SECRET ROLLS (Remastered) - In Case You're Not Good at Lying to Your Players…
Today on the RPGBOT.Podcast, we're talking about secret rolls, the wonderful tabletop RPG mechanic where the GM rolls your dice for you and then refuses to tell you what happened. Pathfinder 2e actually built rules for this. Dungeons & Dragons 5e mostly hands the problem to the DM and quietly backs out of the room.So grab your dice, hand them to the GM, and try not to look nervous. Apparently, not knowing whether you succeeded is a feature. Show Notes Sometimes knowing what you rolled is almost as dangerous as failing the roll. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, we dig into secret rolls in tabletop RPGs and why hiding the result of a check can completely change the way players experience a game. Pathfinder 2e secret checks provide a formal system for keeping certain results hidden, while D&D 5e leaves Dungeon Masters with considerably more improvising to do. The problem starts with metagaming. A player rolls a 3 on an Insight check, gets told that an NPC seems trustworthy, and suddenly everyone at the table knows exactly how trustworthy that NPC probably isn't. Even when players try to separate player knowledge from character knowledge, ignoring a terrible die roll sitting in front of you is easier said than done. Secret dice rolls remove that information entirely. We look at how secret rolls work particularly well for knowledge checks, Perception, Insight, Deception, hiding, sneaking, and social encounters. If the player doesn't know whether they succeeded, failed, or critically failed, information from the GM becomes part of the world instead of an obvious reflection of the number on the die. Pathfinder 2e takes this idea especially seriously. The GM can make a secret check using the character's modifier, determine the degree of success, and describe only what the character knows. A successful Recall Knowledge check might reveal something useful. A critical failure might produce convincing misinformation. Either way, the player has to decide what to do without first checking the d20 for permission to believe the GM. We also talk about one of the simplest tools available to a D&D 5e DM when secret checks aren't being used: sometimes a failed Insight check doesn't need to produce false information. The NPC can simply be hard to read. That keeps a bad roll from becoming a giant flashing METAGAME HERE sign over the conversation. Secret rolls can also make exploration more interesting. Searching for traps, sneaking past enemies, or trying to determine whether something dangerous noticed you becomes considerably more tense when nobody knows exactly how successful the attempt was. And yes, some players absolutely hate this. There is something deeply comforting about seeing your own dice roll. Taking that information away requires trust between the players and GM. But when everyone buys into it, secret checks can create suspense, uncertainty, and some wonderfully uncomfortable moments where the players have to make decisions using what their characters actually know. We also wander into encounter design and homebrew campaign advice, because this is the RPGBOT.Podcast and staying completely on topic would apparently violate some kind of contractual obligation. Random tables, interesting terrain, multiple monsters, and unexpected complications can all help turn otherwise straightforward encounters into memorable tabletop RPG sessions. So whether you're running Pathfinder 2e secret rolls, experimenting with hidden D&D 5e ability checks, trying to reduce metagaming at your table, or simply looking for better Dungeon Master techniques, there is one important lesson: Sometimes the most interesting die roll is the one the players never see. Key Takeaways Secret rolls help reduce metagaming by keeping players from knowing whether their characters succeeded or failed. Pathfinder 2e has formal secret check mechanics that work especially well with Recall Knowledge, Perception, Deception, stealth, and other checks where knowing the die result could influence player behavior. D&D 5e secret rolls are less formally defined, but DMs can still use hidden checks or carefully limit the information provided after failed rolls. A failed Insight check does not always need to mean believing the opposite of the truth. Sometimes the best answer is simply that the NPC is difficult to read. Knowledge checks become more interesting when players cannot immediately judge the reliability of the information based on their die result. Critical failures can create believable misinformation, particularly in Pathfinder 2e, adding uncertainty without requiring players to intentionally ignore information they already know. Secret Perception checks can make traps, hidden creatures, exploration, and investigation considerably more suspenseful. Secret Stealth and Sneak checks create tension because players may not know whether an enemy has detected them until something actually happens. Social encounters benefit from uncertainty. Hidden Insight and Deception checks allow conversations to feel more like interactions with characters and less like comparing numbers. Secret rolls require trust. Players need confidence that the GM is applying the rules fairly when the dice are hidden. Good encounter design goes beyond monster statistics. Multiple enemies, terrain, environmental complications, and unexpected problems can make encounters far more memorable. Random tables can be excellent tools for homebrew campaign inspiration when you need locations, encounters, complications, or ideas you would not have invented on your own. Whether you're playing Dungeons & Dragons 5e or Pathfinder 2e, secret rolls can create suspense by forcing players to act on character knowledge rather than the number sitting on the die. And most importantly, when the GM rolls something behind the screen, smiles, and says, "Everything seems fine," everything is absolutely, definitely fine. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia https://ashelydm.com/ https://ashelydm.com/ Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati
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