thread: 2017-06-07 : Failure in RPGs (by Paganini)
On 2017-06-07, Ben wrote:
The one thing that I think is overlooked in that video is that Max (the PC, if we think about it from a gaming perspective) never has "Random" failure happen to him. There is failure, but not for the PC. He succeeds long enough for all the cool visuals to happen, and then fails at the dramatically appropriate moment.
One thing to take away from the video though is making the environmental hazards (bandits, in this case) interesting. In a chase scene its easy to have the pursuers be a monolithic block, with only the specific ones interacting with the PCs at a given moment getting any kind of importance. In some ways it seems like trying to add random encounters back in. In the mad max example, every round the GM rolls on the "Pursuers crazy shit happening table" (probably want to work on that name), and you end up with dramatic things happening that provide color but could also again provide conditions to the scene. on a roll of 3 on the PCSH table, one of the cars accidentally activates its nitrous, requiring everyone to make a drive check, and the lowest drive check gets hit, taking damage or letting the pursuers get closer/farther depending on who got hit. this would be in addition to whatever actions the pursuers and pursued are taking, so it would add an element of chaos without interfering with the PCs ability to remain engaged.
