I run my Star Trek Adventures game via Discord and Roll20. I have players from all around the world who participate. It would be really easy to require everyone use the automated Star Trek Adventures character sheets for rolling the dice… but that wouldn’t be fair or as fun for me.
Over the last couple of years I’ve gathered a large collection of Star Trek Adventures dice, with colors to reflect the different departments and the Starfleet insignia in place of the one. I got a cherry wood Wyrmwood dice tray I love to roll my dice in (as much as I love to smell it).
It would be hypocritical of me to require my players to use the automated character sheets while I use my physical dice and dice tray. Plus, my wife plays in the campaign. We share a microphone. She doesn’t have a laptop of her own she could use to interface with Roll20. So, she uses my physical dice. It wouldn’t be practical for her either to use the computerized character sheets and dice rolling.
Another member of our group, Wes, rolls physical dice. I haven’t asked if they’re specialized dice for the game or just that he prefers physically rolling. It doesn’t matter. I like to think the people I’m gaming with are mature enough to be honest however they roll.
Sometimes, in games, the players catch on before the gamemaster that one of their fold is cheating. These culprits never fail their rolls. They never get Complications. In healthy roleplaying groups, the players message the gamemaster and warn her of the potential cheater in the group. Unhealthy groups simmer until someone explodes in anger. That’s a whole other problem.
The need to always succeed might stem from experience playing video games, where every failure and setback can be lethal to the story and the character’s development. This isn’t the case with roleplaying games, where failures and setbacks open the doors to more dramatic stories and causes for introspection.
Star Trek Adventures characters are supposed to be the best they can be in their fields. However, mistakes happen. Sometimes the characters aren’t good enough. In shows like the Next Generation this could lead to an episode-long plot line of the character trying to figure out why he made the mistake and trying to prove himself to his commanders so he isn’t replaced on the crew by a competitor. In this hypothetical episode, the competitor might even taunt the worried character at the ship bar, promising to do a better job at his competitor’s post.
This makes for good drama. It offers a position for the character to fight back from. Values might be used. Fortune points might be spent. This is the type of roleplaying that could reward a player with a spotlight session and special advancement rules. However, some players will refuse to make themselves vulnerable by failure and count a twenty as a two and get two successes instead of a Complication.
In a Star Wars campaign I had an issue with a potential cheater. When it was his turn to roll, he would roll the dice four or five times before settling on a roll. He said he was warming up the dice. This made it impossible to tell when he meant to roll or if he was just waiting for a passing result before accepting the result.
I talked to this player, told him I still wanted to game with him, but the idea someone was cheating was causing stress and ruining the dynamics of the gaming group. As gamemaster, I couldn’t let that continue. I listened to the player talk about his ritual of warming up the dice and told him he could warm up the dice all he wanted… when it wasn’t his turn.
When I called on him to roll, there would be one roll on the gaming table in front of everyone. He wouldn’t pick up the dice until I got a look at the result. He agreed to these terms, and the campaign successfully continued. However, the idea someone was cheating at a roleplaying game did poison the dynamics in a way I’m not sure fully healed.
The Star Trek Adventures Gamemaster Guide discusses cheating. It advises the gamemaster, “Ultimately, you are responsible for addressing cheating in your game. Remember to be calm and ask questions instead of accusing the player. Through your guidance and mentorship, the behavior should stop in a short period of time. You are, after all, a teacher and facilitator, not a dictator.”
