thread: 2010-06-14 : A Bit of Hardcore
On 2010-06-17, Rafael wrote:
"I don't *want* the dice to have any actual power—they're just a psychological prop that build excitement by allowing me to pretend that an outcome is in doubt" versus "I'm not saying that the GM should have the One True Story planned in advance. I believe that player decisions should have an impact..."
What I prefer is for the players' decision to have a non-mechanical impact on the story: the players make their desires and intentions clear through roleplay, and the GM uses that information to craft a satisfying experience.
It seems to me that any attempt to model this form of player control mechanically can only limit that control (through failure chance or expenditure of resources), not expand it—and in addition will reduce immersion, as described in the top post.
one of the PCs decided to poison his own mother
This, and not the subsequent die roll, is the decision. It has no direct mechanical component, and it has an impact on the story regardless of the roll that follows—although the nature of that impact may depend on the roll.
The character brings his mom food, so yes, and makes the roll[....] When you say that you don't want the dice to have any power, do you mean this kind of power too?
The GM's job, in my view, is to ensure that, whether or not the poison succeeds, the game continues satisfyingly—and to fudge the roll if she can find no satisfying path leading on from a particular die result. That is, I'm willing to let the dice decide things, as long as they make an acceptable decision.
To be perfectly clear:
Sage: If both outcomes are pretty much equally satisfying, but still distinct, would you enjoy rolling dice to determine between them?
Yes—I overstated my position in the original post.
Vincent: (a) it's cool with me that the player's roll determined whether the character's mom lived or died. I'm excited that the dice contributed that. But also (b) given that the character poisoned his mom, I'm very glad that I didn't have to decide whether she lived or died.
Exactly.
