When the GM Rolls

There are two sets of circum-
stances under which the GM should
roll for a PC and not let the player see
the results:
1. When the character wouldn’t
know for sure whether he had succeed-
ed. This is true of all rolls to gain infor-
mation, whether through skills such
as
Detect
Lies,
Interrogation,
Meteorology, and Search, advantages
like Intuition and Oracle, or supernat-
ural divinatory abilities. In this situa-
tion, the player declares that he is
using his ability and the GM rolls in
secret. On a success, the GM gives the
player true information – the lower
the roll, the better the information. On
a failure, the GM either gives no infor-
mation at all or lies (the higher the
roll, the more severe the lie), as appro-
priate.
2. When the player shouldn’t know
what’s going on. This includes most
Sense rolls, rolls to use Danger Sense,
etc. Suppose the party is walking
along a jungle trail. A jaguar is on a
limb ahead. The GM should not say,
“There’s a jaguar ahead of you. Roll to
see if you notice it.” Neither should he
say, “Everybody make a Vision roll.
Does anybody have Danger Sense?”
Either of these approaches gives too
much away. Instead, the GM should
roll for each character in secret. If any-
one succeeds, the GM can say, “You
notice a jaguar on a branch 20 yards
ahead!” If nobody succeeds . . . they’re
in for a surprise.