>use
>fail as roughly 'minor bad thing happens' and fumble as 'major bad thing
>happens'.
I've always considered Fumbles as 'bad enough failure that you can't just repeat the task'. Cooking: no-one who ate the last meal will (or is healthy enough!) to eat the next one. Software design: Elite First Encounter (anyone else buy that crap?). Shepherding: lose so many sheep the next task is to get a new flock! In HW terms, failures mean the same task may not be repeated without a change in circumstances or skill, but I'd say a fumble just means it's impossible to repeat without major separate tasks: repairing relationship to your cooking victims, moving to a decent software company (I really hated that game...), buying more sheep.
Personally, I support the professional requirement of a mastery, simply for the game mechanics requirements. You need a mastery to get a decent chance of a success against an average resistance or difficulty. A shepherd who can't find his flock in a fog isn't much good.
Wulf
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