Trusting the dice (was Re: slick little bid plan)

From: Mike Dawson <mdawson_at_...>
Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 13:29:26 -0000

Of course, but so what? In any case, the other characters know that the unlucky player's hero is very skilled. And they see his bad rolls.

 So, don't make the character look
> bad because the player rolled poorly. Think of the roll as luck, and narrate
> circumstances causing the failure. Make the character unlucky.
>
> Don't do:
> "Ragnar swings his sword to defend himself in an amaturish fashion, and ends
> up clumsily impaling himself on his opponent's sword."
>
> Do:
> "Ragnar swings his sword with great finesse and skill terrifying his
> opponent. But the gods are against him - the wind blows sand in his face,
> and he's blinded long enough for his dastardly opponent to manage to slip
> his blade between Ragnar's ribs."

These are lovely examples, but it's difficult to explain bad luck when the hero does the magical equivalent of charging an electric fence. (Brad's hero rushed the lunar ritual's magical protection.)

>
> >Combine that with the
> >player's apparent inability to focus on the idea of finding applicable
> >augments and the
> >determination to do something even in the face of great odds and you end up
> >with what
> >happened to his character: natural fumble on a big bid versus an opponent
> >who still had
> >bumps left over, so spending a point helped not a bit.
>
> You're saying that the character got a "Complete Failure"? And you applied a
> "Dying" result to him?

Since the hero is actually a sorcerous manifestation lacking human biology, "dying" may not quite be correct. In fact, Brad was making jokes comparing his state to that of the Terminator T1000 after being hit by the liquid nitrogen. But I actually haven't described the hero's state, because the session ended as Ice Fist defeated the Lunars.

>
> A) The GM is under no obligation to apply "Dying" as the actual outcome of
> the contest, merely something on the same level of permenance. Maybe the
> opponent takes pity on him and spares his life, but defeats the PC so
> soundly that he'll never be able to face that opponent again. Or the
> opponent cuts off his left hand. Or the opponent banishes the PC.

Of course. Though there aren't too many things on "the same level of permanence" as death. As it is, Brad's character cost another completely defeated hero the existance of a follower, who was destroyed in the magical contest.
>
> I know, I know, "but the opponent was trying to kill him!" Right? Then,
>
> B) Dying doesn't mean dead. The opponent leaves the PC to die in a pool of
> his own blood, and a local spirit heals him back up to incapacitated. When
> the PC wakes up, the spirit will insist on a quest in return for the favor.
> This all assuming that another PC wasn't there, or couldn't have wandered by
> and done the healing himself, or taken the character to where they could get
> healing, etc, etc.
>
> I know, I know, "but it was a dramatic place for him to die!"

My campaign has been running since before Hero Wars was in stores, and I've not had a single Hero death--a transfiguration, a transformation, some lesser redefinitions--but no deaths. Those come later, unless the heroes get (more) careless.

Well then,
>
> C) Then what are you complaining about! The system worked just fine.

I don't think I was complaining. Did it read that way?

>
>
> Basically, there's never a time when the PC has to die mechanically. It
> requires that the GM declares that the PC is dying, and that there's nobody
> to save him. So, if you don't want the PC to die...then don't have him.
>
> > > Roll the dice in the open, maybe for the first time in your gaming
> >career.
> > > You'll love it.
> >
> >I most always have. The only time I don't do this is when the characters
> >are engaged in a
> >contest and don't know about it.
>
> I was pretty sure that you did. My statement above was just some playstyle
> propaganda. :-)

Mike Dawson

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