Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Here is a simplified version of the story contents: Here is a lighthearted take on the story contents: Explore a different perspective:
Okay, come here for a second, out of range of your DM, please. Believe it or not, there are some pretty fun ways to try and cheat in Dungeons & Dragons. Now, of course, I am not endorsing any of these methods. Dungeons & Dragons is at its best when there’s a sense of fairness at the table, and everybody trusts one another.
All I’m saying is that if someone was inclined to cheat as a player, which again would be wrong, there are some ways to do it. To make sure you don’t do that, check out this neutral list of ways to cheat in DND.
10 Hiding Rolls
Don't Look Under The Table
Gorgon by Kai Carpenter
This first one is probably the way that most of us are familiar with cheating as a player in Dungeons & Dragons. Some of my personal favorite versions of this cheat are to roll onto the floor ‘accidentally,’ and tell your DM something different than what you actually rolled.
High-rimmed dice boxes or dice towers are always good for this, too. Just make sure you don’t have a nosy neighbor at the table checking in on you, or you’re bound to get caught.
9 Metagaming
An Absolute Classic
Dungeon Level via Wizards of the Coast
A lot of people think of metagaming as a normal part of any Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? Ultimately, metagaming is cheating. For those who don’t know, metagaming is when you use knowledge you have as a player that your character might not necessarily have.
For example, a player might know that a certain monster is vulnerable to a specific type of damage, but it might not make sense for your character to know that. Using the knowledge to your advantage gives you insight into combat that you might not otherwise have, which, frankly, feels like cheating.
8 Omission
It's Not Technically Lying
Wakewyrm by Crystal Sully
Listen, our DMs can’t always remember everything, especially during an intense, hours-long battle. A lot of the time, it’s expected that a player will inform a DM if they’ve made a mistake, or if the DM forgot something important, like a condition or disadvantage that a player is supposed to have.
But, also, that sometimes feels like being that one kid in class who tells the teacher they forgot to collect the homework. If a DM forgets that a fellow player is supposed to make a death save, maybe don’t bring that to their attention. Honor among thieves and all that.
7 Fudging HP
Cover Up That Sheet
Eldritch Storm via Wizards of the Coast
Beyond fudging dice rolls, you can also fudge your HP during combat. Unless you know for a fact that your DM is tracking everyone’s health during a combat encounter, there’s no reason you can’t subtly shave off a few points of damage here and there, particularly as you’re getting low.
Worst case scenario, you can always just blame your HP tracking as a side effect of you being ‘bad at math.’ After all, none of us got into DND because we were good at math. The game’s about roleplay and storytelling, right? Who cares if the numbers aren’t crunching?
6 Playing Dumb
What Do You Mean?
Student String Quartet via Wizards of the Coast
Similar to the idea of not being good at math or tracking HP, you can also play dumb with your DM to get away with murder. Maybe you didn’t know that that’s how Thunderstep worked. Or, wouldn’t you know it, you forgot to roll with disadvantage that one time. It’s an accident, right?
Dungeons & Dragons is a roleplay-based tabletop game, and that roleplay doesn’t have to stop with your character. If you want to get away with cheating at the table, you might want to ‘roleplay’ as a subpar Dungeons & Dragons player who doesn’t really know the rules all that well.
5 Homebrew
An Official Way To Cheat
Collapsing Bridge via Wizards of the Coast
Back to calling a spade a spade. Homebrew or other custom content can always be a welcome addition to a Dungeons & Dragons table. But frankly, a lot of players will also use homebrew to low-key cheat at the game, especially if they’re bringing over homebrew from other systems, editions, or campaigns.
This can start to get really fraught really fast. But if your DM allows homebrew and hasn’t placed any limitations on it, using homebrew is a great way to buff your characters in ways that are basically cheating. You can always hide behind the word ‘homebrew,’ which hits the ear a lot softer than ‘cheating.’
4 Helping Your DM
Hurt Them By Helping Them
Haunted Manor via Wizards of the Coast
You’re not really cheating, you’re just ‘helping’ your DM. Like I said before, DMs tend to be a bit forgetful. If you’re more comfortable lying by omission, you can always stick to that lane. But, nothing says you can’t lie by lying directly to your DM’s face. Oh, except, I guess the rules say you can’t.
If your DM asks a question about a round of combat or a condition that someone has, you can politely ‘inform’ your DM of the rule or issue at play, thus helping them keep combat running smoothly. Isn’t it great to have such informed, helpful players?
3 Retconning
Take Two
Spies by Cyprien Rousson
A lot of Dungeon Masters go back and forth on how much they allow retconning. For those who don’t know, retconning is when you ‘make a mistake’ as a player, or misinterpret something, and ask for a mulligan or a do-over. Some DMs are pretty flexible about this; others are not, so read the room before you bust this one out.
However, if your DM does allow retcons, you can try to use this to your advantage. Let’s say you try an attack and it doesn’t work. You can try to argue to your DM that you misunderstood the attack or feature, and that you’d like to do something else instead. Just be careful not to push your luck with this one. One or two retcons every few games is plenty.
2 Begging For Advantage
Pretty Please?
Dragon Highmaster via Wizards of the Coast
This is less of a cheat and more of a way to take advantage of benevolent DMs, like me, for instance. Sometimes, if you make a big show out of it and beg on your hands and knees for advantage, your DM will grant it to you, even if you don’t really deserve it.
You can also try the reverse of this on your enemies, by arguing to your DM that an enemy should have disadvantage on something they’re trying to do. It’s not always successful, and stricter DMs will likely see right through you most of the time, but hey, it’s worth a shot.
1 Legacy Content
Blur The Lines
Intellect Fortress via Wizards of the Coast
Depending on whether or not you’re using the 2014 Dungeons & Dragons rules or the 2024 ones, there’s a lot of gray area between legacy content and contemporary content. Some legacy rules are downright broken, and that’s why they’ve been largely removed from the game in the 2024 edition. However, even Wizards of the Coast admits that some tables prefer these rules.
Even if your DM is running a 2024 campaign, you can try to advocate for using some broken 2014 rules instead for your build. Depending on how aware your DM is about older content, you might truly be able to get away with murder, depending on your build.
Your Rating
Rate Now 0/10
Your comment has not been saved
Dungeons and Dragons
Expand Collapse
