Acceptable Breaks from/Fiddling with Mechanics

[Zhaleskra]

Oddly enough, it was a Planescape book that mentioned the "right" and "wrong" ways to hang someone. It was probably a section on the Mercykillers. Anyhow, apparently "right" is with the knot exactly behind the vetebrae, resulting in neck breakage. "wrong" is off to either side. And I'm guessing PS is talking about long drop.

There is a situation in a published adventure, where one way of proceedings may lead to a PC being condemned after being framed. PCs came in on a Military ship, meaning there should be more military there to meet them. The adventure pretty much says if they don't prove who the real guilty party is, the framed PC dies. I want to introduce a chance, however slim, that they can save him/her if this happens.

 

[pemerton]

I want to introduce a chance, however slim, that they can save him/her if this happens.

OK. Are you worried that there is some reason why you shouldn't, that you haven't noticed?

 

[Lanefan]

Role playing games already cater to many acceptable breaks from our reality. What situations would you find it appropriate to either just say "for this I'm going by what would really happen" or "yeah, you've got a shot to do it, but you better do it fast because you only get one shot at this"?

I tend to use the "I'm going by what would really happen" answer when faced with something so whacked out that the game rules and guidelines don't only not cover it, they've never even heard of it. Example: a PC opens a door behind which is the vacuum of interstellar space. Fortunately, such occasions are pretty rare.

The "you've only got one shot at this" situation is less rare, and usually involves the one chance you get to do something while the opponent(s) or observer(s) is surprised/asleep/looking away/whatever before they clue in.

Lan-"the game rules have never heard of me either"-efan

 

[Diamond Cross]

So why do RPGs have to conform to reality?

If they had to conform to reality, there wouldn't be anything like Dragons or Elves at all.

 

[The Shaman]

So why do RPGs have to conform to reality?

They don't, but every departure doesn't need to be dialed to eleven, either.

If they had to conform to reality, there wouldn't be anything like Dragons or Elves at all.

Saying that gravity works in the game-world the same way it does in the real-world doesn't preclude the existence of fantastic elements.

Since I assumed we are talking about a medieval time period, strangulation would be the accurate way to determine death to someone who is being hanged.

Whereas nearly all of my gaming interests are focused after the 16th century, so medieval practices didn't cross my mind, as my examples (The Mummy and PotC:CotBP) suggest.

 

[Heathen72]

I thought this might happen as soon as I saw that someone asked for an example. As far as I can tell, The thread isn't just about hanging, the OP was about what you level of reality you are applying to different situations. Which is what I will reply to.

I am reminded of a time years ago when the party (a bunch of vampires) were facing off against some werewolves on a highway. Knowing we were outgunned, one of the us pointed his gun a nearby gasoline truck and pulled the trigger, thinking we would survive the explosion, and escape in the following chaos.

The GM paused, and then asked "Um. Okay. Just one question - are we playing reality reality or movie reality?" He thought that the player in question had no idea of how big the explosion would be, or how deadly such an explosion would be. In the end it was neither, it was more a matter of the player and the GM having a different idea of how close to the truck the players were. Once that was resolved, the player withdrew the action.

Ultimately the reality they were both looking for was just the shared reality. But it was salutary for me in that I realised that it doesn't necessarily matter how things work in our reality. It only matters that the player and the GM have the same understanding of what the consequences of an action might be in the game reality.

 

[Heathen72]

Are you arguing that the more improbable an event in the real-world, the more possible it should be in the game?

In Discworld reality, 1 in a million shots happen 9 times out of 10!

 

[Starfox]

one of the us pointed his gun a nearby gasoline truck and pulled the trigger, thinking we would survive the explosion, and escape in the following chaos.

What would probably happen is - nothing.

This is another Mythbusters case: Gas Tank Explosion : Car Myths : Discovery Drive : Discovery Channel

The simple fact are these
* Getting thrown out of a car is a way to survive in movies, almost certain death in reality. Part of the reason why you should wear your safety belt.
* Modern cars almost never explode or even catch fire. You should not pull a person out of a crashed car willy-nilly - you are likely to cause a spinal injury and the chance the car will ignite is very small.

Again, if your game is more cinematic, cars might actually explode - but then those explosions are probably not very dangerous.

 

[Heathen72]

What would probably happen is - nothing.

This is another Mythbusters case: Gas Tank Explosion : Car Myths : Discovery Drive : Discovery Channel

Not gas tank. A petrol tanker truck. If it did go off, it would be a big boom.

In any case, the only reality that matters is what the GM and the player agreed on.

 

[Zhaleskra]

I think the general concensus is that PCs are "the best of the best" in a fantasy world, the kind of thing that comes along once in a century.

Some games--especially D&D 4e--promote this attitude, others do not. For the record I'm fine with starting competent PCs (it's better than really being a "zero"), but being a "Big Hero" right out the gate doesn't sit well with me.

Regarding the whole "prisons are meant to be broken out of thing", in the D&D version of the adventure the PCs should be at most 2nd level at this point, which means that, yes, most of the NPCs are higher level than the player party. The campaign setting as a whole, being Dark Fantasy, slides more towards reality reality than game reality, e.g., deliberately not balancing NPCs in a location to party level. It is a grim and gritty, "being dumb gets you killed" setting.