The Die is Cast

Sanctity of the Dice Roll
The hobby is rooted in wargames where dice are rolled in the open and results, no matter how unexpected, are sacrosanct. By accepted tradition there are no "do overs", no roll again for a better result. The die is cast, as the saying goes (attributed to Caesar and others) and however it comes up, that's it. Coming from a wargame background, this is the way I approach White Box dice rolling. I expect it's the way the designers (also designers of wargames) intended. At some point, referee fiat in some games came to allow for changing the dice rolls (fudging) if the die gave an undesirable result, such as death of a PC.
The table convention of the referee rolling dice behind a screen so as to shield from view the outcome may have originated with thieves looking for traps or hiding in shadows because they arguably would not immediately know if they were successful or not. As skills entered the game and rolls were required to detect lies and spot hidden, these die rolls were often behind the screen for the same reasons.
The practice of the referee rolling dice out-of-view of the players, together with increasingly complex and time consuming chargen practices contributing to a reluctance to kill a PC has prompted many a referee to "fudge" a die roll, or three, in an effort to prevent PC death. This is made much easier when the dice are rolled out-of-view. Apparently this became a widespread habit at some tables, though not at mine. I recall when I started to referee 4th Edition, the WotC guys (ones with the red/black official shirts) informed me that it was "policy" to roll dice in the open for all to see. I recall this because I have always done this. It was explained to me that 4th Edition was designed with balanced encounters in mind so there should not be any need to "fudge" die rolls to avoid PC death...OK...
I can say some nice things about 4th Edtion and maybe in some future post, I will. At this point let me say that as referee I am pleased to roll the dice in the open. Even for reasons that players might best not know the outcome...they don't usually. I tend to roll a lot of six siders with a number in mind, frequently not stated aloud, that determines success or failure or an event happening or not. I roll the die in the open, then describe what the PCs see, hear, etc. Sometimes it's nothing, just a die roll. Keeps them guessing! If they pay close attention, the player may eventually guess what I am up to, and I see that as player skill.
One of the responsibilities of the referee is to be fair. Rolling the dice in the open and playing out the results as rolled seems fair to me. When a chamber pot is emptied out an upper story window above the adventurers, what could be more fair than assigning each a number and rolling a die openly to determine who is the likely target. After-all the unlucky PC still gets a saving throw verses Dragon Breath to avoid the worst!