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I agree with number 1 and 2, but those might not be important to all GM's (I for example do not see the DM's role as to be surprised by story, as much as to be surprised by the players). Number 3 makes a few assumptions about the DM that you are playing with. You are assuming a closed prep...

I don't think it would be more shocking, but I do not see why the DM knowing before hand would be less shocking for the players (Unless the DM just can't not give everything away). When the players discover about the brother they won't think, "Well that's no surprise, the DM knew already"...

Let me start by saying... very valid approach, I see how it goes in your games. So lets look at an alternative: 1) DM knows if it is the ring or not but players have no idea. (This could be preauthored long before during world creation, decided when the ring was found, or rolled for when the...

You are assuming an either or option. The choice of only the extremes. Yes they often travel together but they are not joined to the point that using one means you must use them all. Just like "fail forward" is a group of techniques and if you use some of it you don't have to use all of it...

That isn't a flip side. If the mace isn't there and I am not using "fail forward" I still don't get them to players to roll a search roll. This is an example of a bunch of other techniques being attributed to to fail forward. They are 2 different things. Even in blue box Basic D and D 30+...

It isn't about plot control. My games very rarely have a "plot" but are more "setting" that can be explored with many factions, events and "happenings" The players choose what they do within the world, not the DM. But there are some truths that the players may not know and have not been...

No, the brother was possessed, that he had been evil before the possession was only determined by the fail forward (and the finding of the black arrows). If the arrows hadn't been found then the brother being just possessed, or possessed and evil before that happened, or any thing else is up...

You have complications trigger off failure, but I don't think anyone is saying that success will trigger complications, but complications will happen. There will be guards at the top of the wall independent of if you succeed or fail, so if you successfully climb the next thing in your way will...

I understand how this works in this style of games then, thanks.

The thing I have a problem with is the single roll that is tied to the characters stats or skills and decides if the mace is there in the first place. Pass is mace is found. fail is mace is not found and mace is not there. I honestly prefer is the mace there (yes or no). search roll informs...

I'm actually not sure the reason for the roll in the first place. I personally want to know if the mace is there or not. If it is there and is essential then they will find it. If not they will find the clues instead. The only reason for the roll for me would be to find out how quickly they find...

I have a question about this. If they pass the search test does that mean they get the mace and the PC's brother was not evil till possessed? And if they fail they get the mace and the black arrows which constituted evidence that the PC mage's brother was evil before being possessed by a...

An exact mathematical percentile would be doing the following: Take the roll needed, divide the chance of success in half, if you roll under half the mace is there and you find it, over half the mace is there and you find the arrows as well as the mace, then if you fail you need to divide that...

Sorry this was in response to post number 582. but the quote didn't seem to work. In this style of play there is no outside forces driving the world or anything else outside the field of what has been spoken in game. So if the characters hear that there is a town over the hill called...

Yes I can see both of those. I am referring (and it seems I didn't make it clear) to examples such as the "mace of Schrodinger" where a skill roll is made and the result is that the location of the mace is determined at that point. Or a lock pick roll fails so it starts raining. Other examples I...

It is a "valuable precept of GMing and adventure design" in some gaming approaches, it is not however universally true. I personally like a well designed, pre-authored, detailed world. It's not the only games I play in but it is a style I enjoy. People who are worried about "the dreaded "DM's...

I agree with both of these statements, about fail forward being a cluster of ideas (and some being better for some styles than others), and that pre-authoring is a continuum. I have a very strong preference for pre-authoring when I am a player (not so much when I am a DM). Every game has a level...

I see your distinction between the two, but for me I like there to be less of a distinction between What the character does and what is authored at the table. As a player I want to "look through" the PC's eyes. I want to decide what to do based on what he or she would do, not based on what would...

OK so lets engage with this example. Narratively it work fine. It does what you want it to do. For me the issue is Schrödinger's nickel-silver mace. Until the players search, it is both there and not there. Only when they search do you discover if it is or is not there. The roll you are doing...

So lets replace realistic with the phrase narrowness of skills. Some people like a "narrowness" of skills others like a "wideness" of skills. When some people are using the word realism (which you think is misplaced) you would prefer that they say: For me, you use to skills is too wide and I...