gets screwed, and fails his Dex check; I'll give him another one, as the bridge starts to fall, to see if he can catch the rope and swing to the other side. He fails that, too. One last chance... and if he fails, goodbye.

Sometimes the situation is so against the party it doesn't feel "fair" to just hose them, and other times, its just because they've had a string of very crappy rolls... but in the end, I want the players to have enjoyed dying. If that takes a little saving graces now and then, oh well.

This is more or less my method when GMing.

GameOgre · Post by **GameOgre** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:09 pm

I make all my rolls as a DM or player out in the open. No Fudge for me. I have to say MANY a player has loved that about my game but also I have had more than a few crappy ends to a good nights playing due to this.

Nothing like having the party save the day and trudge back towards town with like 14 hp left added together and have them all get killed by pissant npc.

Granted they were stupid enough to taunt him even knowing what a little crap he was. I still felt a little bad for them though.
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Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:26 pm

No, not too much fudging of rolls anymore. I did so somewhat when I was first teaching my group to play.
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Coleston the Cavalier · Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:28 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
Mmmm......divinity.

I got a Master's Degree in Divinity - can't make it though.
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Montague · Post by **Montague** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:49 am

serleran wrote:
I fudge under very special circumstances, when it would result in the adventure being more interesting, or memorable... like, say, the party is on a rope bridge across a pool of acid, and the evil little kobold bastards on the other side set fire to the bridge. The lead PC starts running to get across, and the guys behind turn and flee the other way, but the rogue in the middle gets screwed, and fails his Dex check; I'll give him another one, as the bridge starts to fall, to see if he can catch the rope and swing to the other side. He fails that, too. One last chance... and if he fails, goodbye.

Sometimes the situation is so against the party it doesn't feel "fair" to just hose them, and other times, its just because they've had a string of very crappy rolls... but in the end, I want the players to have enjoyed dying. If that takes a little saving graces now and then, oh well.

If I ever fudge this is what I'll do. Also if the party is limping back home, it's the end of the session and another combat would be just "ugh" I'll "forget" to roll wandering monster encounters.

Oh and the wife made "Buckeyes" yesterday. Not exactly fudge but ooooh yum.

CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:24 am

I don't alter die results when I DM D&D3. I have a good thing going where MrsCharlie games with me and if I wasn't anything but 100% unfudged I'm afraid it would lead to ugly accusations.

I don't have to worry about it in C&C, because since about two weeks before thanksgiving I have relinquished the CK screen and now am a player.
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slimykuotoan · Post by **slimykuotoan** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:29 pm

Because I like my games to be 'real', I don't fudge die rolls, or change things for the sake of storyline, etc.

To do so would make the game boring for me, because I like the 'not knowing' element; without the excitement of chance, it's just as well I decide what will happen in my campaigns beforehand, then e-mail everyone those results without ever playing a session.

My players in the past have also appreciated this, as it's allowed them to truly feel in control of their characters.

So the worlds I create tend to be somewhat 'real', in the sense that I'm an unbiased arbitrator.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:56 pm

Montague wrote:
If I ever fudge this is what I'll do. Also if the party is limping back home, it's the end of the session and another combat would be just "ugh" I'll "forget" to roll wandering monster encounters.

Oh and the wife made "Buckeyes" yesterday. Not exactly fudge but ooooh yum.

"Buckeyes"? Are those the same ones made in Ohio with peanut butter on the inside with a chocolate shell? I actually like those better than fudge.
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