Originally Posted by DistantStranger
The problem with the system as it is now, as I see it, is that failure is not interesting. There are times when rolls should be used to distinguish between success and failure, but it would be to everyone's benefit if they were used to distinguish between less binary outcomes while still honoring player agency.

Example:

There is a child in danger

Larian: What do you want to do, ignore the child or save them?
Player: Fuck it, I'm here, lets save the little bastard.
Larian: Roll to see if you save the child player! Target number 16!
Player: Rolls a 3.
Larian: The child dies as a result of your incompetence!

The reason players often resent this is because they have little to no control over the outcome. What is the point of providing their input if the results are random? This outcome isn't earned and the player will feel cheated -and if the game cheats then so will the player.



Alternate example:

There is a child in danger

Larian: What do you want to do, ignore the child or save them?
Player: Fuck it, I'm here, lets save the little bastard.
Larian: Roll to see if you save the child player! Target number 16!
Player: Rolls a 3.
Larian: In your haste to save the child you have attracted unwanted attention. This isn't over yet! Prepare yourselves.


The attraction of Dungeons and Dragons is that it is a deterministic game. Don't play monkey in the middle with the player agency. Allow them to work towards the solutions they see as meaningful, if they lack the skills or ability necessary to do something well, then allow them to do it badly unless there is an imperative for purely pass fail dichotomy.

edit: The story shouldn't be happening TO the player, it should explored cooperatively. In Dungeons and Dragons there are a range of results, it is rarely ever pass fail. There is success and failure, there is critical success and critical failure, and almost every quality game runner I have known has always made allowance for the near miss conversion. If you are a point or two away from a difficult challenge the result is often mitigated to reflect that. Use the system to give the player more variety, not less.



I see so it the binary aspect of the rolls giving the player either/or (live or die) and nothing inbetween. I can get behind that, there is some of that in conversations but the outcome is always either/or you just get another chance to roll again for fight/not fight. A failed roll may make your job MUCH harder to achieve the desired outcome but not necessarily fail outright and in such cases may get some tasty loot from the failure. +1

That's why I like random encounters when resting tbh.