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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zak S" data-source="post: 6503729" data-attributes="member: 90370">Then that table should not have been in use this time.Depends:If this table is something the players have seen--their tactic depends on it and it shouldn't change unless having a suddenly skewed table is part of the scenario.If this table has never been seen by the players, it's effectively not really a rule. It's just a tool to help the GM come up with ideas--like a random name table. So I think changing the result isn't really what I'd call fudging. Fudging is when the players and GM agree that a roll means a certain range of things and then the GM alters it.There are two separate interesting concepts here:1. Some players don't want a challenge.Ok, then why play D&D instead of another, easier fantasy game?2. Does challenge exist in a game where the GM is omnipotent?Absolutely. A riddler can think up any riddle they want, but it doesn't mean the riddle is not a challenge for the riddled. A gym teacher can set up any obstacle course they want--it doesn't mean the obstacle course is not a challenge for the people running through it. A karate teacher can fight her student with one arm behind her back--it doesn't mean it's not a challenge for the student. In a baseball game the umpire literally redefines the strike zone on every pitch, judging by eye, it doesn't mean that the challenge of hitting a ball in baseball is nonexistent or wholly absurd.If a player wants to survive and gain xp, it is fairly simple to set up an in-game problem that is mentally challenging such that thinking through the problem lets the player live and not thinking through the problem means they die. Examples abound. Some simple ones:-For kids, you can set up a situation (like an entrapment circle) where there is literally no disadvantage to shooting a dangerous foe which has no distance attacks. One little kid will shoot the monster, the other runs up to hit it and gets mangled. They have been challenged. One has been found wanting.-Literal riddles can appear in D&D. Since a riddle is a challenge (and, done properly, one with more than one answer, including ones the GM didn't think of) the situation is a challenge.-You are fighting a big, slow hippo. All things being equal, targeting its dexterity is smarter than targeting it's constitution. Figuring that out, you have met the challenge.Note also: none of these challenges are system-dependent and so don't require people to know the rules. Hippos are tough and slow in any kind of traditional fantasy RPG.</blockquote>

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