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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8151558" data-attributes="member: 16814">It's hard, but I've decided to read this in the best light possible -- you are still genuinely confused as to how play operates in Blades and think that the GM just calls for rolls whenever and that the consequences of that roll are arbitrary.  This is entirely wrong.  In Blades, the characters are doing dangerous and risky things as a norm. The things they try are obviously not run of the mill, so the fictional positioning is absolutely necessary when calling for a check.  In my example of play that you're referring to (and you either have me on ignore or you're intentionally sub-posting), the check was called for because the player indicated this was that kind of thing -- it was a risky action for a goal that was important to the character.  It followed the established fiction and the intent of the action -- nothing was arbitrary here.  And, so it goes with play.As for your thumbnail -- you cannot actually boil down play in Blades to this because every check is dependent on the nature of the fiction.  Perhaps this applies to some set of possible actions and resolutions, but this elides every bit of detail that makes the game about the players.  The player declares an action, yes, but unless the fiction presents a reason for this to be dangerous, there's not a roll.  Further, the player doesn't declare the action to be desperate at all -- that's up to the GM reading the fiction and the actions intent.  Instead, the player declares an action to achieve an intent.  Going back to the jumping rogue example from earlier in the thread, just jumping the alley isn't that interesting and would probably not engage a roll -- it's more color if you're just jumping over an alley, so do just narrate it.  Now, if your being pursued by guards and you intent to leap the alleyway to cause the guards to break off, well, then, now there's some interest -- some stakes.  Let's roll!  And the position and effect will be set by the fiction.  The interesting thing here is that these are set according to a clean read of the fiction without consideration for PC abilities or conditions.  The GM's not responsible for remembering that the rogue has a previously twisted ankle, say, and so doesn't consider this when setting P and E.  And setting P and E is up for challenge -- if a player doesn't think that the P and E reflect the situation, they are encouraged to speak up!  Things must adhere to the fiction that is established in play.  Once this is done, the player can use their resources to modify things and improve the outcomes/chances.  They also are responsible for adding anything that might be a problem, like that previously twisted ankle that would reduce effect or cost a die depending on the level of harm.  THEN we roll.  And, if the outcome is a failure, and the GM narrates outcome according to the position agreed to, then the player still has the option to resist that result and get a better one -- if they can afford the Stress.So, no, except as a particularly bad caricature of a small subset of possible play loops in Blades (and I mean bad as in if you squint it might look like something), your understanding isn't complete.</blockquote>

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