For the greater good of role play is fine, except...

Heavy stuff...but it shows that there different styles of how to handle dice as part of the game. In High School, I would play with a couple people as we walked between classes. No dice what so ever, just describe your action and the DM would let of know if it worked or not. If was combat light, and more puzzle and exploration, but it was fun.

You mention, "As a DM I sometimes skip certain resolves..." So that would normally be an indicator that you've already set a precedence that you don't rely solely on dice rolls. But it sounds like, at least to the player that is complaining, that you haven't made this well-known to your players, or that you didn't foreshadow this situation well enough.

Players need to be aware not just of the rules, but how you implement the rules so no one is caught off guard. Just like in High School, we knew that dice were not going to be used. But maybe they could have added a caveat about combat; "For combat, we need to use dice, so if there is an encounter, we need to wait until lunch so we have a table to roll on."

For the greater good of role play is a fine way to DM, except...

Heavy stuff...but it shows that there different styles of how to handle dice as part of the game. In High School, I would play with a couple people as we walked between classes. No dice what so ever, just describe your action and the DM would let us know if it worked or not. It was combat light, with more puzzle and exploration, but it was fun.

You mention, "As a DM I sometimes skip certain resolves..." That would normally be an indicator that you've already set a precedence that you don't rely solely on dice rolls. But it sounds like, at least to the player that is complaining, that you haven't made this well-known to your players, or that you didn't foreshadow this situation well enough.

Players need to be aware not just of the rules, but how you implement the rules so no one is caught off guard. Just like in High School, we knew that dice were not going to be used. But maybe the DM could have added a caveat about combat; "For combat, we need to use dice, so if there is an encounter, we need to wait until lunch so we have a table to roll on."

Look at the Dungeon Master's Guide about dice rolls

There is a chapter about running the game, but it's after the chapter on magic items so most people never get that far.

In particular, there is a section called The Role of Dice. I'll quote a few pieces:

In the comments to the other answer, you call out the one player:

• picking the best possible multi-class combination and min-maxing everything
• maybe he doesn't like an enemy getting killed without resolving, because in such situation his rule-exploiting damage chains don't get to shine
• I'm not judging a play-style

Look at the Dungeon Master's Guide about dice rolls

There is a chapter in the DMG about running the game, but it's after the chapter on magic items so most people never get that far.

In particular, there is a section called "The Role of Dice". I'll quote a few pieces:

In the comments on Jorn's answer, you call out the one player:

• "picking the best possible multi-class combination and min-maxing everything"
• "maybe he doesn't like an enemy getting killed without resolving, because in such situation his rule-exploiting damage chains don't get to shine"
• "I'm not judging a play-style"

For the greater good of role play is fine, except...

Look at the Dungeon Master's Guide about dice rolls

Heavy stuff.. But it shows that there different styles of how to handle dice as part of the game. In High School, I would play with a couple people as we walked between classes. No dice what so ever, just describe your action and the DM would let of know if it worked or not. If was combat light, and more puzzle and exploration, but it was fun.

Back to sessions zero

There is always one in the crowd

For the greater good of role play is fine, except...

Look at the Dungeon Master's Guide about dice rolls

Heavy stuff...but it shows that there different styles of how to handle dice as part of the game. In High School, I would play with a couple people as we walked between classes. No dice what so ever, just describe your action and the DM would let of know if it worked or not. If was combat light, and more puzzle and exploration, but it was fun.

Back to Session Zero

There is always one in the crowd