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Failure stakes for a travel Skill Challenge
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7561050" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>[MENTION=82106]AbdulAlhazred[/MENTION], [MENTION=1282]darkbard[/MENTION] - interesting discussion!</p><p></p><p>If the players declare that their PCs are <em>heading for X by striking out through the wilderness</em>, then we have intent and task. It seems that there are several possible ways this can unfold at the table.</p><p></p><p>(1) The GM simply says "yes" and narrates the arrival, perhaps with a bit of travel drama laid on top. Ipso facto there can't be anything of significant cost here. This is how most travel in my Prince Valiant game, and some of the travel in my 4e and BW games, happens.</p><p></p><p>Cortex+ Vikings is a bit different, because the PCs tend not to have a particular destination in mind, and the travel is punctuated by me dropping in appropriate action scenes (this actually gives it more of an "Arthurian wanderings" feel than Prince Valiant, where we use the map of Britain on the inside cover of the Pendgraon hardback that shipped as part of the PV kickstarter).</p><p></p><p>(2) A version of (1) where the GM "bargains" with the players - <em>you arrive fine, but knock of XYZ</em>, where that might be money, rations, healing surges, etc. I'm sure I've done this in 4e but can't recall an occasion at present. Traveller also lends itself to this - where XYZ is <em>purchase of a high passage</em> - but in my game the PCs have only ever travelled using their own starship.</p><p></p><p>(3) Successful arrival is put at stake, and so some sort of check has to be made. What counts as "successful" is pretty crucial here. It may require fleshing out the intent behind the task.</p><p></p><p>If what's at stake is <em>arrival</em> per se, then maybe the stakes are whether or not the PCs arrive at all! </p><p></p><p>But if "success" means <em>arriving on time</em>, or <em>arriving at a refuge</em>, or <em>arriving so I can reconnect with my loved ones</em>, then it seems that the stakes might be some sort of threat to those things - arriving late, or failing to prevent a "Scouring of the Shire" situation, or loved ones being under threat (which could be as simple as, say, a drought).</p><p></p><p>In 4e, a complexity with these sorts of stakes is that it's not always straightforward to frame them into a check. Whereas some systems have (say) a relationship stat which would factor into a check where the intent is to reconnect with loved ones, 4e tends not to have that sort of thing. So it would make sense to try and make sure stakes, stats/mechanics and resolution framing are all well-aligned.</p><p></p><p>Obviously there's a lot more that could be said, and lots of possibilities, but I think I've got enough for a post!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7561050, member: 42582"] [MENTION=82106]AbdulAlhazred[/MENTION], [MENTION=1282]darkbard[/MENTION] - interesting discussion! If the players declare that their PCs are [I]heading for X by striking out through the wilderness[/i], then we have intent and task. It seems that there are several possible ways this can unfold at the table. (1) The GM simply says "yes" and narrates the arrival, perhaps with a bit of travel drama laid on top. Ipso facto there can't be anything of significant cost here. This is how most travel in my Prince Valiant game, and some of the travel in my 4e and BW games, happens. Cortex+ Vikings is a bit different, because the PCs tend not to have a particular destination in mind, and the travel is punctuated by me dropping in appropriate action scenes (this actually gives it more of an "Arthurian wanderings" feel than Prince Valiant, where we use the map of Britain on the inside cover of the Pendgraon hardback that shipped as part of the PV kickstarter). (2) A version of (1) where the GM "bargains" with the players - [I]you arrive fine, but knock of XYZ[/I], where that might be money, rations, healing surges, etc. I'm sure I've done this in 4e but can't recall an occasion at present. Traveller also lends itself to this - where XYZ is [I]purchase of a high passage[/I] - but in my game the PCs have only ever travelled using their own starship. (3) Successful arrival is put at stake, and so some sort of check has to be made. What counts as "successful" is pretty crucial here. It may require fleshing out the intent behind the task. If what's at stake is [I]arrival[/I] per se, then maybe the stakes are whether or not the PCs arrive at all! But if "success" means [I]arriving on time[/I], or [I]arriving at a refuge[/I], or [I]arriving so I can reconnect with my loved ones[/I], then it seems that the stakes might be some sort of threat to those things - arriving late, or failing to prevent a "Scouring of the Shire" situation, or loved ones being under threat (which could be as simple as, say, a drought). In 4e, a complexity with these sorts of stakes is that it's not always straightforward to frame them into a check. Whereas some systems have (say) a relationship stat which would factor into a check where the intent is to reconnect with loved ones, 4e tends not to have that sort of thing. So it would make sense to try and make sure stakes, stats/mechanics and resolution framing are all well-aligned. Obviously there's a lot more that could be said, and lots of possibilities, but I think I've got enough for a post! [/QUOTE]
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