A thread for the discussion of games: board, LARP, MMORPG, video, tabletop RPG, game theory etc. etc. and all attendant news, developments and ancillary subjects thereof, as well as coordinating/scheduling games either online or IRL. All are welcome to chime in, talk about their favorite games or learn about gaming of any sort.
PLEASE TO WHITEFONT SPOILERS for video games, RPG modules or anything for which foreknowledge of events might lessen one's enjoyment of whatever gaming experience.
I have used the flaming cow falling from the sky, and had it used on me. Actually, it's kind of a fun way to design an encounter -- a flaming cow flies into the party. Why?
Most of the time, with most players, we don't need a CTRL Z. And even with really stupid tricks that turn out not to work, we can live with the consequences.
I've had two incidences (back under D&D 2.0), where a particular fight led to a TPK, which each time prompted the DM to open the next session with the words, "Okay. You all wake up from the terrible shared nightmare where you all died."
I had one Shadowrun session where Joe had to do a retcon for something that would have severely messed up my spellcaster, after we all remembered *several* minutes after the fact that my character has been invisible, and that couldn't have happened that way.
Sox, received, and "yes" to the first, will have to respond after work to the second.
I had one Shadowrun session where Joe had to do a retcon for something that would have severely messed up my spellcaster, after we all remembered *several* minutes after the fact that my character has been invisible, and that couldn't have happened that way.
Well, yeah, but that wasn't several *sessions* later, so I had no real problem with it.
I've had two incidences (back under D&D 2.0), where a particular fight led to a TPK, which each time prompted the DM to open the next session with the words, "Okay. You all wake up from the terrible shared nightmare where you all died."
Then there was the GURPS Supers game wherein we all died, and it turned out to be a "Danger Room" session.
I played with a guy who did whatever the hell he felt like regardless of whether it fucked with other players and the GM did nothing to correct him. I don't play with that GM anymore.
I just read a passage in an MIT pub that invokes the "nuh-uh factor" in explaining games. Am amused.
Blimey, that's a lot of posts...
"Remember when I did that thing that didn't work out so well and it led us to this course of action and ultimately to where we are now? Well, you read the rules wrong and we should re-do it from there."
I stand here boggled.
"A flaming cow falls from the sky!"
Mooteor!
received amych - with thanks! will likely volley tomorrow sometime.
Survey? Do you tabletop gamers expect computer-like do-overs while playing D&D or similar? Or is it more "like real life" and you always deal with the consequences of your actions?
I'm pretty much with Pete and MM here. Unless the DM screwed up by mis-reading a rule or forgetting a key effect/situation/ability/whatever or the player misunderstood something that would be blatantly obvious to his character, there's no take-backs or retcons. I've been known to occaisionally give a player an incredulous "Are you sure?" if they're about to do something really stupid (or else say "Okay" in a tone of voice that suggests it's very much not) but once they confirm their foolish/risky action, they have to accept the consequences. One of my friend's characters managed to die over a dozen times over the course of one my campaigns because he kept doing foolhardy things.
That said, I have been known to fudge things as a DM if things start going to hell in a handbasket through no fault of the players to let them squeak their way out of a situation by the skin of their teeth, but that's for the sake of everyone's enjoyment. TPK are rarely fun outside of one-shots, IMO, at least not in games where everyone has a fully-fleshed out character and have a stake in the story the DM is trying to tell.
Also, from a logistic's standpoint, do-overs are a lot harder in PNP RPGs than on a computer. So much changes from round to round that it's nigh-impossible to do a perfect reset unless you take a dedicated "snap shot" of the party at set intervals. I use a "Fate Point" system in my games that allow players to spend them for re-rolls or to modify rolls they're about to make, but that's a more of a it happens differently before it officially has a chance to happen than a true do-over.
