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Here are some stories from behind the Dungeon Master's Screen. Be sure to check out Pen and Paper Portal for all of your nerdy needs. 

Loaded Dice- D&D Die Rolling

The boys over at GnomeStew have posted another interesting article, this time on the topic of fudging die rolls as a DM. This made me wonder on the ethics of doing this, as I can admit that I change the outcome of die rolls as a DM from time to time. In the second Penny-Arcade podcast, Gabe, who is new to D&D and the tabletop experience, asks why the Dungeon Master is rolling dice behind a screen. Tycho explains that it is so they don’t know what is going on, to which Gabe replies defensively “well how do we know he isn’t cheating back there?” They all explain to him, as if he were a child, that sometimes DMs cheat on rolls for the benefit of the players as much as they may do it to harm them.

However, the main question I need to ask is whether or not fudging die rolls makes D&D or any other Pen and Paper game less of a game. In a way, I believe it does.

There are plenty of arguments for it, as GnomeStew’s Walt Ciechanowski explains:

In my experience, fudging usually pops up when a PC’s life is threatened. Some players really identify with their characters and the GM doesn’t wish to risk the loss of the player’s emotional investment. In other instances, the GM may have pinned major plot elements to the PC and doesn’t want to lose them. And, in far too many cases, a heroic PC destined for greatness just died like a punk because of botched roll.

In another common scenario, the GM may fudge because an NPC is about to be cut down before her spotlight moment, or because a large portion of the plot is about to be derailed by an astute observation or chance “impossible” skill check made by a player.

I can’t really argue with the idea that lying about the occasional roll can help a campaign. It really isn’t any different from deciding that the dungeon’s boss has too many hitpoints and should be nerfed mid battle, or deciding that you’re not going to make the party roll attacks to run around killing a bunch of skeleton minions. The difference between PnP games and the average video game is that death is more than just a temporary set back. Players spend a while customizing characters, creating back stories, interacting with PCs and NPCs, and becoming the character they create. On the one hand, players should be rewarded for a fantastic roll or punished for a dumb mistake, but on the other you don’t want a character to derail a campaign because of either of those, right?

Once again I am torn, because I can’t decide if that is grounds for fudging die rolls or an even better reason to let them die - to make the experience all the more real.

The commenters on GS generally agree that a DM that will lie about a die roll can save a campaign by protecting an important NPC (or PC for that matter), but it is becoming tempting for me to stop altogether for that reason. While a character that the story may rely on might drop, changing my original plans, who is to say that I shouldn’t have to adapt like the players would? If I am cheating on my rolls, for better or worse, does that make me the same as a player who lies about rolling a Natural 20? I don’t know if I have the guts to find out.

4th Edition Character Sheets Are Awful

When I first took a look at the character sheets that Wizards of the Coast put in the Players Handbook I was confused as to what went where, and how it all came together once the game started. Friends talked me away from my confusion, assuring me that the sheets would surely be sufficient, and my reluctance was tied to a sort of nostalgia for the character sheets I had been using for the past few years. Now it has been a few weeks, I have helped make nearly a dozen characters using them, and I can say that I really think that the standard character sheets suck. Horribly.

There isn’t really room for anything that players need, certain things that are on page one should be on page two, and visa versa. Powers, the most important addition to the game, is crammed into a spot so small that it is impossible to actually write down the necessary information even with random abbreviations. The “attack and damage workspace” isn’t really that useful considering most of the information that is needed should be on the “Powers” section to begin with. There isn’t much room for regular items, just magical items, and players need to find areas on their sheets to write down information that should have a section. Meanwhile, allies and organizations is given an overly large section of the sheet, which is a section that should either be small or nonexistent. Sure, it is convenient, but it isn’t necessary.

There are some alternatives, and several unofficial character sheets have begun popping up around the internet as well as the Power Cards I posted earlier in the week, but maybe I am just doing something wrong. Am I missing something, or is everyone else having as much of a problem with the new character sheets as I am?

Wired - Killjoy Cooking With the D&D Crowd

Alright, i’ll admit it, I laughed like an ass at this article that Wired posted a few days ago. Writer Lore Sjöberg (who is so going to become a major NPC in my campaign) pondered why cookbooks, and the culture that follows cooking, has more of a mainstream following than tabletop RPGs.

“…it just might have something to do with the role-playing community. If geeks talked about cookbooks the way they talk about RPG books, the results would not be pretty…”

He goes on to list different examples of comments that Pen and Paper RPG players would post on cooking blogs, with nerdlicious results. My personal favorite is below, and hit the jump for a few more.

Posted: 12:42 a.m. by Kathraxis Hey, I have a question! When you preheat the oven, can you start it before you measure out the ingredients, or do you have to do it afterward? Please answer quickly, my friends and I have been arguing about it for four hours and we’re getting pretty hungry.

Posted: 1:08 a.m. by jvmkanelly Where are the recipes for chatting with friends while cooking? Where are the recipes for conversation over the meal? When I throw a dinner party, I want it to be a PARTY. I guess the idiots who use the Better Joy Cookbook just cook and eat in stony silence, never saying a word or even looking each other in the eye.

Posted: 1:23 a.m. by LordOrcus Hey, guess what? They’re coming out with The Better Joy Book of Hors D’oeuvres. It just goes to show that the publishers are a bunch of corporate greedheads who care more about money than they do about cooking. Is it too much to ask for a single cookbook that contains all possible recipes?

Posted: 1:48 a.m. by specsheetHey, everyone. I can tell just by reading the recipe that if you prepare eggs benedict as written, the sauce will separate. My mom always said the other kids made fun of me because they were jealous of my intelligence, so I must be right. Everyone who’s saying that they followed the recipe and it came out perfect is either lying, or loves greasy separated hollandaise sauce.

Posted: 1:52 a.m. by IAmEdAs I have pointed out MANY TIMES, several of these recipes contain raisins, and I, like most people, am ALLERGIC to raisins! And before you tell me to substitute dried cranberries, I will reiterate that I am discussing the recipes AS WRITTEN. I do not appreciate your ATTACKING ME with helpful suggestions!

The full article can be found here.

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