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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 6782385" data-attributes="member: 29398">True, but the term "Fail Forward" rather strongly implies the narration has to be somehow beneficial to the PCs; which is untrue.  Hence my use of the added terms "Fail Sideways" and "Fail Backward".  Your example with the mace is an interesting conflation of two of these: it's fail-backward for PC #1 and ultimately fail-forward for PC #2.Wouldn't that be "Succeed Backward"?  The task in question succeeded, thus there is no failure; but with poor results.Again it comes down to the use of the word "forward", and some DMs taking it to mean "continuing on track".All quite true.That depends on the DM, of course.  Some have their worlds (or specific parts of them) more fleshed out than others.  If for example I've already drawn out a map of Town X and determined what is in each building, and there isn't a hat shop, I'm not going to put one in just because it'd be handy for someone at the time.  But if the party goes to Town Y that I haven't done much more than give a name to I'll just dream up the odds of a) there being a hat shop, and b) of the PCs being able to easily find it, and roll some dice.It's much trickier changing actual adventures on the fly.  If the PCs fail to get past a significant door and there's no other way in I'm not going to add another way in just so they can get there; they're out of luck and have to go to one of a near-infinite number of plans-B...which could even include going back to town and hiring a better lock-picker! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Now here I agree, as long as all involved keep in mind that the DM can veto anything the player dreams up if it clashes with her own ideas for how things work in her world.I make stuff up about my characters all the time.  Some of it even sees the light of play - I'll usually run the basics by the DM first to make sure he's cool with it but sometimes the run of play needs something *now* and away we go.An example: a PC I'm currently playing is a Magic-User from that world's equivalent to the Roman Empire.  Once she'd stuck around long enough for me to care I made up her life's story; including getting some field experience in the Legions (this is where she gets her somewhat unyielding sense of order and discipline from) before beginning her adventuring career.  Up until then Hestia (the empire) hadn't ever had formal Legions...but it does now, with the DM's approval.  And ever since I've been boring people with my "back when I was in the Legions..." stories! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Lanefan</blockquote>

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