For a lot of players, the moment they catch you fudging dice rolls their fun will end.

Totally agree. One of my first DMs admitted to fudging in my favor after a string of bad luck - I think he wanted to encourage me, but I found it really deflating.

As a DM I roll in the open whenever practical. I think it creates good vibes at the table and keeps the game really exciting. People are afraid of killing characters but in my experience characters are a lot more resilient than some DMs give them credit for, if you pump the breaks too fast you're just robbing players of the chance to eek out a really exciting victory. Besides, death is curable in D&D, if someone is really distraught over a PC's death there's always a way to bring them back--plenty of other players will embrace the chance to roll up someone new.

/r/dndnext Thread