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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steverooo" data-source="post: 2234588" data-attributes="member: 9410">1) Don't sweat the small stuff...  If your Ranger wants to set some traps and snares to catch some small game, don't worry about it.  That's a Barbarian/Druid/Ranger thing.  Just let him take 10 on the Wilderness Lore/Survival check, and tell him how successful he was.  In almost all cases, it isn't important to the story, so ignore any "Set Traps" mechanics, etc.2) Allow "Take 10" anytime, except during combat.  PCs aren't incompetent idiots, they're intelligent, creative heroes.  Treat them as such.  The general take on the D&D Climb rules are a perfect example of Anti-Heroism: You fail a climb check, and most GMs tell you that you fall (and in 1e, it was always from 1/2 the maximum height).  Now I've done some rock climbing, and failed many times, but never fallen... I just couldn't get up!  Failure = fall is NOT heroic!  An alternative is to allow a 5' move left/right, and try again.3) Use those Commoners!  If the PCs go up against something too tough, and get whooped, give them something easier.  The Commoners back in town are a perfect example...  Sneaking past a Dragon is well-nigh impossible.  Sneaking past a whole town full of Commoners much less so.  PCs are supposed to be special, and letting their abilities shine among the Commoners also helps explain why the Commoners keep looking to the PCs to save their towns!...So the next time that the PCs get whooped by an Owl-Bear, have the wide-eyed Commoners ask: "You get whooped by an Owl-Bear!?!  And you lived to tell about it!?!"  Most Commoners, after all, wouldn't have!Occasionally, while the PCs fight to save the town from the Red Dragon Invasion, it's a good idea to have some Commoners try, too,... and show how miserably they failed!  It makes the PCs surviving by the skin of their teeth a lot easier to bear!All of those things matter.  Midnight is harder to feel heroic in, as you're basically foredoomed to failure.  Unbeatable villians, as in Ravenloft's domain-lords, also work against it.  In the end, however, it is up to the players to be heroic (or not).Bravery, courage, achievement (which certainly implies success).  Also, a whole heapa luck, and some knowledge and skill in the game, too.  The things in the paragraph, above, all work against the first three...</blockquote>

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