Discussing modifiers

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

I don't like to discuss the modifiers too much with players. I like to have the option to fudge things (In their favor some times) and having players know exactly what they have to roll to do anything removes any option I have to fudge anything.

Also, people tend to be happier with rolls sometimes than the results would show. Like if people roll and get a 5, people around are like "NICE ROLL!" and they needed a 4 by modifier calculation. I just handwaive it cuz it helps the players feel good :) And everyone having fun is what it's about.

I don't do any of that stuff. My players seem to be happy, rather than disappointed, if they roll just one point above what's needed for a critical.

We probably don't need to have the fudging discussion a second time. Let's just say that there is a wide range of opinions about the practice—including the practice of fudging in favor of the PCs.

Bill Stoddard

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

GURPS has tons of modifiers! How much do you discuss these during play?

For instance, suppose a character is in an old house, and suspects there might be a secret room somewhere. Does the conversation go like this?

Player: "I want to look around and see if I can detect where there might be space for a secret room."
GM: "Do you have Architecture?"
Player: "No."
GM: "Okay, that defaults to IQ-5. What's your IQ?"
Player: "11."
GM: "That means a roll against 6 under time-pressure for about one minute of looking. But there's no pressure right now; do you want to take extra time?"
Player: "Yes, as much as I can."
GM: "Okay, you take 30 minutes for +5. That's a roll against 11." Rolls. "You don't find anything."

Or do your exchanges go more like this?

Player: "I want to look around and see if I can detect where there might be space for a secret room."
GM: Looks at his copy of the player's character sheet, finds no Architecture, finds the default IQ-5, thinks quickly scanning the entire house would take one minute, decides the situation is quiet enough to get the full bonus for extra time, rolls against 11. "You spend half an hour looking, but you don't find anything."

I wouldn't ask my players what their character's skill or attribute level is or whether they have any traits; I'd typically either look it up or expect them to tell me their combined effective skill and what modifiers they are taking into account (if any). I'd then assess situational modifiers and roll or have them roll. If they don't tell me they're taking extra time or otherwise making use of some bonus then I'd either suggest they do so or roll, depending upon the situation (if they have an effective skill of 20 already, I probably won't bother asking about additional bonuses!).

EDIT: If I'm rolling for something specific, I don't fudge. If I'm rolling for inspiration, fudging is impossible since there are no rules for what happens on each die cast (note that this may include things that typically have rules, such as gunfire, but in that case I'm likely not rolling to see if I hit but a general 'how bad is this situation' roll and then do the following...). I'll also not roll anything at all if the situation warrants it.