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Can A Dungeon Master Cheat?

So it sounds like a silly question because its the world of the Dungeon Master but can a Dungeon Master be cheating players? Take for instance a difficult monster is killed off fast because of some cunning moves and the Dungeon Master decides to add an additional monster because they think we did in the first one too easily.

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I wouldn't say that is really cheating. The Dungeon Master's job is to tell a fun story involving your characters. Sometimes they have to do something like that to make the story interesting. They might have had encounters set up for your group but they are posing no problems for you. They have to adjust things then or it becomes boring. If encounters are too easy people will lose interest. They aren't doing it to kill your character off. They are trying to make it a fun and interesting game. That is my take on it.

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I am of the view point a Dungeon Master can change rules to make the game flow better. If he feels something went to easy and maybe wants to reward the group with more experience points then why not introduce another combat. Though if the Dungeon Master is trying to cheat to make encounters that are going to come up more hard then that is going over the line of fairness.

Cheat Master Dungeon Can

I would say the GM was not as familiar with the player characters as he should have been.

In the case of the OP's (Original poster) example, I as GM would evaluate a few things before comabt would end.

1) Is this a boss monster key to the story plot?
2) Could this monster show up as a recurring villian or nemesis of the party?
3) Should lessening the rewards reflect the ease with which the challenge was dispatched?
4) What is the likelyhood of backup for this monster?

Scaling fights or challenges up or down in combat is difficult and would best be accomplished prior to the session or encounter. Minor tweaks are fine, if they are reasonable, in combat.

The above examples and explanations is why I require character sheet submissions and regular updates of all player characters.

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I scale my encounters most of the time to the party that is in the game. I do have some pre determined encounters and I do not pull punches in combat. IF a monster gets a good hit it hurts the parts. If the monster gets a bad hit it is good for the party. I do not plan to kill players but at times it can happen.

Random encounters are just that random encounters. They can make the characters famous or their bones will be found by some future adventures. The main thing with random encounters is it allows the players a chance to either fight, run(Hide) or parley. Sometimes a random encounter can give insight to what is around the area for future quests.

Can A Dungeon Master Cheat?

I've thought about this before and in the most basic terms I don't think the Dungeon Master can "Cheat". What he can be is either difficult or easy. Its already his world so you can cheat something you created but you could be dealing difficulty towards the characters.

Can Dungeon Master Cheat

Everyone gave some great advice on this so thanks. I feel although a game is the Dungeon Master's sandbox its still governed by rules everyone is supposed to follow even the Dungeon Master otherwise there won't be logic in combat, progression, etc.