Some thoughts on failure

Note: Very few of these thoughts are my own. They are picked up from different games and articles, and I just sum them up here.

GM: "Give me a skill-check on skill X"
Player: "Ok"
Rolls dice
Player: "Dammit, I fail"
GM: Ok then... you don't find anything/you fall down on your behind while trying to climb the wall/ nothing happens

Now, this is.. well, let's face it, not particulary exciting, is it?

In addition to this, there are two worst case scenarios here: The first is that the adventure comes to a grinding halt. The other is that after a while, the players tries again... and again.. and sooner or later he succeeds. Neither of these solutions are good (and the second solution is more or less an attempt to solve the first solution).

One thought I've read lately (among other places I've seen it in the excellent game Burning Wheel, by Luke Crane) is that in any one scene you only get one check for a particular skill or action. You need to cross that wall and you fail. Sorry, then the climb check has failed. No rerolls!

However, there are a few things you can do that makes things more interesting:

• You as a player could change the circumstances. In most cases this means making things more serious. Can't find what you are looking for in that room? Well, try actually prying open the doors and the cupboards. People will see that you've been here, but you are allowed a reroll. In the case of social interaction, you could go from Diplomacy to Intimidation.. or to violence. The key word is "in order to get a reroll, change the circumstances significantly". Some games calls this "raising the stakes"
• Instead of failing the attempt, the attempt is still a success. You climb that wall, you find what you are looking for. But there is a side effect. You are noticed by the guards or trigger an alarm. Yes, you convince someone to give you information with that failed diplomacy-check. However, they get annoyed with you and sell you out at the first opportunity.

Random plots, characters and stories

Sometimes we get stumped for ideas, and whatever we do, we can't come up with a decent idea. This means we, for most parts, need to kickstart our creativity. One way to do this is to get some random ideas thrown at you, and then you see what you can do with those.

The site Archetypewriting.com has a number of nifty generators that might help you

• Plot Scenario generator
• Character generator
• Everyday problems generator

Another interesting site is the Big Huge Thesaurus (for looking up synonyms), and it also contains a Plot Generator

Worldbuilding: Keep It Weird, Part Two, by Justin Achilli

This is an interesting article by Justin Achilli about how to use a well known concept or situation, and then add 10% twist to that (let's call it "just a little twist of twist" )

Justin Achilli - Justin Achilli -- Blog - Worldbuilding: Keep It Weird, Part Two: "The 90/10 rule states that when executing a given concept, 90 percent of that concept should be what your audience expects, and 10 percent should twist that expectation or provide a permutation that throws the situation for a loop."

Hamlet's hit point - New book by Robin Laws

It seems that the good man Robin D Laws has another book coming. "Hamlet's hit points", as the book is called, is a book about story structure, and how you as a GM can use classic story structure to make a more exciting game.

I must admit, I am a bit sceptical about this. The more I game, the less I see the point of having a story structure in my game. Roleplaying isn't story-writing in the classical sense, but the story emerges from the decisions and relations of the player characters (at least in the games I prefer to run). I don't know if I'm overly sensitive here, but the blurb mentions ".. you'll be equipped to lay compelling track for an emotional roller-coaster". To me, that suggests that the GM more or less should railroad the adventure so that it fits HIS idea of what is a good story or plan.

However, I have the deepest respect for mr Laws, and when he says that he'll present this subject from a roleplayers perspective, then I'm more than willing to give the book the benefit of a doubt. The books is arriving in August, so I guess we'll get some answers then.

"HAMLET’S HIT POINTS"

So.. A new toy has arrived

Today I finally got my iPad, after a long wait. Being the avid gamer that I am I naturally intend to get back to you with thoughts and reviews about how to use it in relation to games.

The apps I've installed so far is dropbox and goodreader (to read pdfs of course), and also Dicenomicon, which propably is the best dice-roller for the ipad and iphone so far. I liked it on the iPhone and after a quick look it seems even better on the ipad.

Naturally, this post was written on the iPad as well..

New design journal from DC Adventures RPG

In their latest Design Journal, Steve Kenson and Green Ronin presents a short fight between Batman and some thugs. From what I can see, rules-wise it doesn't differ that much from previous editions, for good and bad. It does, however, seem slightly more streamlined. One part of this seems to be something called Routine Checks. From what I can see, that's when your skill or bonus is at a certain level compared to the DC, and in that case you don't need to roll. A bit like take10 in old D20.

It looks interesting, perhaps a bit bland (a complaint I've had about earlier editions about MnM as well), but the rules themselves seem solid enough. I have a preference in my RPG's that there should be some connect between "fluff"/ descriptions and the mechanics in some way. It doesn't have to be detailed or simulationist, but there should be a connect. For instance, the player starts out with casting a menacing shadow over the thugs, but this has no effect on the outcome of the battle. In a more Fate-inspired game (for instance) this could be applied as an Aspect on the scene, just as a mention about how that could affect the game.

Same thing goes for all the nifty attacks.. the player does all these interesting descriptions, but there is nothing in the game that rewards him for this, or supports him doing so. Once again, there is a disconnect between his creativity and what the mechanics do.

However, apart from that, it seems like a solid, nice system, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. (and of course, the main questions is whether to buy it or not.. but if I'm gonna buy this version, or vanilla MnM3... Knowing myself, I'll probably end up with both)

DC Adventures Design Journal #6 - DC ADVENTURES: "DC Adventures Design Journal #6"