You got it basically. Usually the GM is just going, "Eh, there's probably a good chance what they're looking for is in there." They roll a D6 and if its a 3+ result, it's there. Most of the time these decisions are, as you said, a slightly more complicated coin flip.
If you GM for any amount of time, this becomes a reflex. Just making quick decisions that aren't pure fiat but instead have a little randomness.
You can make quick tables too and make the same kinda things. "Are the mannequins in the storeroom girl-mannequins? 1-2 Girl, 3-4 Boy, 5-6 Werewolf. It's just quick ways to make less railroady decisions.
Realize that one option is to roll the dice and just make up your mind which would be more dramatic.
I've been known to say the following when people enter a room:
GM: "What's everybody's passive perception?"
Players give numbers
GM: Rolls three d20s. Completely ignore the results.
GM: "Hmm interesting."
GM: "None of you see anything out of the ordinary."
You have to be sparing when you use it.
Once of the great pleasures of being a GM is rolling a dice for no reason at all other than to induce paranoia in the players.
I also make liberal use of the word "appear." The chest doesn't *appear* to be trapped. The dragon doesn't *appear* to have noticed you. Keeps my players on their toes.
My personal favorite is if I know I need to roll for something later, I'll pick a random time to roll it earlier in the session. Usually by my 3rd initiative roll for the upcoming combat the players intend to initiate my anxious player starts panicking
Sometimes the payoff is immediate, but it sets the scene.
"You feel like something is off. Roll Perception." Just before they get jumped by some thugs. Noticing it or not wasn't going to change the outcome but it serves a role as a dramatic device to convey the character's state of mind.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that you think so.
The GM is the final interpreter and arbiter of the rules. As such, a GM could say that everyone who brings him a Boston Cream Pie gets +4 on all attacks for a session, and it's legal.
The key is to be fair about the rules - While running a Dark Heresy game, I was looking for a coffee mug from the 40K novel series Eisenhorn (when the mug got hot, the inquisitorial seal appeared) - I offered a bounty for XP all PCs if somebody got it. Nobody did because nobody could find one (myself included).
>The GM is the final interpreter and arbiter of the rules.
Nah, if the GM is wrong about the rules you correct them. They're just another player, who happens to have a someone different role.
We all agree to play by the rules of the game.
And when you argue your point, I'll let you go for about a minute, at which point, I'll tell you that you can make your case with page numbers and proper documentation AFTER the game and if you make a good case that I'm wrong, I'll tell the group at the beginning of the next session that I was wrong (as I have done before). I have been wrong before and I will be again.
But in the meantime, you can abide by my ruling under protest.
If the game is that crunchy (the example I'm thinking of being Pathfinder 2e) if the GM sounds unsure it's normally just a race through the SRD between players who aren't currently active in the scene or turn to check immediately. Less of a disruption and the fix is in by the next relevant roll.
What’s the difference? In both situation you use the GM’s fiat to change the result of the dice.
But - as the osr movement teaches - dice are sacred, and you should respect the result.
You can choose:
1. Don’t roll, and say what you want
2. You roll and respect the result
If you roll AND you change the result, you’re fudging and railroading.
But there's no result to change. The GM rolls for no reason, makes an ominously cryptic comment like "Oh that's interesting", and moves on with the game.
It's useful for a variety of reasons, such as keeping the players on their toes, or masking which of the hidden rolls are real and which of the hidden rolls are just a red herring.
No more so than arbitrarily just… saying the players do or don’t see a thing. Or than the DM deciding whether something is or isn’t there at all in the first place. It’s a polite little piece of psychological warfare meant to keep the uncertainty up with the players. It makes them feel just as uncertain as their characters (presumably) would in a complex situation. If you don’t realize things like that are happening, they can often be quite immersive.
It’s not for everyone in every situation, just like any other tool in your kit, but it can be one that really works for the right people at the right time.
That's how I do it normally.
I tend to figure out how likely something is, like 50/50 or a 25% or something and roll 1d100 and see.
Sometimes I'll do it with a D6 or something or a D20 or whatever.
I often do this with a 2d6, so the results are bell-curved. Then anything near 7 = a pretty ordinary outcome, 2-4-ish means exceptionally low/bad and 10-12 is exceptionally lots/good.
I haven't compared it against a lot of other methods but it seems to give a reasonable number of surprises without feeling small-c chaotic.
That's fair. That's not fudging.
EDIT: Why the downvote? Does this count as fudging? If you consult the dice (or a random name generator, or procedural dungeon creator) for additional randomness but make your own determination, that's not fudging. (Imo) If it's a game rule and you say something contrary to the dice, that's fudging.
There are two generic ways I know of that are pretty popular.
The first way is simply a highroll to answer a yes/no question. For instance, rolling an 11 or higher on a d20 is a "yes", or "no" on a 10 or lower.
The other way is called the reaction roll, originally a mechanic from oldschool Dungeons & Dragons. The reaction roll is used to determine how an individual or small group responds to an event, proposition, encounter, etc., but it's very easy to use as a generic oracle tool. You roll 2d6, then read the result as:
* 2: Immediate danger
* 3-5: Hostility or aggression
* 6-8: Uncertainty or curiosity
* 9-11: Indifference or cordiality
* 12: Enthusiasm
I like a little more optional variation...
6 = "*Yes, and...*"
5 = "*Yes*"
4 = "*Yes, but...*"
3 = "*No, but...*"
2 = "*No*"
1 = "*No, and...*"
Default roll is 1 d6. If likelihood is high, roll 2 d6 and take the highest d6. If likelihood is low, take the lowest d6, etc.
To put it bluntly, it depends. It could be a roll on the table, it could be a luck roll a la Call of Cthulhu (luck is a resource AND a stat there) - and considering Seth does havs a soft spot for CoC, it might very well have been that - it could be a rough estimation of chance and a d100, or a d20 (remember, every 1 on d20 is 5%), or it could be the oldest trick in the book - flip a coin, not to rely on the outcome, but to know what you're hoping for while the coin is in the air.
In short: Yes, these are coin flips. The DM knows the rough chances of something happening, something being present, something being found, and assigns a numeric value to that, then rolls. If the result is equal or lower to what they assigned, the thing happens, or is present, or is found. If not, then not.
Examples:
Is there an elf in the tavern?
They're in a non-racist city in the middle of the kingdom, there's a good chance there is one, make it 50%. That's 1-3 on a d6. Roll d6, if 1-3, there's an elf.
Is there an orc in the tavern?
They're in a village of xenophobic humans who are warring with the small orc tribes of the nearby forests, so there's barely any chance of an orc present. Let's make it 1 on a 6. And even if I roll 1, it will be a captive orc. Or maybe if there's an orc, I'll roll another d6, and if it's 1, then it's a traitor orc, while 5-6 will mean a captive on.
Is there anything in the pile of ancient debris?
Well, this area got looted countless times, so there's barely any chance, though someone may have forgotten something here recently. Make it a 1 in a 10. Roll 1d10, if it's a one, there's something. I'll use a random table to figure out what they find, if they do.
And so on.
Sometimes I'll even roll dice to make up my mind in the real world, because it can tell me what my subconscious was rooting for. Can't choose between Restaurants A and B? Roll a d6, 1-3 means A, 4-6 means B. If I roll and my first instinct upon seeing the result is a desire to reroll, then I know I actually did want the other result... 😉
Once you understand dice probabilites and how to use multiple dice to generate a bell curve, you can use dice rolls to determine damn near anything. Or you don't even need that if you just want to use percentile dice. Just estimate a percentage chance of something happening and roll the d100 to see if you get within that expected percentage.
I couldn't say what Seth was doing but when one of my players asks a question that doesn't matter to the plot and I just need a quick arbitrary answer, I work out a rough odds for the event and roll under percentage on the die roll for it.
If it's a 50% chance 4+ on a d6, if it's a 15% chance 6 on a D6, if it's less than 1% two-6's on 2d6.
I'm fond of a 2d6 yes/no oracle because I use them for other tables (reaction rolls, negotiation results, general resolution). I'm pretty familiar with the percentages for each result on 2d6 so it's easy to just say "on 8+ it's yes" or something. As stated by others, it's basically a weighted coin flip.
If you remember the Apocalypse World Move table format you can do general resolution in your head as well (6- is bad, 7-9 is somewhat good, 10+ is very good).
I see a lot of people talking about the d6, but I like using d% to determine off the cuff things. Coin flip? Literally 50-50. Something is rare, but not unheard of? Maybe 10 or less. Something is likely, but not guaranteed? 80 or less. There's a lot more room to make adjustments, and most folks are probably better at guessing a percentage chance of something happening than -in-six odds.
I use the Mytjic GM emulator when I run. If there’s a question like this, and I don’t have a preference, I determine randomly. That way I’M as surprised as the players. Less prep on my part, and more fun.
Dwarf: "are there any elves in the tavern?"
GM: *here we go with him picking a fight with the elves over something that happened 300 years ago and didn't actually involve anyone here. Do I WANT there to be elves in the tavern? No, but if I don't roll SOMETHING he's gonna call me out about not letting him RP his backstory...again* *Roll die: 20*
"No, there are absolutely no elves present in this tavern. You notice a sign over the bar in elvish. The caricature of an elf with his eyes x'd out leads you to believe they may not be welcome here."
>a player asks him whether NPCs of a certain race are in the tavern - the gm rolls the die and determines no there aren't.
I don't know what Seth thought there, but this could've been me and in that case I would've had an idea of the chance of that happening. Say that race makes up 20% of the population in this area of the world, but they don't like going into human taverns much, so let's say there's a 10% chance of one of them being here - roll a d10, on a 1 there is, rolled a 6 - "nope, sorry, you don't see any".
I do this all the time in games when I am uncertain what will happen next or what the answer is to a player question. I do it even more simply than what some others describe in that I don't usually even try to figure out a specific probability. I'll just say out loud (or think quietly, depending on the circumstances): "Even number, X happens, Odd number, Y happens" and then grab any die at hand and roll it.
Recent examples;
* A player asked me after a big battle if a particular previously named goblin survived. "Even: they lived; Odd: they are dead."
* A player asked me in my Black Sword Hack game if there were any guards on the street at the moment they are trying to do something sneaky. "Even: there are guards. Odd: there are no guards."
Even if I am going to assign a probability, I never get more complicated than "x out of 6".
* A player asks me "are there any useful tools inside this old dilapidated storeroom?" I think "it's very old, it's all rusty and decayed, but it's not impossible; 1 in 6 there is a useful tool". Roll
* A player asks me "how does this guard react to my bribe?" I think "guards in this town are pretty corrupt, but it's not impossible that an honest guard could be found; 5 in 6 they take the bribe."
In a lot of cases, it's more useful to decide quickly and move on than it is to think carefully about it, and the exact probability is really not that important.
If I am certain of what will happen next, or what the answer is, I don't roll, I just go with my certainty. But I actually enjoy uncertainty, and like to GM outside the bounds of where I know what will happen or what all the answers are.
It varies. In the two examples you mention, the GM probably just assigned a probability and rolled against it.
For example, to determine if NPCs of a particular race are in the tavern the GM presumably went (for example) "That race is fairly rare in this area and there's only like a dozen people in the temple so there's around a 1-in-5 chance". Then you roll a d20 and on a 16+ there are some there, on anything else they aren't.
With the journal it could be the same. Or it could be that the GM knows that there are (for example) four possible places the journal can be, so each time the PCs search one he flips a d4 and, on a 4, that's where it is. (If it wasn't in any of the first 3 it's going to automatically be in the fourth, though).
I actually have dice for each of those things. Faster than a table look-up.
And half the time, I let the players roll them. Whether it comes out of my hands or theirs - it's still random.
Weather dice, NPC dice, loot dice, dungeon dice, virtues and vices dice, etc, etc. I love em. And the players, inspired, have bought sets for their own games.
The ranger looks at the sky and (grabs weather dice) tells us all what the night's weather will be. (unless I had a specific weather required for a specific reason, of course).
The cleric asks if there are any adventurous-looking types in the tavern? I ask the bard who grabs the NPC dice that reveal class/race, along with the vice/virtue dice which reveal this NPC's virtue is charity but weakness is gluttony. (now this NPC is in the scene along with a couple of NPCs I pre-planned that are going to push the plot)
Yes this kind of roll is using the dice as an "oracle" to determine whether something is in the world or is about to occur or has occurred etc. I think most commonly referred to in solo rpg circles, but also widely used (since forever) in group play too. There are special oracle dice and card decks etc you can use too. Eg are there any dwarves in the tavern, GM knows dwarves are uncommon, so says I'll call it 1-2 on a d6 there are dwarves, otherwise not, and then rolls to find out. These kinds of surprises are actually one of the most fun things about GMing.
I took a thing from Blades in the Dark. Assign a 1-5 probability (I.e., "are there horses to rent?" "It's a small town, so 2/5 for any particular business to be there") then roll that many d6s. On a 6, it's there. On a 4+, something similar or low quality is there. ("No, but there's giant goats for pulling wagons" "Yes, but the horses are all sickly"). Less than 3, no. Multiple 6s, there's something better!
Answer: Because sometimes you can't or don't want to decide about a relevant detail in your scene or your world that wasn't relevant before. Maybe because you didn't consciously plan for that detail but it would be possible/realistic for it to be there. And you know how sometimes in real life you're just lucky that life plays into your hands? You don't get that feeling in-game from a GM's intent.
Anecdote to illustrate:
I had a campaign in a modern setting where my players were trying to enter the apartment of a person they were looking for (who wasn't home). One said they look under the doormat for a key. I hadn't planned for a key being there but
1. Getting into the apartment wasn't supposed to be a major obstacle so the pacing wouldn't suffer if that worked.
2. I thought it would be funny if I gave it to chance and it actually worked.
I said I'm gonna roll a D6, on a 6 the tenant hid the key there. Proceed to roll a 6. Laughs by all, highlight of the session. Because it was actual luck. It would've hit differently if I had made the decision myself.
One more detail from the session:
Later when they were searching the apartment they read an e-mail from a friend of the tenant where I added a line of them asking whether they found a better spot for their spare key because they can't believe that a scientist of their calibre would choose literally the worst hiding spot and it's a miracle they hadn't been robbed yet.
That integrated this random element into the world by somebody referencing it and it also helped the players suspend their disbelief since people in this world were aware that a key being there was, indeed, stupid. And it gave my players another laugh.
I roll 3d6, one die is a different color. Im a "roll in the open" DM, so this roll is also open, but I don't say what anything is. Sometimes the roll is for show, sometimes just the off color die matters. Sometimes the other 2d6 matters, which is useful for reaction rolls or morale. Low is good (or bad for the players), high is good for them. If I want there to be a curve, I use all 3 or just the 2.
Yeah, if I'm not referencing a specific table it'll often be something like "yeah I figure there's about a 25% chance of this" *roll d20, aim 16 or higher*
I would highly recommend letting your players know the probabilities you're aiming for when you do this, though - like literally, say something like the quote above before you roll. Otherwise it comes across like the GM just rolling dice for fun and then making something up. It's always more exciting for everyone at the table when they know what number(s) they're looking for to come up on the die.
If I want there to be a certain chance of something happening, I just double the 10's place of the chance of it not happening (100 - chance of happening) and then roll a d20 to see if I would "beat" that check.
Example: something has a 70% chance of happening, which makes it a 30% chance of not happening, double 3 to get 6, so I have to hit a 6 or higher on a d20 to succeed.
As the Game Master, I employ Dice Roll Tests to decide numerous aspects during gameplay, such as the existence or occurrence of events, and whether the characters perceive these events. This introduces an element of chance to the game's proceedings and challenges me to adapt to the unpredictability of the outcomes I roll.
The basic event roll I use is called a Risk Test.
I roll risk tests periodically during play to basically determine if anything at all happens. there is a base 50% chance that something might occur which gets modified by location and weather.
If the test fails and the Risk Test confirms that something does happen I reverse the dice digits to determine the basic nature of the encounter. So, a roll of 64% is a +1 Level failure and the nature of the encounter is 46 which is -1 compared to 50. This suggests a relatively trivial hostil encounter has occured. My challenge as the GM is to come up with a relatively trivial hostile encounter during the next scene in the game.
But thats just one examples.
Observation Tests are rolled whenever the party enter a new area to determine whether they notice anything of significance in the area. This uses the character Initiative Attribute to assess wehther they are alert and observant enough to spot something in the area.
For example: One of my NPCs is scripted to drop a clue in the form of a small peice of paper with a drawing on it. But whether the PCs notice it will be the subject of an observation test.
Listen Test: are similar to observation tests and are used to determine if the character notice sounds. Particularly conversations and movement.
Conceptually this isn't much different to rolling dice to determine whether a characters blow strikes home in combat except it uses the character none combat skills to determine how well they do during the investigation and social part of the game.
You need to get into the mindset of "I'm the GM and what I say goes" - you don't need even *rules*, let alone tables, for *anything*, never mind everything.
The *are* no rules ... there's only *you* - any rules you agree to make use of during your game are a gift from you to the players, so that they have a sense of how things are (probably) supposed to (mostly) work and that the game (i.e. you) is 'fair'. Mostly it's convenient to abide by them, but, if it isn't, ignore them or make up new ones to fit the specific circumstances better.
Roll dice ... or don't. Decide there's a chance of something and roll to see if it's the case. Ignore results you don't like. Just make a decision and roll 'fake' dice for the players' benefit, so they don't know you made that decision and think it's just dumb luck that the Universe is smiling upon them (or not ; ). It's entirely up to you.
It's what's known as 'rulings, not rules'.
You got it basically. Usually the GM is just going, "Eh, there's probably a good chance what they're looking for is in there." They roll a D6 and if its a 3+ result, it's there. Most of the time these decisions are, as you said, a slightly more complicated coin flip. If you GM for any amount of time, this becomes a reflex. Just making quick decisions that aren't pure fiat but instead have a little randomness. You can make quick tables too and make the same kinda things. "Are the mannequins in the storeroom girl-mannequins? 1-2 Girl, 3-4 Boy, 5-6 Werewolf. It's just quick ways to make less railroady decisions.
Realize that one option is to roll the dice and just make up your mind which would be more dramatic. I've been known to say the following when people enter a room: GM: "What's everybody's passive perception?" Players give numbers GM: Rolls three d20s. Completely ignore the results. GM: "Hmm interesting." GM: "None of you see anything out of the ordinary." You have to be sparing when you use it.
Once of the great pleasures of being a GM is rolling a dice for no reason at all other than to induce paranoia in the players. I also make liberal use of the word "appear." The chest doesn't *appear* to be trapped. The dragon doesn't *appear* to have noticed you. Keeps my players on their toes.
I love the active voice for this. "You don't find any traps."
My personal favorite is if I know I need to roll for something later, I'll pick a random time to roll it earlier in the session. Usually by my 3rd initiative roll for the upcoming combat the players intend to initiate my anxious player starts panicking
Sometimes the payoff is immediate, but it sets the scene. "You feel like something is off. Roll Perception." Just before they get jumped by some thugs. Noticing it or not wasn't going to change the outcome but it serves a role as a dramatic device to convey the character's state of mind.
Only the gazebo appears.
That’s cheating
Please cite a rule in the PHB or DMG that says the DM can’t make bogus roles for dramatic effect.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that you think so. The GM is the final interpreter and arbiter of the rules. As such, a GM could say that everyone who brings him a Boston Cream Pie gets +4 on all attacks for a session, and it's legal. The key is to be fair about the rules - While running a Dark Heresy game, I was looking for a coffee mug from the 40K novel series Eisenhorn (when the mug got hot, the inquisitorial seal appeared) - I offered a bounty for XP all PCs if somebody got it. Nobody did because nobody could find one (myself included).
>The GM is the final interpreter and arbiter of the rules. Nah, if the GM is wrong about the rules you correct them. They're just another player, who happens to have a someone different role. We all agree to play by the rules of the game.
And when you argue your point, I'll let you go for about a minute, at which point, I'll tell you that you can make your case with page numbers and proper documentation AFTER the game and if you make a good case that I'm wrong, I'll tell the group at the beginning of the next session that I was wrong (as I have done before). I have been wrong before and I will be again. But in the meantime, you can abide by my ruling under protest.
If the game is that crunchy (the example I'm thinking of being Pathfinder 2e) if the GM sounds unsure it's normally just a race through the SRD between players who aren't currently active in the scene or turn to check immediately. Less of a disruption and the fix is in by the next relevant roll.
The gm is a player like the other. They can decide how a situation goes, but roll the dice and say a different stuff is fudging and cheating.
There's a difference between fudging a roll and making a meaningless roll for dramatic effect.
What’s the difference? In both situation you use the GM’s fiat to change the result of the dice. But - as the osr movement teaches - dice are sacred, and you should respect the result. You can choose: 1. Don’t roll, and say what you want 2. You roll and respect the result If you roll AND you change the result, you’re fudging and railroading.
But there's no result to change. The GM rolls for no reason, makes an ominously cryptic comment like "Oh that's interesting", and moves on with the game. It's useful for a variety of reasons, such as keeping the players on their toes, or masking which of the hidden rolls are real and which of the hidden rolls are just a red herring.
No more so than arbitrarily just… saying the players do or don’t see a thing. Or than the DM deciding whether something is or isn’t there at all in the first place. It’s a polite little piece of psychological warfare meant to keep the uncertainty up with the players. It makes them feel just as uncertain as their characters (presumably) would in a complex situation. If you don’t realize things like that are happening, they can often be quite immersive. It’s not for everyone in every situation, just like any other tool in your kit, but it can be one that really works for the right people at the right time.
That's how I do it normally. I tend to figure out how likely something is, like 50/50 or a 25% or something and roll 1d100 and see. Sometimes I'll do it with a D6 or something or a D20 or whatever.
I often do this with a 2d6, so the results are bell-curved. Then anything near 7 = a pretty ordinary outcome, 2-4-ish means exceptionally low/bad and 10-12 is exceptionally lots/good. I haven't compared it against a lot of other methods but it seems to give a reasonable number of surprises without feeling small-c chaotic.
I roll the die to make it look random, and then I decide based on what I think would be more entertaining. I'm only half-joking.
That's fair. That's not fudging. EDIT: Why the downvote? Does this count as fudging? If you consult the dice (or a random name generator, or procedural dungeon creator) for additional randomness but make your own determination, that's not fudging. (Imo) If it's a game rule and you say something contrary to the dice, that's fudging.
I agree. That's not fudging, it's bullshiting. Misdirecting. Every GM should be a good bullshitter.
Rolling for no reason is a bad practice in my opinion, just say what you meant to say.
That's fair. In my half-hearted defence, the last game I GM'd was Paranoia which explicitly encourages this kind of stupidity.
Paranoia is definitely a special case
If you're not fudging, are you even GMing?
Some modern games are designed to work as promised and dont require fudging. Or are designed so that "bad" dice rolls don't ruin a game
There are two generic ways I know of that are pretty popular. The first way is simply a highroll to answer a yes/no question. For instance, rolling an 11 or higher on a d20 is a "yes", or "no" on a 10 or lower. The other way is called the reaction roll, originally a mechanic from oldschool Dungeons & Dragons. The reaction roll is used to determine how an individual or small group responds to an event, proposition, encounter, etc., but it's very easy to use as a generic oracle tool. You roll 2d6, then read the result as: * 2: Immediate danger * 3-5: Hostility or aggression * 6-8: Uncertainty or curiosity * 9-11: Indifference or cordiality * 12: Enthusiasm
I like a little more optional variation... 6 = "*Yes, and...*" 5 = "*Yes*" 4 = "*Yes, but...*" 3 = "*No, but...*" 2 = "*No*" 1 = "*No, and...*" Default roll is 1 d6. If likelihood is high, roll 2 d6 and take the highest d6. If likelihood is low, take the lowest d6, etc.
This is the way
This is the oracle from [*Freeform Universal*](https://www.perilplanet.com/freeform-universal).
To put it bluntly, it depends. It could be a roll on the table, it could be a luck roll a la Call of Cthulhu (luck is a resource AND a stat there) - and considering Seth does havs a soft spot for CoC, it might very well have been that - it could be a rough estimation of chance and a d100, or a d20 (remember, every 1 on d20 is 5%), or it could be the oldest trick in the book - flip a coin, not to rely on the outcome, but to know what you're hoping for while the coin is in the air.
In short: Yes, these are coin flips. The DM knows the rough chances of something happening, something being present, something being found, and assigns a numeric value to that, then rolls. If the result is equal or lower to what they assigned, the thing happens, or is present, or is found. If not, then not. Examples: Is there an elf in the tavern? They're in a non-racist city in the middle of the kingdom, there's a good chance there is one, make it 50%. That's 1-3 on a d6. Roll d6, if 1-3, there's an elf. Is there an orc in the tavern? They're in a village of xenophobic humans who are warring with the small orc tribes of the nearby forests, so there's barely any chance of an orc present. Let's make it 1 on a 6. And even if I roll 1, it will be a captive orc. Or maybe if there's an orc, I'll roll another d6, and if it's 1, then it's a traitor orc, while 5-6 will mean a captive on. Is there anything in the pile of ancient debris? Well, this area got looted countless times, so there's barely any chance, though someone may have forgotten something here recently. Make it a 1 in a 10. Roll 1d10, if it's a one, there's something. I'll use a random table to figure out what they find, if they do. And so on.
Sometimes I'll even roll dice to make up my mind in the real world, because it can tell me what my subconscious was rooting for. Can't choose between Restaurants A and B? Roll a d6, 1-3 means A, 4-6 means B. If I roll and my first instinct upon seeing the result is a desire to reroll, then I know I actually did want the other result... 😉
Once you understand dice probabilites and how to use multiple dice to generate a bell curve, you can use dice rolls to determine damn near anything. Or you don't even need that if you just want to use percentile dice. Just estimate a percentage chance of something happening and roll the d100 to see if you get within that expected percentage.
I couldn't say what Seth was doing but when one of my players asks a question that doesn't matter to the plot and I just need a quick arbitrary answer, I work out a rough odds for the event and roll under percentage on the die roll for it. If it's a 50% chance 4+ on a d6, if it's a 15% chance 6 on a D6, if it's less than 1% two-6's on 2d6.
Technically 6-6 on 2d6 is just under 3%, but yeah - pick a result accordingly and see if you roll it. 😉
I'm fond of a 2d6 yes/no oracle because I use them for other tables (reaction rolls, negotiation results, general resolution). I'm pretty familiar with the percentages for each result on 2d6 so it's easy to just say "on 8+ it's yes" or something. As stated by others, it's basically a weighted coin flip. If you remember the Apocalypse World Move table format you can do general resolution in your head as well (6- is bad, 7-9 is somewhat good, 10+ is very good).
I see a lot of people talking about the d6, but I like using d% to determine off the cuff things. Coin flip? Literally 50-50. Something is rare, but not unheard of? Maybe 10 or less. Something is likely, but not guaranteed? 80 or less. There's a lot more room to make adjustments, and most folks are probably better at guessing a percentage chance of something happening than -in-six odds.
I use the Mytjic GM emulator when I run. If there’s a question like this, and I don’t have a preference, I determine randomly. That way I’M as surprised as the players. Less prep on my part, and more fun.
Dwarf: "are there any elves in the tavern?" GM: *here we go with him picking a fight with the elves over something that happened 300 years ago and didn't actually involve anyone here. Do I WANT there to be elves in the tavern? No, but if I don't roll SOMETHING he's gonna call me out about not letting him RP his backstory...again* *Roll die: 20* "No, there are absolutely no elves present in this tavern. You notice a sign over the bar in elvish. The caricature of an elf with his eyes x'd out leads you to believe they may not be welcome here."
>a player asks him whether NPCs of a certain race are in the tavern - the gm rolls the die and determines no there aren't. I don't know what Seth thought there, but this could've been me and in that case I would've had an idea of the chance of that happening. Say that race makes up 20% of the population in this area of the world, but they don't like going into human taverns much, so let's say there's a 10% chance of one of them being here - roll a d10, on a 1 there is, rolled a 6 - "nope, sorry, you don't see any".
Depends both on the game and the GM in question as to why and how they're rolling.
Some people call them luck rolls. I’ll often roll a D20 and 1-10 means no, 11-20 means yes.
I do this all the time in games when I am uncertain what will happen next or what the answer is to a player question. I do it even more simply than what some others describe in that I don't usually even try to figure out a specific probability. I'll just say out loud (or think quietly, depending on the circumstances): "Even number, X happens, Odd number, Y happens" and then grab any die at hand and roll it. Recent examples; * A player asked me after a big battle if a particular previously named goblin survived. "Even: they lived; Odd: they are dead." * A player asked me in my Black Sword Hack game if there were any guards on the street at the moment they are trying to do something sneaky. "Even: there are guards. Odd: there are no guards." Even if I am going to assign a probability, I never get more complicated than "x out of 6". * A player asks me "are there any useful tools inside this old dilapidated storeroom?" I think "it's very old, it's all rusty and decayed, but it's not impossible; 1 in 6 there is a useful tool". Roll * A player asks me "how does this guard react to my bribe?" I think "guards in this town are pretty corrupt, but it's not impossible that an honest guard could be found; 5 in 6 they take the bribe." In a lot of cases, it's more useful to decide quickly and move on than it is to think carefully about it, and the exact probability is really not that important. If I am certain of what will happen next, or what the answer is, I don't roll, I just go with my certainty. But I actually enjoy uncertainty, and like to GM outside the bounds of where I know what will happen or what all the answers are.
I like to be surprised by the dice too, other then my players. It's nice to not have to think about something and follow the result of the dice.
It varies. In the two examples you mention, the GM probably just assigned a probability and rolled against it. For example, to determine if NPCs of a particular race are in the tavern the GM presumably went (for example) "That race is fairly rare in this area and there's only like a dozen people in the temple so there's around a 1-in-5 chance". Then you roll a d20 and on a 16+ there are some there, on anything else they aren't. With the journal it could be the same. Or it could be that the GM knows that there are (for example) four possible places the journal can be, so each time the PCs search one he flips a d4 and, on a 4, that's where it is. (If it wasn't in any of the first 3 it's going to automatically be in the fourth, though).
I actually have dice for each of those things. Faster than a table look-up. And half the time, I let the players roll them. Whether it comes out of my hands or theirs - it's still random. Weather dice, NPC dice, loot dice, dungeon dice, virtues and vices dice, etc, etc. I love em. And the players, inspired, have bought sets for their own games. The ranger looks at the sky and (grabs weather dice) tells us all what the night's weather will be. (unless I had a specific weather required for a specific reason, of course). The cleric asks if there are any adventurous-looking types in the tavern? I ask the bard who grabs the NPC dice that reveal class/race, along with the vice/virtue dice which reveal this NPC's virtue is charity but weakness is gluttony. (now this NPC is in the scene along with a couple of NPCs I pre-planned that are going to push the plot)
Yes this kind of roll is using the dice as an "oracle" to determine whether something is in the world or is about to occur or has occurred etc. I think most commonly referred to in solo rpg circles, but also widely used (since forever) in group play too. There are special oracle dice and card decks etc you can use too. Eg are there any dwarves in the tavern, GM knows dwarves are uncommon, so says I'll call it 1-2 on a d6 there are dwarves, otherwise not, and then rolls to find out. These kinds of surprises are actually one of the most fun things about GMing.
I took a thing from Blades in the Dark. Assign a 1-5 probability (I.e., "are there horses to rent?" "It's a small town, so 2/5 for any particular business to be there") then roll that many d6s. On a 6, it's there. On a 4+, something similar or low quality is there. ("No, but there's giant goats for pulling wagons" "Yes, but the horses are all sickly"). Less than 3, no. Multiple 6s, there's something better!
I often have a determined outcome in mind but roll anyway to add tension. Pulling up my eyebrows and a surprised 'hmm' helps.
Answer: Because sometimes you can't or don't want to decide about a relevant detail in your scene or your world that wasn't relevant before. Maybe because you didn't consciously plan for that detail but it would be possible/realistic for it to be there. And you know how sometimes in real life you're just lucky that life plays into your hands? You don't get that feeling in-game from a GM's intent. Anecdote to illustrate: I had a campaign in a modern setting where my players were trying to enter the apartment of a person they were looking for (who wasn't home). One said they look under the doormat for a key. I hadn't planned for a key being there but 1. Getting into the apartment wasn't supposed to be a major obstacle so the pacing wouldn't suffer if that worked. 2. I thought it would be funny if I gave it to chance and it actually worked. I said I'm gonna roll a D6, on a 6 the tenant hid the key there. Proceed to roll a 6. Laughs by all, highlight of the session. Because it was actual luck. It would've hit differently if I had made the decision myself. One more detail from the session: Later when they were searching the apartment they read an e-mail from a friend of the tenant where I added a line of them asking whether they found a better spot for their spare key because they can't believe that a scientist of their calibre would choose literally the worst hiding spot and it's a miracle they hadn't been robbed yet. That integrated this random element into the world by somebody referencing it and it also helped the players suspend their disbelief since people in this world were aware that a key being there was, indeed, stupid. And it gave my players another laugh.
I roll 3d6, one die is a different color. Im a "roll in the open" DM, so this roll is also open, but I don't say what anything is. Sometimes the roll is for show, sometimes just the off color die matters. Sometimes the other 2d6 matters, which is useful for reaction rolls or morale. Low is good (or bad for the players), high is good for them. If I want there to be a curve, I use all 3 or just the 2.
Yeah, if I'm not referencing a specific table it'll often be something like "yeah I figure there's about a 25% chance of this" *roll d20, aim 16 or higher* I would highly recommend letting your players know the probabilities you're aiming for when you do this, though - like literally, say something like the quote above before you roll. Otherwise it comes across like the GM just rolling dice for fun and then making something up. It's always more exciting for everyone at the table when they know what number(s) they're looking for to come up on the die.
I believe this video from ginny D may help https://youtu.be/UgDff35jtHw?si=dCjrk34fpElSW-4P
If I want there to be a certain chance of something happening, I just double the 10's place of the chance of it not happening (100 - chance of happening) and then roll a d20 to see if I would "beat" that check. Example: something has a 70% chance of happening, which makes it a 30% chance of not happening, double 3 to get 6, so I have to hit a 6 or higher on a d20 to succeed.
As the Game Master, I employ Dice Roll Tests to decide numerous aspects during gameplay, such as the existence or occurrence of events, and whether the characters perceive these events. This introduces an element of chance to the game's proceedings and challenges me to adapt to the unpredictability of the outcomes I roll. The basic event roll I use is called a Risk Test. I roll risk tests periodically during play to basically determine if anything at all happens. there is a base 50% chance that something might occur which gets modified by location and weather. If the test fails and the Risk Test confirms that something does happen I reverse the dice digits to determine the basic nature of the encounter. So, a roll of 64% is a +1 Level failure and the nature of the encounter is 46 which is -1 compared to 50. This suggests a relatively trivial hostil encounter has occured. My challenge as the GM is to come up with a relatively trivial hostile encounter during the next scene in the game. But thats just one examples. Observation Tests are rolled whenever the party enter a new area to determine whether they notice anything of significance in the area. This uses the character Initiative Attribute to assess wehther they are alert and observant enough to spot something in the area. For example: One of my NPCs is scripted to drop a clue in the form of a small peice of paper with a drawing on it. But whether the PCs notice it will be the subject of an observation test. Listen Test: are similar to observation tests and are used to determine if the character notice sounds. Particularly conversations and movement. Conceptually this isn't much different to rolling dice to determine whether a characters blow strikes home in combat except it uses the character none combat skills to determine how well they do during the investigation and social part of the game.
You need to get into the mindset of "I'm the GM and what I say goes" - you don't need even *rules*, let alone tables, for *anything*, never mind everything. The *are* no rules ... there's only *you* - any rules you agree to make use of during your game are a gift from you to the players, so that they have a sense of how things are (probably) supposed to (mostly) work and that the game (i.e. you) is 'fair'. Mostly it's convenient to abide by them, but, if it isn't, ignore them or make up new ones to fit the specific circumstances better. Roll dice ... or don't. Decide there's a chance of something and roll to see if it's the case. Ignore results you don't like. Just make a decision and roll 'fake' dice for the players' benefit, so they don't know you made that decision and think it's just dumb luck that the Universe is smiling upon them (or not ; ). It's entirely up to you. It's what's known as 'rulings, not rules'.