D&D 5E You Roll Low, Nothing Happens. Can this/should this be changed?

Redthistle said:

Have the player who missed describe why it happened.

Click to expand...

Neechen said:

This is nice. Here's something you could do that makes missing not as bad for the players too:

If the player describes the miss or failed attempt, give him or her a chit. After the player gains 3 chits, award an inspiration point.

I like this idea because it encourages players to do things that they may not succeed at, and it helps me as DM award inspiration more objectively rather than subjectively.

It can also apply for misses in combat and also failed checks.

Click to expand...

Nebulous said:

Interesting.

Click to expand...

Brute said:

Recently I was playing in a group with two brand new players. A couple of times during the session one of the players rolled low and missed during a combat. She asked me later why the game was set up that way (she's played a few boardgames, but nothing like D&D). I guess I didn't have a good answer for her. I've done some reading on the subject since, looking at how different games handle "failure" and I wondered what approaches/thoughts you guys had.

So - what should happen when a player rolls low? In combat and out of combat?

PS - I tend to run groups of 3-5 players, we have a quick pace and it doesn't take long to get around the table in initiative order. We do narrate misses just as we narrate hits, but mechanically a low roll is often a "null" effect in combat. Out of combat failing a roll rarely has a "null effect", I use "let it ride" from Burning Wheel (in which a player makes say one stealth roll to infiltrate a keep rather than multiple as they approach) and never ask for a roll that doesn't have an interesting result for failure - but in combat that's not so easy in D&D.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Neechen said:

This is nice. Here's something you could do that makes missing not as bad for the players too:

If the player describes the miss or failed attempt, give him or her a chit. After the player gains 3 chits, award an inspiration point.

I like this idea because it encourages players to do things that they may not succeed at, and it helps me as DM award inspiration more objectively rather than subjectively.

It can also apply for misses in combat and also failed checks.

Click to expand...

Neechen said:

My group and I came up with this from when we used to play Star Wars d6 (West End Games). In that game (and even now in the new Fantasy Flight Star Wars RPGs), there were a ton of opportunities for success and failure that provoked complications, and the system was point buy where xp could be used to raise skills, etc. In our games, anytime a pc used a skill and got a complication or a critical success (6 on the wild die), we'd award a chit. Then, each 3 chits would equal 1 xp. It kept the players from having fits when complications arose (sometimes the complications damaged or broke equipment so it would cost the PCs dearly). It was fun.

Click to expand...

Brute said:

Recently I was playing in a group with two brand new players. A couple of times during the session one of the players rolled low and missed during a combat. She asked me later why the game was set up that way (she's played a few boardgames, but nothing like D&D). I guess I didn't have a good answer for her. I've done some reading on the subject since, looking at how different games handle "failure" and I wondered what approaches/thoughts you guys had.

So - what should happen when a player rolls low? In combat and out of combat?

Click to expand...

Nebulous said:

Unfortunately, myself and my players are awful at awarding and using Inspiration. They've all had it the past 3 sessions and no one even remembers to use it. Maybe this method would jog their memory. And mine.

Click to expand...