How Do You Handle Cheating In RPG?

[Friv]

I'm mainly on Quertus' side on this one.

First thing's first - as a GM, I don't cheat. There was a time when I fudged rolls, but I've come to realize two things:

1) If I am fudging because I have made a real mistake balance-wise, it's actually better to just tell the table I made a mistake balance-wise and offer to openly modify the encounter or event rather than pretending that rolls aren't happening. Similarly, if I'm fudging because I've rolled seventeen crits in a row or something it's better to check in and say, "Guys, I am willing to revise this slightly due to sheer RNG garbage, what do you say?" Yes, that reduces the power of the players' victory, but it also means that they can trust victories when I don't do that - if they catch me cheating, all certainty is gone for every encounter.

2) In terms of 'affecting story', I already have so many widgets offscreen that manipulating events on-screen is just dirty pool. I can modify future encounters if an encounter goes ludicrously badly, or provide assistance that will help to move the plot forward in an interesting way. In most RPGs, the GM has massive authority over what's happening that the players can't see, and the players have authority only on their on-screen actions. Removing that authority because I think the game will be better is not a good plan.

As a player, if I discover the GM cheating, I'll be annoyed. I probably won't call them out on it, unless they're someone I know very well or someone I'm already about to blow up at for other reasons; I will just add it to my mental tally of "is this game fun," and either keep playing or make an excuse to not be available.

As a GM, if I discover that another player is cheating, a lot depends on how often they're cheating, whether they're cheating against me or against other players, what the context of the cheating is, what's going on in their lives, etc. If it's something that I spot once or twice, I will generally let it slide, especially if it follows a run of bad luck or is clearly something in which they were deeply invested in winning. If it's more consistent, it will go into the "am I having fun running games for this player" column, and if it's targeting other players it is a problem that needs to be addressed. If things move towards "not working", I will have a quiet talk with them. If the talk doesn't work, I will not invite them to the next game I run.

As a player, if I discover that another player is cheating, it goes a lot like the above except that I'd talk with the GM and find out what they want to do before I detonate their game with a potential confrontation.

[Koo Rehtorb]

If someone's cheating at RPGs they're obviously a deeply disturbed and possibly psychotic individual and I'd call the police.

[Quertus]

If someone's cheating at RPGs they're obviously a deeply disturbed and possibly psychotic individual and I'd call the police.

You'd get along with my old self on this issue.

Thing is, humans are broken. Cheating, feeling like you're getting away with something, is a source of fun for many people. Angry recognized this (in his years-behind-schedule big'ol dungeon articles, IIRC), I've seen it first hand, "void rangering" seems to run based on a cross between the joys of Cheating and Exploration, I can't imagine it's not an established known fact of the world to the psychological community.

So, yes, humans are broken, and should probably be exterminated & replaced by a superior species. But, "you fight with the army you have, not the army you want, or the army you will have". So, working with the broken humans we've got, what's your advice?

[Koo Rehtorb]

So, working with the broken humans we've got, what's your advice?

I mean, I just play with people who aren't crazy. Theoretically, if I had a reason to play with people who are crazy, then I suppose I'd just set up procedures that make it impossible to cheat.

[Jophiel]

So, working with the broken humans we've got, what's your advice?

Find people who enjoy playing the game without cheating and let all the cheaters join their own game and delight in all "rolling" super-mega-deluxe-crits every attack and succeeding on every DC 30 skill check.

[ErdrickOfAliaha]

So, I think the real question has been responded to sufficiently, but feel that an area if cheating has gone unnoticed with the focus on dice "as they are rolled".

Once, in a friend's game, when sessions oft went into the wee hours... Sometimes, we'd end the session leveling up, and some people would roll then, others would pack up and leave, next session those who didn't add their level last time would do so at the beginning. Fast forward about 6 levels, and I noticed that the ranger is soaking a LOT of damage. I look over at his sheet, do so quick arithmetic, and felt the need to say, "Dude, you have too many HP!" "I rolled really well, I get d10s from my PrC." "No man, you have too many HP, like 30 above max." "Oh, must've double leveled a few times..." At which point we found he also had ... Too many skill points! lol.

[16bearswutIdo]

As a DM, I'm lucky enough that I either haven't had anyone cheat in my games or haven't noticed it. If they did though, and it was obvious they weren't just doing the math wrong, I'd speak to them in private and tell them to cut the ****. If they continue, they're out.

As a player, deadpan Jim stare into the imaginary camera when I realize the fellow PC cleric has gotten a mathematically impossible roll for our level, and pray to the Gods that the DM has noticed of course he hasn't god damn it Noah quit the **** the only person you're cheating is us.

[Unavenger]

they want their character to be cool - cooler than what the rules and Arangee would make them. Here, again, my response is "shrug - who am I to judge what they find fun?".

This kinda makes me want to make a game where you basically just auto-win at whatever your character would be good at, or at least it's a case of "2+ on a d20". For the powergamer in us all!

[False God]

This kinda makes me want to make a game where you basically just auto-win at whatever your character would be good at, or at least it's a case of "2+ on a d20". For the powergamer in us all!

Would probably make a good RP-heavy system, every character is "good at 3 things" and "bad at 2 things" or something. When your good thing comes up you describe how you do it and it happens. When your bad thing comes up it means you have describe how you try and fail at it. With some kind of reward system on the basis of how creative you are.

Like, tabletop improv.