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From: elt@astrovax.UUCP (Ed Turner)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Fudging die rolls
Message-ID: <399@astrovax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Jul-84 10:05:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: astrovax.399
Posted: Mon Jul 16 10:05:57 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Jul-84 01:27:45 EDT
References: <207@mhuxt.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Princeton Univ. Astrophysics
Lines: 34

The opinion has been expressed that it is cheating for the DM to fudge die
rolls.  Not being an AD&D player I cannot directly comment in a sense but
assuming an AD&D DM to be perfectly analogus to a Traveller Referee (with
which I am familiar), I would strongly disagree and argue that it is poor
refereeing (or DMing) to let the dice rule when the game would be improved
by direct decisions.

My view of refereeing is that it is quite similar to entertaining; it is
the referee's responsibility to see that the players have as much *fun*
as possible.  For a sophisticated group of players this requires a
"realistic" fantasy universe in which bad things can and sometimes do go
wrong.  Thus, the requirement does not necessarily mean taking it easy on
the players.  From this perspective, die rolls are simply a tool for the
referee to use as needed.  Their primary advantage over straight referee
decisions is that they introduce an element of real randomness which is
very hard to produce without some mechanical aid (try making up a long list
of truly random numbers some time).  This insures neutrality and saves
time; refereeing would certainly be much more difficult without some sort
of random numberr generator.  Nevertheless, when a very lucky or unlucky
roll or series of rolls threatens to ruin a game, I see no reason for the
referee not to ignore or circumvent them.  More rarely a game may be
improved by some very unlikely outcome (i.e., most good adventure yarns
have at least one or a few strange coincidences or unlikely successes
buried in their plots), and again the referee's guidance can make all the
difference between a dull situationand a breath taking one.  Of course,
the more subtly the referee can intervene the better the effect; the
players should never suspect if that can be managed.

In summary, forbidding a referee (DM) to over rule die rolls is like
forbidding a stage magician from distracting the audience.  It makes
for a fairer but poorer show.

Ed Turner
astrovax!elt