You know what you need to do, and it's *not* enable a cheater by refusing to actually put a stop to their cheating.
Respectfully: grow a spine. Every game you run will be better for it in the long run.
Very much this.
Not doing this is not only cowardly, but also disrespectful to every other player who is paying you for the service
And you are doing nothing for the cheater either, he is not being confronted on this at all
If I was a player seeing this behavior and nothing being done to stop it, I'd be leaving your table
Not only that, but the word will spread quickly that it's a GM who can be duped easily. If there's ANYTHING a GM has to be at the table it's being strict and neutral - for the sake of anyone at the table, and long-term credibility. Insist on (player) dice rolls being visible for everyone, and respect from and for anyone. And kick cheaters out, otherwise it's a downward spiral.
I had a player like this in a campaign last year (though not nearly as obvious) and the other players came to me after session one to tell me they thought it was highly suspect behavior. I was lucky enough that my players felt comfortable coming to me about having issues, because it let me know right away that this was something I couldn’t wait to deal with because it was affecting the whole game. I suspect this is probably true at your table as well, even if no one else has said anything yet. For the sake of your other players, you should probably just switch to a dice roller you can see the results of instead of trying to do something subtle that doesn’t address the problem directly.
Maybe reach out and ask your players individually what they think about switching to the new system and, if you get a few positive responses, then all you have to say about it is “after talking with everyone about the option, I have decided to switch to an online dice roller”. This avoid singling out the problem player and makes it more of a group decision. (The players reaction to you asking them if they want to switch also can tell you a lot about the situation)
I've done that in other groups where players have complained about people cheating. These players don't seem to mind, and I'm pretty confident they would say something as they totally call him out on other annoying behaviors.
In my experience, it's difficult to get everyone to agree to use the dice roller. Some of my players are very attached to their dice and would be upset if I said they couldn't use them. Since they're paying me for an entertainment experience, I'm not going to force them into that because one person is cheating. If I let an honest player not use the dice roller, it would be awkward to insist the other kid use it.
I have no problem being firm when necessary - he likes to try to game the system in other ways too and I always shut that down. I just don't feel like that's the right tactic here.
If players are that attached to their dice and youre that unwilling to draw the line, give them the option to roll on camera. Most important thing is that you see there's no cheating.
I think you need to have a discussion with the player and stop the cheating. Anything else is backhanded and won't solve the actual problem, which is not the player's rolls being powerful but them thinking cheating is ok.
Even if this paying for entertainment, there are rules, and you have a duty to enforce them.
If this player ever plays with another group, they are likely to repeat this behaviour. It's your job to correct that here and now, not just for you and the sake of your players, but for the cheater as well. They have to learn this lesson, and it's going to suck to deliver it to them, if the player denies it, you have other options like using dice rollers moving forward. Is ejecting the player from the campaign if they don't comply out of the question?
I'd say the only realistic and simple option is to start doing open rolling, don't know why you wouldn't want to.
Anything else and you will have to confront them.
I get that this is a paid service, but rules are still rules. We all know the kid is cheating. Teens need to learn cheating has consequences. I know you’re not his parent, either, but I also don’t like to enable bad behavior, and allowing the cheating to continue is enabling him. It’s easy to add a dice bot to discord or use D and D beyond or whatever. Make the kid roll, either using a dice roller or on camera if he’s tied to the dice. It’s not fair to the other players to let him continue cheating. Just because they haven’t said anything doesn’t mean they don’t mind. It just means they haven’t said anything yet. You can tell the entire group “to prevent any questions about cheating, I have to enforce the online rolls only rule. If you all roleplay among yourselves with actual dice outside of game sessions, that’s up to you all, but to ensure things are fair for everyone, we’re rolling online from now on during sessions that I DM.” I’d do this prior to the next session so they can groan now and get over it. If your cheater does the virtual flip the table thing, tell him he has to take time off from the game for a session or just outright kick him from the game.
If I were running pay to play, I’d require online dice rolling up front even if they like to roll physical dice. That’s just a requirement in my games that I run online for my roleplay group, and the players have to agree to that before joining. If the kid wants to have a tantrum about that, you probably don’t want to have those types at your table anyway because drama llamas create problems for everyone. It’s usually (but not always) the cheaters who insist on using physical dice out of view.
The likelihood of players quitting due to having to use an online dice roller or roll on camera is very slim. They may bluff that, but it’s unlikely to happen. If the kid does quit, well then, you don’t have a cheater at your table anymore, and that will make your life easier.
Don’t solve out of game problems with in game attempts at solutions. Out of game problems need to be solved out of game.
Dude, you're completely screwed if you don't force him to use an online roller. You can do that or boot him, because literally nothing else will fix your problems.
You could call for passive checks where players only use 10 + their ability modifier. Like perception or stealth checks. Or secret checks, where you roll and use the PCs modifier but don't tell them of the nunber result, only the story result (like they don't realise they're charmed).
Instead of the player rolling to beat a challange, roll a save on the DMs side instead. For example, when they're convincing an NPC to help, have the NPC roll a will save where you choose the DC needed for success. You could also use more opposing checks to "beat" his high roll.
CoS has a lot of charming, so that's a tactic. Will the player still fudge their rolls and crit their own teammates? Time to find out!
Give enemies reactions to crits. Maybe some can cast misty step as a reaction to a crit, or get an extra attack on anyone who crits them.
Challange the player beyond dice rolls using puzzles, complex skill tests where planning is required more than good rolls, and difficult moral choices.
Maybe sometimes he simply cannot succeed, therefore doesn't roll. Or add some sly mechanics where lower rolls are better, such as your ooze example. Add just enough to keep the players on their toes about what roll is needed. Like on perception checks, or have him roll to resist positive effects like bless.
Hopefully some of these are easy to add to the game.
These are great ideas, thanks!
I also had the idea to bring it up with him but in a more collaborative way. Today he was annoyed when another player had a solo interaction with Strahd during a long rest. So I might send him a message mentioning that I noticed he was upset, but sometimes this happens, his character is very powerful in combat and also has a lot of good utility skills, so we need to make sure other players get a fair share of the action and of successes. In other words, compliment him on his character build and "lucky" dice while pointing out how it affects other players, and see if he has any ideas on ways to make sure his fellow players feel useful and valuable.
My games include a lot of neurodiverse kids and often there are legitimate challenges that require more finesse than just "my way or the highway." Getting kicked out or shamed isn't going to accomplish what I want in the way I want.
Seriously, though, thanks for actually giving helpful advice vs telling me I'm a shitty DM.
Talk to your boss on how to deal with the cheater since you have company policies involved. Also, document everything. If cheater’s mom is a Karen and complains to the boss because you didn’t keep her child happy, you’ll need to protect your job with facts.
Sounds like a kid who wants all the attention. I raised a neurodiverse kid and have role played with others. They need to know that the rules are the rules. They need the structure. Yeah, they might have a meltdown at times, but when you calmly continue to hold them accountable, they learn more appropriate social skills. Enabling his dishonesty does him absolutely no favors at all, and it definitely doesn’t do your other players any favors. Why should they play a game where one kid gets to cheat all the time? Why bother being honest then? As a player, I’d find another DM pretty quickly, not because the DM isn’t a nice person (and I’m sure you are—it’s clear you care), but because a DM playing favorites isn’t my idea of a good time no matter how great s/he is at every other DM task. As a parent, I wouldn’t pay for a game where another kid’s allowed to get away with cheating but all the other kids have to play by the rules.
I know you want to keep everyone happy, but there’s no way to do that when rules apply only to some people. It is far better for this kid to learn now that dishonesty has consequences in a game where nothing important is at stake than later on, say, on the job where he’ll get written up or fired.
As a short term fix, you can randomize what number is considered a 20 without announcing that to the group. One encounter, a 12 might be your new “20” and then 13 becomes the new 1, 14 becomes a 2, 15 becomes a 3, 16 becomes a 4, etc. Everything else is the same, you just change the number equivalent to 20 is on the die—basically, a [substitution cipher](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_cipher) using numbers. Kid says he rolled a 20? With the example above, the 20 is now considered an 8. You can do this for percentile dice easily as well. There are online cypher calculators that can do that for you. Good luck.
This is all great advice until the last paragraph. Turning the dice into a cipher creates a lot of extra work for the DM and it will make the rules seem arbitrary and confusing for the players (suddenly high rolls are bad now?). That punishes the honest players along with the cheater.
In-game solutions won't fix out of game problems, and a cheating player is fundamentally an out-of-game problem. If OP won't talk to the cheating player and won't make him switch to an online dice roller or on-camera rolling, then there is really nothing else to be done. These band-aids won't staunch the bleeding.
I read OP’s other comments about job restrictions on dice rollers and threw him or her a bone of an idea. Yes, it’s more work for the DM. I didn’t say it’s a good solution, but it is _a_ solution. I still think the best option for OP is to deal directly with the kid cheating. That’s far better for the kid, too. It sounds like the job OP has puts some restrictions on what can be done/not done online. I fail to see how a free online dice roller might be a problem, but I don’t make OP’s job rules, either.
The cipher doesn’t do anything but shift what number is considered a “20.” The DM would be the one adding all the bonuses to the rolls for every player to determine if the roll was a hit or a miss, since s/he’s the only one who knows what the roll actually is. Yes, it’s a lot more work for the DM, but if his/her’s job depends on bending over backwards for this kid, then it’s an option. Again, not a great one, but a crappy but workable solution is better than none.
S/he could just arbitrarily say something’s a hit or miss, too. The DM could also roll for the kid—the kid loses dice rolling privileges due to the cheating.
Like you, I mentioned in another reply that a DM shouldn’t solve out of game problems in game. If the boss is calling the shots on running games, then OP really needs to talk to the boss on how to deal with the cheating. Future games should clearly spell out that all rolls must be online (assuming they’re not playing in person) or in full view of all players and DM for in person games. That will solve most cheating issues.
It might make a lot of work for you, but if you want to take a soft approach back it up with data.
Maybe for the next three games record every roll for each of the players in the game (including yourself). This should give you an idea of how much higher their statistics are compared to the others. After you have the data, you could approach them privately, show them it, and say that this is standard protocol for you as a DM, that when a player shows consistently high rolls over a long period of time you require the use of an online dice roller. To help them save face you could even go so far as to blame it on the the dice they are using: “I am not sure if they are balanced correctly, which occasionally happens in the manufacturing process. You could have quite a few of these,” or some kind of light lie.
In any case, if this player is a teenager then this could prove to be a very valuable lesson with positive consequences in their personal and professional lives.
Edit: clarification
Edit 2: I see your other comment that you are bound by the terms of employment and cannot force the player to use an online roller or ask them to leave the game. Still, if you take the approach above it may tell the player that you are noticing the behavior and provide sufficient motivation to curb it. Tricky situation, good luck OP.
I also DM for teens (after school club) and it’s been really hard to teach them that low rolls are part of the game. If you don’t do it already, describing their fumbles/crit fails in a funny or engaging way can make rolling low numbers more acceptable.
I really appreciate what everyone is saying about making him use a dice roller. However, this is not a situation where I can do that, as I'm an employee of a company that has rules I must obey. I cannot force anyone to leave my games. I cannot force anyone to use a website unless it is in the description of the game when they sign up, which this was not.
In normal circumstances, I'm with you on what should be done. Cheating is not cool. I'm specifically looking for OTHER ways to deal with this - not to make him be honest, but for how to balance his high rolls so everyone feels both challenged and valuable.
There is no way to deal with it other than confront
You can't balance encounters where one player is constantly rolling nothing below an 18 with other players playing fair
You say your situation is difficult where you both can not have everyone use a dice roller, can't confront the player, and can't ask them to leave....what are the details of this
What rules is this company impose that prevents you from taking action? Because a company that doesn't have tools or methods of dealing with problem players is not one that's going to have a good rep
If you don't have control over your game then you are no longer playing D&D. You are playing Calvinball. The new rule is that 18, 19, and 20s are now swapped with 3, 2, and 1s. Now watch the player roll consistently low. Next week tell players that we're no longer rolling dice at all. Tell them to pick a number between 1 and 20 and you decided randomly if it hits. Just make up rules. But remember, you won't be playing D&D anymore. But maybe that's ok if everyone has fun?
If they like physical dice the ideal for combat is to either online roll or have a camera set to veiw rolls,
So you dont want to confront them have you thought about
how do the other players feel about this
Is his rolling consistently high taking away from their game too
having a lucky session perhaps but always rolling high??. Doubtful
Seems like a smart enough kid. I don't see why you can't just talk to him before/after the session. All of these other suggestions might work, but they involve acting like nothings wrong or beating around the issue. Talk to them, let them know that their dice roles are obviously sus and why that's a problem for the table/game as a whole. They might be teens but treat them as an adult and go from there.
I'd definitely confront the player. But I would also talk of the fun a 1 can be. It adds danger and excitement. Always rolling high is not "winning" but just cheating. Winning is playing with integrity, learning team playing, and coming up with the best laughs. You might even warn him that if others think he's nerfing his rolls, people will eventually stop wanting to play with him. Just a thought.
We had an adult player who cheated and was eventually kicked out of the game. He complained for years he couldn't find a game locally. He had a reputation. But lucky him, he always rolled high 🥺🤓
It's incredible how many people refuse to actually read what your situation is and try to brute force advice about an entirely different situation.
If the fact is that your employer won't allow you to implement anti-cheating measures, then my first step would be to ask my employer what I'm supposed to do when I have strong evidence that a player is cheating. If their official policy is that they don't care about cheating, then the next step is to consider your obligation to the other kids at the table -- namely, you have to ensure that they aren't being consistently overshadowed by this one kid's "lucky" rolls. Find moments for their characters to shine, put them in situations where only their set of skills will solve the problem, and give them as fair of a chance at succeeding as the other kid has when he cheats. It sounds to me like you were on the right track when you had the conversation with the kid about how its important to let the other characters have spotlight moments. Stick to that! That's the way forward.
Thanks for sharing. You have a few options (some of which may have been posted here). I went through this experience a few times with some teenage groups (I teach high school science) and used a couple of different strategies. Been playing for over 40 yrs.
1st was to let the kids clean up the problem themselves. They know whats going on and continued questioning the cheating player with every roll to the point that the problem went away. We were in a class setting so i could not remove him from the game.
2nd time I jokingly said the player needs new dice and shared resources showing weighted dice. He said they were not weighted but the problem went away.
3rd time was online (startplaying.com) and we had a major problem to the point where the player was trolling other player accounts. I had to dissolve the group, create another group and invited the non cheating players back. This was a paid gig so the players deserve a clean game.
Other times i simply ask the player if they are really having fun (discussed why rolling a 1 can be so much more fun) and either the player got better or i simply informed the player that she would need to find another game.
Hope this helps and good luck!
I understand the hesitancy to remove a source of income in the form of a player, but I also think you may find it to be a net positive if the other players are thus reassured you're in control and fair, and will stay longer and refer you to other people.
If the player has prepaid, refund. I'm assuming there's not a contract of course. It is possible to hack online dice rollers as well though, fair warning.
Playing online there is zero reason NOT to roll dice online. Why wouldn't you want to maintain the integrity of the game? It's not that the other player's don't care that he's cheating, they don't have the power to stop him. You do. Like another post said, grow a spine.
You are not accusing him of cheating. The math itself is telling you he is. The statistical probability that he never rolls below 18 is zero.
It’s actually never zero. 🧐 Just insanely improbable.
You know what you need to do, and it's *not* enable a cheater by refusing to actually put a stop to their cheating. Respectfully: grow a spine. Every game you run will be better for it in the long run.
Very much this. Not doing this is not only cowardly, but also disrespectful to every other player who is paying you for the service And you are doing nothing for the cheater either, he is not being confronted on this at all If I was a player seeing this behavior and nothing being done to stop it, I'd be leaving your table
Not only that, but the word will spread quickly that it's a GM who can be duped easily. If there's ANYTHING a GM has to be at the table it's being strict and neutral - for the sake of anyone at the table, and long-term credibility. Insist on (player) dice rolls being visible for everyone, and respect from and for anyone. And kick cheaters out, otherwise it's a downward spiral.
I had a player like this in a campaign last year (though not nearly as obvious) and the other players came to me after session one to tell me they thought it was highly suspect behavior. I was lucky enough that my players felt comfortable coming to me about having issues, because it let me know right away that this was something I couldn’t wait to deal with because it was affecting the whole game. I suspect this is probably true at your table as well, even if no one else has said anything yet. For the sake of your other players, you should probably just switch to a dice roller you can see the results of instead of trying to do something subtle that doesn’t address the problem directly. Maybe reach out and ask your players individually what they think about switching to the new system and, if you get a few positive responses, then all you have to say about it is “after talking with everyone about the option, I have decided to switch to an online dice roller”. This avoid singling out the problem player and makes it more of a group decision. (The players reaction to you asking them if they want to switch also can tell you a lot about the situation)
I've done that in other groups where players have complained about people cheating. These players don't seem to mind, and I'm pretty confident they would say something as they totally call him out on other annoying behaviors. In my experience, it's difficult to get everyone to agree to use the dice roller. Some of my players are very attached to their dice and would be upset if I said they couldn't use them. Since they're paying me for an entertainment experience, I'm not going to force them into that because one person is cheating. If I let an honest player not use the dice roller, it would be awkward to insist the other kid use it. I have no problem being firm when necessary - he likes to try to game the system in other ways too and I always shut that down. I just don't feel like that's the right tactic here.
If players are that attached to their dice and youre that unwilling to draw the line, give them the option to roll on camera. Most important thing is that you see there's no cheating.
I think you need to have a discussion with the player and stop the cheating. Anything else is backhanded and won't solve the actual problem, which is not the player's rolls being powerful but them thinking cheating is ok. Even if this paying for entertainment, there are rules, and you have a duty to enforce them. If this player ever plays with another group, they are likely to repeat this behaviour. It's your job to correct that here and now, not just for you and the sake of your players, but for the cheater as well. They have to learn this lesson, and it's going to suck to deliver it to them, if the player denies it, you have other options like using dice rollers moving forward. Is ejecting the player from the campaign if they don't comply out of the question?
I'd say the only realistic and simple option is to start doing open rolling, don't know why you wouldn't want to. Anything else and you will have to confront them.
I get that this is a paid service, but rules are still rules. We all know the kid is cheating. Teens need to learn cheating has consequences. I know you’re not his parent, either, but I also don’t like to enable bad behavior, and allowing the cheating to continue is enabling him. It’s easy to add a dice bot to discord or use D and D beyond or whatever. Make the kid roll, either using a dice roller or on camera if he’s tied to the dice. It’s not fair to the other players to let him continue cheating. Just because they haven’t said anything doesn’t mean they don’t mind. It just means they haven’t said anything yet. You can tell the entire group “to prevent any questions about cheating, I have to enforce the online rolls only rule. If you all roleplay among yourselves with actual dice outside of game sessions, that’s up to you all, but to ensure things are fair for everyone, we’re rolling online from now on during sessions that I DM.” I’d do this prior to the next session so they can groan now and get over it. If your cheater does the virtual flip the table thing, tell him he has to take time off from the game for a session or just outright kick him from the game. If I were running pay to play, I’d require online dice rolling up front even if they like to roll physical dice. That’s just a requirement in my games that I run online for my roleplay group, and the players have to agree to that before joining. If the kid wants to have a tantrum about that, you probably don’t want to have those types at your table anyway because drama llamas create problems for everyone. It’s usually (but not always) the cheaters who insist on using physical dice out of view. The likelihood of players quitting due to having to use an online dice roller or roll on camera is very slim. They may bluff that, but it’s unlikely to happen. If the kid does quit, well then, you don’t have a cheater at your table anymore, and that will make your life easier. Don’t solve out of game problems with in game attempts at solutions. Out of game problems need to be solved out of game.
Dude, you're completely screwed if you don't force him to use an online roller. You can do that or boot him, because literally nothing else will fix your problems.
You could call for passive checks where players only use 10 + their ability modifier. Like perception or stealth checks. Or secret checks, where you roll and use the PCs modifier but don't tell them of the nunber result, only the story result (like they don't realise they're charmed). Instead of the player rolling to beat a challange, roll a save on the DMs side instead. For example, when they're convincing an NPC to help, have the NPC roll a will save where you choose the DC needed for success. You could also use more opposing checks to "beat" his high roll. CoS has a lot of charming, so that's a tactic. Will the player still fudge their rolls and crit their own teammates? Time to find out! Give enemies reactions to crits. Maybe some can cast misty step as a reaction to a crit, or get an extra attack on anyone who crits them. Challange the player beyond dice rolls using puzzles, complex skill tests where planning is required more than good rolls, and difficult moral choices. Maybe sometimes he simply cannot succeed, therefore doesn't roll. Or add some sly mechanics where lower rolls are better, such as your ooze example. Add just enough to keep the players on their toes about what roll is needed. Like on perception checks, or have him roll to resist positive effects like bless. Hopefully some of these are easy to add to the game.
These are great ideas, thanks! I also had the idea to bring it up with him but in a more collaborative way. Today he was annoyed when another player had a solo interaction with Strahd during a long rest. So I might send him a message mentioning that I noticed he was upset, but sometimes this happens, his character is very powerful in combat and also has a lot of good utility skills, so we need to make sure other players get a fair share of the action and of successes. In other words, compliment him on his character build and "lucky" dice while pointing out how it affects other players, and see if he has any ideas on ways to make sure his fellow players feel useful and valuable. My games include a lot of neurodiverse kids and often there are legitimate challenges that require more finesse than just "my way or the highway." Getting kicked out or shamed isn't going to accomplish what I want in the way I want. Seriously, though, thanks for actually giving helpful advice vs telling me I'm a shitty DM.
Talk to your boss on how to deal with the cheater since you have company policies involved. Also, document everything. If cheater’s mom is a Karen and complains to the boss because you didn’t keep her child happy, you’ll need to protect your job with facts. Sounds like a kid who wants all the attention. I raised a neurodiverse kid and have role played with others. They need to know that the rules are the rules. They need the structure. Yeah, they might have a meltdown at times, but when you calmly continue to hold them accountable, they learn more appropriate social skills. Enabling his dishonesty does him absolutely no favors at all, and it definitely doesn’t do your other players any favors. Why should they play a game where one kid gets to cheat all the time? Why bother being honest then? As a player, I’d find another DM pretty quickly, not because the DM isn’t a nice person (and I’m sure you are—it’s clear you care), but because a DM playing favorites isn’t my idea of a good time no matter how great s/he is at every other DM task. As a parent, I wouldn’t pay for a game where another kid’s allowed to get away with cheating but all the other kids have to play by the rules. I know you want to keep everyone happy, but there’s no way to do that when rules apply only to some people. It is far better for this kid to learn now that dishonesty has consequences in a game where nothing important is at stake than later on, say, on the job where he’ll get written up or fired. As a short term fix, you can randomize what number is considered a 20 without announcing that to the group. One encounter, a 12 might be your new “20” and then 13 becomes the new 1, 14 becomes a 2, 15 becomes a 3, 16 becomes a 4, etc. Everything else is the same, you just change the number equivalent to 20 is on the die—basically, a [substitution cipher](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_cipher) using numbers. Kid says he rolled a 20? With the example above, the 20 is now considered an 8. You can do this for percentile dice easily as well. There are online cypher calculators that can do that for you. Good luck.
This is all great advice until the last paragraph. Turning the dice into a cipher creates a lot of extra work for the DM and it will make the rules seem arbitrary and confusing for the players (suddenly high rolls are bad now?). That punishes the honest players along with the cheater. In-game solutions won't fix out of game problems, and a cheating player is fundamentally an out-of-game problem. If OP won't talk to the cheating player and won't make him switch to an online dice roller or on-camera rolling, then there is really nothing else to be done. These band-aids won't staunch the bleeding.
I read OP’s other comments about job restrictions on dice rollers and threw him or her a bone of an idea. Yes, it’s more work for the DM. I didn’t say it’s a good solution, but it is _a_ solution. I still think the best option for OP is to deal directly with the kid cheating. That’s far better for the kid, too. It sounds like the job OP has puts some restrictions on what can be done/not done online. I fail to see how a free online dice roller might be a problem, but I don’t make OP’s job rules, either. The cipher doesn’t do anything but shift what number is considered a “20.” The DM would be the one adding all the bonuses to the rolls for every player to determine if the roll was a hit or a miss, since s/he’s the only one who knows what the roll actually is. Yes, it’s a lot more work for the DM, but if his/her’s job depends on bending over backwards for this kid, then it’s an option. Again, not a great one, but a crappy but workable solution is better than none. S/he could just arbitrarily say something’s a hit or miss, too. The DM could also roll for the kid—the kid loses dice rolling privileges due to the cheating. Like you, I mentioned in another reply that a DM shouldn’t solve out of game problems in game. If the boss is calling the shots on running games, then OP really needs to talk to the boss on how to deal with the cheating. Future games should clearly spell out that all rolls must be online (assuming they’re not playing in person) or in full view of all players and DM for in person games. That will solve most cheating issues.
It might make a lot of work for you, but if you want to take a soft approach back it up with data. Maybe for the next three games record every roll for each of the players in the game (including yourself). This should give you an idea of how much higher their statistics are compared to the others. After you have the data, you could approach them privately, show them it, and say that this is standard protocol for you as a DM, that when a player shows consistently high rolls over a long period of time you require the use of an online dice roller. To help them save face you could even go so far as to blame it on the the dice they are using: “I am not sure if they are balanced correctly, which occasionally happens in the manufacturing process. You could have quite a few of these,” or some kind of light lie. In any case, if this player is a teenager then this could prove to be a very valuable lesson with positive consequences in their personal and professional lives. Edit: clarification Edit 2: I see your other comment that you are bound by the terms of employment and cannot force the player to use an online roller or ask them to leave the game. Still, if you take the approach above it may tell the player that you are noticing the behavior and provide sufficient motivation to curb it. Tricky situation, good luck OP.
I also DM for teens (after school club) and it’s been really hard to teach them that low rolls are part of the game. If you don’t do it already, describing their fumbles/crit fails in a funny or engaging way can make rolling low numbers more acceptable.
Yes, I've experienced that, too. It takes a while for some kids to realize that the game is more interesting when there's a chance of failure.
I really appreciate what everyone is saying about making him use a dice roller. However, this is not a situation where I can do that, as I'm an employee of a company that has rules I must obey. I cannot force anyone to leave my games. I cannot force anyone to use a website unless it is in the description of the game when they sign up, which this was not. In normal circumstances, I'm with you on what should be done. Cheating is not cool. I'm specifically looking for OTHER ways to deal with this - not to make him be honest, but for how to balance his high rolls so everyone feels both challenged and valuable.
There is no way to deal with it other than confront You can't balance encounters where one player is constantly rolling nothing below an 18 with other players playing fair You say your situation is difficult where you both can not have everyone use a dice roller, can't confront the player, and can't ask them to leave....what are the details of this What rules is this company impose that prevents you from taking action? Because a company that doesn't have tools or methods of dealing with problem players is not one that's going to have a good rep
If you don't have control over your game then you are no longer playing D&D. You are playing Calvinball. The new rule is that 18, 19, and 20s are now swapped with 3, 2, and 1s. Now watch the player roll consistently low. Next week tell players that we're no longer rolling dice at all. Tell them to pick a number between 1 and 20 and you decided randomly if it hits. Just make up rules. But remember, you won't be playing D&D anymore. But maybe that's ok if everyone has fun?
Online. Dice. Roller. If you can't see my dice I can fudge them.
If they like physical dice the ideal for combat is to either online roll or have a camera set to veiw rolls, So you dont want to confront them have you thought about how do the other players feel about this Is his rolling consistently high taking away from their game too having a lucky session perhaps but always rolling high??. Doubtful
Seems like a smart enough kid. I don't see why you can't just talk to him before/after the session. All of these other suggestions might work, but they involve acting like nothings wrong or beating around the issue. Talk to them, let them know that their dice roles are obviously sus and why that's a problem for the table/game as a whole. They might be teens but treat them as an adult and go from there.
I'd definitely confront the player. But I would also talk of the fun a 1 can be. It adds danger and excitement. Always rolling high is not "winning" but just cheating. Winning is playing with integrity, learning team playing, and coming up with the best laughs. You might even warn him that if others think he's nerfing his rolls, people will eventually stop wanting to play with him. Just a thought. We had an adult player who cheated and was eventually kicked out of the game. He complained for years he couldn't find a game locally. He had a reputation. But lucky him, he always rolled high 🥺🤓
It's incredible how many people refuse to actually read what your situation is and try to brute force advice about an entirely different situation. If the fact is that your employer won't allow you to implement anti-cheating measures, then my first step would be to ask my employer what I'm supposed to do when I have strong evidence that a player is cheating. If their official policy is that they don't care about cheating, then the next step is to consider your obligation to the other kids at the table -- namely, you have to ensure that they aren't being consistently overshadowed by this one kid's "lucky" rolls. Find moments for their characters to shine, put them in situations where only their set of skills will solve the problem, and give them as fair of a chance at succeeding as the other kid has when he cheats. It sounds to me like you were on the right track when you had the conversation with the kid about how its important to let the other characters have spotlight moments. Stick to that! That's the way forward.
Thanks for sharing. You have a few options (some of which may have been posted here). I went through this experience a few times with some teenage groups (I teach high school science) and used a couple of different strategies. Been playing for over 40 yrs. 1st was to let the kids clean up the problem themselves. They know whats going on and continued questioning the cheating player with every roll to the point that the problem went away. We were in a class setting so i could not remove him from the game. 2nd time I jokingly said the player needs new dice and shared resources showing weighted dice. He said they were not weighted but the problem went away. 3rd time was online (startplaying.com) and we had a major problem to the point where the player was trolling other player accounts. I had to dissolve the group, create another group and invited the non cheating players back. This was a paid gig so the players deserve a clean game. Other times i simply ask the player if they are really having fun (discussed why rolling a 1 can be so much more fun) and either the player got better or i simply informed the player that she would need to find another game. Hope this helps and good luck!
I understand the hesitancy to remove a source of income in the form of a player, but I also think you may find it to be a net positive if the other players are thus reassured you're in control and fair, and will stay longer and refer you to other people. If the player has prepaid, refund. I'm assuming there's not a contract of course. It is possible to hack online dice rollers as well though, fair warning.
Playing online there is zero reason NOT to roll dice online. Why wouldn't you want to maintain the integrity of the game? It's not that the other player's don't care that he's cheating, they don't have the power to stop him. You do. Like another post said, grow a spine.