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<blockquote data-quote="FitzTheRuke" data-source="post: 9201421" data-attributes="member: 59816">I think I know why I don't have a problem with this while you do. 25+ years ago, I was growing bored of 2e D&amp;D mechanically. I created a homebrew game that was a mosh-up of D&amp;D and Call of Cthulhu. To make a long story short, the main mechanic was percentile-based, and many characters started out with 15-20% (30% was considered &quot;proficient&quot;, which in the world meant &quot;competent&quot;.Now, you'd clearly think that that is far too low. And by itself, I'd agree. But you see, the 30% was your chance of success under difficult or trying conditions. Like for instance, in combat against an opponent who isn't just standing around waiting for you to kill them. In fact, it was the job of the player (this is slightly reversed in D&amp;D) to describe their turn in terms of what their opponent did that made them fail.For example, if you were fighting with a spear against a guy with an axe and a shield, you would never say, &quot;I attack with my spear and miss&quot; you'd say, &quot;I thrust my spear at the guy's face, but he brings up his shield and the spear slides along going past him, and he drives me back...&quot;Even fights that were a lot of swing-and-a-miss back and forth were exciting. No one ever looked like a fool, the situation they were in looked dynamic, exciting, and DIFFICULT. It was Dangerous.I carried that forward with me back to D&amp;D when we started playing it again. Your character NEVER FAILS. Never. The monsters, NPCs, and even the world, defeats them. But only temporarily. The PCs pretty much always wind up on top. In the end. It makes their triumphs more meaningful than if they just cakewalk through things.Adventuring is HARD WORK. PCs rise to the challenge.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FitzTheRuke, post: 9201421, member: 59816"] I think I know why I don't have a problem with this while you do. 25+ years ago, I was growing bored of 2e D&D mechanically. I created a homebrew game that was a mosh-up of D&D and Call of Cthulhu. To make a long story short, the main mechanic was percentile-based, and many characters started out with 15-20% (30% was considered "proficient", which in the world meant "competent". Now, you'd clearly think that that is far too low. And by itself, I'd agree. But you see, the 30% was your chance of success under [I]difficult[/I] or [I]trying[/I] conditions. Like for instance, in combat against an opponent who isn't just standing around waiting for you to kill them. In fact, it was the job of the [I]player[/I] (this is slightly reversed in D&D) to describe their turn in terms of what [I]their opponent did[/I] that made them fail. For example, if you were fighting with a spear against a guy with an axe and a shield, you would [I]never[/I] say, "I attack with my spear and miss" you'd say, "I thrust my spear at the guy's face, but he brings up his shield and the spear slides along going past him, and he drives me back..." Even fights that were a lot of swing-and-a-miss back and forth were exciting. No one ever looked like a fool, the [I]situation they were in[/I] looked [I]dynamic, exciting, and DIFFICULT. It was Dangerous.[/I] I carried that forward with me back to D&D when we started playing it again. Your character NEVER FAILS. Never. The monsters, NPCs, and even the world, defeats them. But only temporarily. The PCs pretty much always wind up on top. In the end. It makes their triumphs more meaningful than if they just cakewalk through things. Adventuring is HARD WORK. PCs rise to the challenge. [/QUOTE]

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