Line #15 Main/TheGMIsACheatingBastard


1	%% This is how the quote formatting is suppose to look: One indent, then dialog, then two indents, then the source. Don't mess with it.
2	->''"The only reason a DM rolls dice is for the sound they make."''
3	-->-- '''Creator/GaryGygax'''
4
5	...but sometimes, they're ''our'' cheating bastard.
6
7	While Video Games are run by a cold, inhuman computer, TabletopGames can be more flexible because they spring from the mind of living, breathing GameMaster (who may or may not be cold and inhuman). The RandomNumberGod's power can be broken, plot-devices can appear to [[DeusExMachina save]] or [[DiabolusExMachina bedevil]] the players, encounters can suddenly [[DynamicDifficulty become harder or easier]] and, depending on whether or not the game is SeriousBusiness, in-jokes can abound. There are even specialty "Dungeon Master's MediaNotes/{{Dice}}," which are more-or-less the same... but blank on every face!
8
9	This can be a blessing if the players want to send their adventure screaming OffTheRails or eschew the usual FighterMageThief party structure for something more flavorful. A nice cheating bastard can make sure things stay fun for the newbies and maybe give the characters a little help when they've had a [[CosmicPlaything run of bad rolls.]] Unlike [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard that bastard, the computer,]] a good GM will mainly fudge the rules to preserve the vastly more important RuleOfFun and RuleOfCool.
10
11	However, this trope has a dark side.
12
13	If the nice GM takes things too far, the players' victories can seem [[{{Railroading}} preordained and hollow.]] And Pelor help you if a KillerGameMaster is a cheating bastard... you might run up against a band of omniscient orcs that fight like they were trained as Spetsnaz. A sudden AssPull might save his VillainSue, or you could miss a twenty-foot-long dragon because you FailedASpotCheck. If a particular player gets annoying, their character might get [[DroppedABridgeOnHim a Pit Fiend dropped on them.]] (Hell, the ''[[TotalPartyKill entire party]]'' may fall victim to [[RocksFallEveryoneDies falling rocks]] if the GM's feeling especially vindictive.) And remember those blank dice? A computer can't feel spite ([[AIIsACrapshoot as far as we know]]), but you may yet come to miss the RandomNumberGod.
14
15	But take heart! It can be nice to EarnYourHappyEnding, and it certainly feels good to have your characters triumph in [[GodIsEvil this GM's]] [[CrapsackWorld mad world.]] It can often be more fun to be killed by this GM than to survive the entire adventure of a GM that's ''[[MontyHaul too nice]]''. And always remember, the GM's word may be absolute ''in'' the game, but kicking a ''excessively'' jerkassish GM out is ''not'' unheard of.
16
17
18	!!In-universe Examples:
19
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* In ''Manga/YuGiOh'' and its ''Anime/YuGiOhFirstAnimeSeries'' adaptation, Yami Bakura is this for his Monster World tabletop board game. As Game Master he initially cheats at his dice rolls to continue giving himself super criticals, until Yami Yugi counters with his own dice cheating and forces Bakura to implement a rule that forbade both of them from spinning the dice. However Bakura still manages to cheat, by using specially prepared dice with souls trapped in them. However, he then gets thwarted by the good Bakura who steals the dice and makes them roll the worst possible combination. His final act is to seal a part of his own soul into a pair of dice in an attempt to kill Yugi and his friends, but the good Bakura uses his own soul to possess said dice and destroy them, finally defeating Yami Bakura.
24	* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' has two examples.
25	** [[spoiler:Akihiko Kayaba, who became a KillerGameMaster when he trapped all the players in SAO, had their avatars permanently deleted on death, and also killed players who died in-game in the real world. He appears in-game as Knights of the Blood Oath guildmaster Heathcliff, using his administrative privileges to keep himself alive long enough to be the eventual [[TheStarscream traitorous]] FinalBoss. Subverted in his last duel with Kirito, though, when he did away with his GM advantages (he was good even without help from the system) and [[GracefulLoser accepted his defeat with elegance.]]]]
26	** [[spoiler:Nobuyuki Sugou, a CorruptCorporateExecutive who traps the minds of many SAO players after that game is cleared for MindControl experiments and is GM of Alfheim Online. When Kirito reunites with Asuna, he uses his GM privileges to use an unreleased, overpowered spell to bind them and modify Kirito's pain absorbers while torturing him. He is ultimately defeated when Kayaba's virtual ghost allows Kirito to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use his administrative privileges and pull this trope on Sugou.]]]]
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Blogs]]
30	* In ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG'', it's implied that Mr. Welsh deals with these and that many of the rules are so that Mr. Welsh doesn't wreck their games.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Fan Works]]
34	* Played for laughs in the ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook'' installment ''Love is a Mystery'', when the teachers run a session of ''Gatehouses and Ghouls''. [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Varric]], who is the game master, is teasingly accused of (very lightly) cheating to make the game a bit easier for Bethany's character. He doesn't deny it, but no one really minds it either.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
38	* ''Film/TheGamers'':
39	** Nimble is basically able to change the rules of the game at will. His antics include {{Back Stab}}bing a powerful enemy with a ballista, and {{Retcon}}ning his own death ''three times''.
40	--->'''Nimble:''' Did I say walk down the corridor? I meant sneak down the corridor.\
41	'''Nimble:''' Did I say sneak down the corridor? ...I crawl down the corridor. Inch by inch. Looking for traps.\
42	'''Nimble:''' ''[to Rogar, the party tank]'' OK, actually, you go first.
43	** Meanwhile, Newmoon isn't allowed to use basic race features or shoot the badguy before he stops jabbering.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
47	* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' has [[spoiler:Masamune Dan]]. While [[spoiler:his son Kuroto]] had an unfair {{GMPC}}, [[spoiler:Masamune]] has both the PurposelyOverpowered InfinityPlusOneSword and [[spoiler:the ability to pause time]], but anytime the heroes try to even the playing field, he'll try and undo it. Use energy items against him? He'll take them all for himself. Break his [[TransformationTrinket gashat]]? [[spoiler:He'll literally reset time.]] Summon and defeat the FinalBoss to end the game? [[spoiler:He'll fuse with it.]] Notably, when he's forced to play fair, [[UnskilledButStrong he's not very good]] and [[VillainousBreakdown starts breaking down over it]].
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Podcasts]]
51	* In ''Podcast/FindUsAlive'', Klein fudges her rolls to keep Love's wolf companion [[ShoutOut Balto]] alive during the group's game of Outer Kingdoms. When forced to reveal the number she ''actually'' rolled, it's a killing blow to Balto.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Roleplay]]
55	* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'':
56	** Due to the meta nature of the game, the fact that this is one of its founding tropes is lampshaded every once in a while by characters. The best part is that its revealed in-universe that some of the characters are aware of their own fictionality, even ''after'' the point in the second main game when the game master is pulled into the game and a good number of the players decide to get revenge.
57	** And then amped up when SelfDemonstrating/DocScratch kills twinbuilder (the [=GM=] at the time) and takes over the game temporarily, abusing his [=GM=] powers, even up to the point where he becomes a boss.[[note]] That doesn't keep the players from [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] him though. [[/note]]
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
61	* The rules of the parody RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Hol}}'' explicitly state that the "[=HoLmeister=]" is allowed to cheat whenever he wants to. Period.
62	* This is also the case with ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'', to the point that GM Fiat is a listed equipment type.
63	* Actively encouraged in ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' during the opening segment of House on Gryphon Hill. If the players haven't played the original Ravenloft, they are put up against Strahd. The DM is encouraged to do whatever it takes to kill the players, including summoning banshees and fudging dice rolls. [[DreamIntro And then they wake up]]
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Video Games]]
67	* In ''VideoGame/CrossCode'', [[spoiler:Gautham]] is this. He appears in the game as [[spoiler: the Blue Avatar]] and uses his world-editing privileges to give some enemies unbeatable amounts of HP. His avatar can also fly.
68	* In ''VideoGame/{{Inscryption}}'', the GM will fill his entire side of the field with powerful bears if you are beating a boss too easily on the first try, since he expects you to lose at least once to each boss. While difficult, it is still possible to defeat all of these bears, which will cause the game to continue as usual [[DeathGlare apart from the GM having glowing red eyes for the rest of the run]]. Amusingly enough this is the ''only'' time he cheats; even his FinalBoss getting utterly invalidated by mechanics he didn't consider in especially stupid manners is something he allows despite his annoyance.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Web Animation]]
72	* ''WebAnimation/PuffinForest'': Discussed in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRIr4-oYj1A Should The GM Cheat in D&D?]]". The conclusion he came to is that it shouldn't be used to [[{{Railroading}} invalidate player choices]], and if used at all it should be used consistently.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Web Comics]]
76	* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' references this [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/37.html here]]. (The characters are in a DeepImmersionGaming situation, so it makes sense in that context.)
77	* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' explores this relatively frequently, sarcastically (how else would they do things?) suggesting ''supreme'' vindictiveness on the part of those [=GM=]s. How? [[AWizardDidIt Magic.]] [[MagicAIsMagicA Magic doesn't work like that?]] ''' ''MAGIC'' '''.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Web Videos]]
81	* The infamous [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=9Kgx2b1sIRs "Dungeons and Dragons" sketch]] by The Dead Alewives (you know, "I'm attacking the darkness") has the Dungeon Master eventually reveal that he fudged a roll [[PetTheDog to avoid killing a character]] whose player showed admirable gumption.
82	* In ''WebVideo/SpoonysCampaign'', during one battle where Skitch's character Garret is downed and fails a death saving throw, [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] fudges it in order to make up for an unexplained AC penalty that came up (and was apparently a glitch in the character builder program). Or at least he tried, but Skitch was kind of spacing out and missed what was happening, causing Spoony to rescind his charity.
83	* In the ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'' episode "Botchamania", Spoony describes a game where the players were suffering from a streak of bad luck and he ''tried'' to help them out by giving them more Saving Throws than they should have rightly gotten under the circumstances. Unfortunately, their luck was so unbelievably bad that they kept rolling {{Critical Failure}}s, meaning Spoony's charity was just giving them more opportunities to screw up.
84	* ''XP to Level 3'' discussed this in his [[https://youtu.be/ml6n_LDCEj4?t=772 homebrew rules that he uses]]. While he largely discourages cheating or fudging dice rolls, he openly admits that he runs by the RuleOfCool; XP argues that if something sufficiently impresses the DM, or if the player is willing to make a HeroicSacrifice in the name of doing something, the DM should allow it. The example that he uses is a Paladin trying to save a party member from death, and the Paladin bargaining with XP (as the DM) to sacrifice some of his Paladin levels to do it. While there's no mechanic that says the Paladin can do such a thing, XP allowed it to happen.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Western Animation]]
88	* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "D&DD", we see Dexter as a KillerGameMaster, cheating at dice rolls and throwing badly unbalanced encounters at his party for the express intent of "winning". He is then contrasted with Dee Dee, who instead runs the game with the goal of providing an engaging and empowering experience for everyone, and even [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman designing encounters so that every member can contribute]]. Dexter naturally resents the fact that his friends prefer Dee Dee's playstyle over his.

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