When you’re DM, don’t let the dice always be the boss.

Most of the DMs I know will employ what is often referred to as ‘DM fudge’ during their games. So what is ‘DM fudge’? Well, it’s when a DM decides to ignore or overwrite certain aspects of the game, like the the rules, stats or dice rolls, usually to avoid making things too difficult for the party. A DM might change the amount of damage a monster is going to inflict, for example, to avoid killing a player. It’s as important a part of DMing as your maps, your handouts and your funny voices, in my opinion.

No one likes a rules fiend. Ok, so we do need to understand the rules and having help to communicate this across the table can be useful. And rules are great; rules make sure no one does anything too stupid. In theory at least. Or if they do, they pay for it. FAFO friends!

But when you’re the DM you don’t follow the rules – the rules follow you. Did that sound cute? I’m low key proud of it.

So when should you fudge? This can be tricky, especially if you’re new to DMing.

Well, fudging to avoid a TPK is always acceptable (but remember that sometimes it’s ok for the whole party to die, if their characters are all arseholes). And perhaps your players need to find out a certain piece of information to avoid the narrative completely stalling but they just keep rolling really badly when they try and get their hands on the crucial letter. In this case, maybe they need to coincidentally meet someone who happens to be a brilliant lockpicker and needs to earn 5 gold quickly.

It’s also perfectly fine to buff (or un-buff) monsters, when the party needs to be challenged a bit more or a bit less. And you can do this on the fly too – don’t worry about changing some stats mid-combat if you need to.

Of course actions need to have consequences, and a DM should never try to stray too far from the plan or from what’s fair in the rules. With great fudging power comes great fudging responsibility.

But just remember that as DM, it’s part of your role to make sure the game runs well and is fun (and that includes being fun for the DM too). It’s a just game, folks. Play to enjoy!