Dungeon Masters: Impartial Judge or Storyteller

Frighteningly Accurate Portrayal of Me cir. 1983

I'll be honest, I'm confused.

On the one hand, I want to be completely fair with my players and show that there is no under-handed, double dealing going on and at the same time I want to engage them in a good story. So I'm torn.

I know there are a lot of DMs out there with the "Let the chips fall where they may" attitude and choose to have all rolls of the dice out in the open. This shows the player that there is no cheating and no fudging going on and that its completely up to the dice gods to determine their fate. And part of me agrees with that. I think the dice are there for a reason and its complete chance when things go well or poorly for a party. Who am I to go against the Mighty 20-sided Die in the Sky?

But there is a down side to that as well. While dice are random generators, we all know that hot and cold streaks exist and we've all been on both sides of those streaks. What happens when the party is on a collective cold streak and the DM can't miss if he tries? I'll tell you what happens ladies and gentlemen...TPK. Well no, not all of the time of course, but it is certainly not good for the party and certainly not fun either. So what is a DM to do? Change dice? Call the game early? Continue on and possible subject the party to humiliation and ignominious defeat?

None of that makes for a necessarily fun story. So here lies the alternative; Storytelling. I'm as guilty as any other DM of fudging dice rolls. I'll admit it. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, and I've done that. But at the same time, I don't feel bad for having done it, and I will probably do it again because, while I think the DM should be impartial, it is also his job...nay, his RESPONSIBILITY...to provide the party with an entertaining story.

"But Brian," you scream "Whats the point of rolling dice if you're just going to make up a number anyways?" Ah, excellent point, 5 points to Gryffindor! That's where my desire to give my party a fun time clashed with my need to be impartial. I would, in the past, alter hits and misses and even damage on occasion to advance the story. If a party was doing very poorly due to bad rolls or just bad luck, then I would ease back on the damage they were sustaining. This would help balance out their poor luck and continue the story where it could have easily gone completely sideways and ended in a TPK. And I have also swayed the other direction as well; dealing additional hits and damage if the party was wading through encounters too easily. This would ratchet up the tension and give them the indication that there is a real threat. 

But that's the rub, once you start swaying the rolls, when do you stop? If the party is wading through the encounters too easily, shouldn't you increase the difficulty or number or creatures to balance it out? Sure, but that may be difficult to do in the middle of an adventure and could derail the flow of the game. If the party is having bad luck, isn't that just the way things go? Can't have it your way all the time! True, but haven't we all had those nights where we were so frustrated with our rolling that we've taken a lighter to a d20 in front of all the other dice make an example out of it? 

Is that just me? ::crickets::

Anyways...forgot that last part.

Sure, we've all had those nights. It sure doesn't feel good, or fun, when your 15th level barbarian skips to the front of the buffet line in Valhalla because gravity is heavier on one side of your d12.

So there is the dilemma, do you let the dice rule the game for good or ill, or do you keep your rolls hidden so you can nudge the story along? Are you a judge or a storyteller?