DM Die rolling silhouette

[Talzar]

I'm just getting started here and I noticed something that seems like a bug. When I roll a die on the DM client, a silhouette of the die is displayed on the player client. I can think of many times that I'd want to roll a die without alerting the players.

Setup:
Running two instances of Fantasy Grounds, one DM (host), one client (player).
When I roll a die into the chat window, the a silhouette of the die is displayed in the player chat window.

Can we get this fixed, or have an option to remove the silhouette? Or is there a way to roll a die and get the results, without the players knowing?

[Nylanfs]

Just keep rolling and let the players paranoia work in your favor. :)

[dberkompas]

Hmmm, sounds like maybe an extension could be used?

I'll get to work on it.


BoomerET

[Andraax]

Roll the die onto the desktop, not the chat box.

Or roll a physical die on your desk.

[damned]

Roll the die onto the desktop, not the chat box.

Or roll a physical die on your desk.

Andraax suggestion of rolling on the desktop is currently the only way.

[Zacchaeus]

When you play on a real table top, even hiding behind a screen, the players would know fine well that you had rolled a dice. This is all part of the mystique of being a DM and also of course winding the players up. Fantasy Grounds is just emulating that sense of intrigue and building tension by showing the players a shadow dice. Use it to your advantage to get your players going; by not showing them that you are rolling a dice (possibly for no reason at all) you are robbing yourself and them of a lot of fun :)

[Trenloe]

Hmmm, sounds like maybe an extension could be used?
Nope, not with the current API.

[Trenloe]

@Talzar - as mentioned above, the FG dice rolling is designed to mimic the experience at the gaming table - with the GM rolling secret dice behind their screen, the players know this. There have been threads discussing this in the past - if it's an issue for you, drag/drop dice outside of the chat window, but you won't see the results appear in the chat window. Other options are to roll dice when you don't need to (a lot of GMs do this). Drag a couple of dice to the hotkeys along the bottom of the screen and randomly roll those during the game - it'll add some mystery. :)

[Talzar]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. For the super-secret rolls, I'll use the desktop and just transfer the value as needed. It won't come up more than a few times per session in the beginning. Here's a little more information for those who are interested. When the players explore certain areas, there will be a chance that they disturb something/someone of great power. The chance will increase over time. I don't want them to know that anything is amiss until "things happen". I want them to discover the connection themselves, so they aren't trying to trigger things on purpose, or try to avoid every bump-in-the-night.

That said, I get the idea of players knowing when the DM is rolling a die, and at times it can create a lot of excitement and fun. But there are also times when I don't want the players to be alerted, much less their characters. Using the desktop for those few rolls should work.

[Andraax]

That's why I roll periodically for no reason. If you only roll when you have a reason, you've given the players a clue. If you just roll periodically throughout every game session, the players would eventually realize that most of those rolls are nothing, so they will be surprised when it actually does something. Also, you can roll and not have the event happen for 10 or 15 minutes - so that's it's not tied directly to the die roll.

[JohnD]

Never underestimate the power of player paranoia.

[Griogre]

LOL. I also automatically roll after each encounter and during rests. Depending on the adventure the rolls may or may not matter. It does increase the tension for the players and can be useful. It's a DM style, however with this style I don't really ever have to make true Secret rolls.

Food for thought: Have you ever considered pre-rolling your "Disturb the Power" chances? If you know that in several sessions this will happen then you can prepare for the random event and make foreshadowing hints and events ect. I've had a lot of luck running these type of "pseudo-random" events. The dice still give it the random timing but since you know in advance the event is coming up you can prepare for it better for a specific session.

[Zacchaeus]

LOL. I also automatically roll after each encounter and during rests. Depending on the adventure the rolls may or may not matter. It does increase the tension for the players and can be useful. It's a DM style, however with this style I don't really ever have to make true Secret rolls.

Food for thought: Have you ever considered pre-rolling your "Disturb the Power" chances? If you know that in several sessions this will happen then you can prepare for the random event and make foreshadowing hints and events ect. I've had a lot of luck running these type of "pseudo-random" events. The dice still give it the random timing but since you know in advance the event is coming up you can prepare for it better for a specific session.

This is superb advice.

[WhtZombie]

Haha... just read through this and I love the "just roll dice at random times.." Such a simple idea that has a lot of value.. and added to my DM bag O tricks.. thanks all

[damned]

LOL. I also automatically roll after each encounter and during rests. Depending on the adventure the rolls may or may not matter. It does increase the tension for the players and can be useful. It's a DM style, however with this style I don't really ever have to make true Secret rolls.

Food for thought: Have you ever considered pre-rolling your "Disturb the Power" chances? If you know that in several sessions this will happen then you can prepare for the random event and make foreshadowing hints and events ect. I've had a lot of luck running these type of "pseudo-random" events. The dice still give it the random timing but since you know in advance the event is coming up you can prepare for it better for a specific session.

Same with your random encounters. Setup a "Random Encounter" that in some way enhances your story. Run it at a specific time - eg 2hrs20mins into the session. Encounter happens at that time regardless of whatever else is happening.
Kings Messenger comes barreling down the highway while you are in the middle of fighting off an ambush...
Kings Messenger comes barreling down the highway as you are making camp for the night...
Kings Messenger comes barreling down the highway as you are negotiating passage over the toll bridge...
The encounter can go in so many different directions now.

[Talzar]

Those are all great suggestions. I like the idea of predetermining when the "Disturb Power" event happens, as it will allow me to add some foreshadowing and flavor leading up to the event. I also like the idea of a random encounter happening at a specific time into the session, regardless of what is going on (within reason). Because we all know that the king's messenger is not going to wait until it is convenient to show up.

Thanks, I'm cooking up ideas right now.