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Imagine Reflections #2
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<blockquote data-quote="Von Ether" data-source="post: 8562390" data-attributes="member: 15582"><p>The social context between those two rolls are different though.</p><p></p><p>One player anticipates probably succeeding with a +10 and is really hoping for that 5% chance to get a nat 20 for extra bonuses. If they fail, it probably will be a unpleasant surprise and the dice "failed them (and probably goes to dice jail.) It's like an athlete going for the gold.</p><p></p><p>The -5 player is probably rolling out of desperation, completely tense and expecting a fail. The win is unexpected, a thrill and something everyone will be talking through the week. It's like an amateur player takes a random shot and make the goal despite themselves.</p><p></p><p>That's the difference when the more rare and unexpected outcome weighs on your success, not your failure.</p><p></p><p>Weighting the odds in a game is more than about numbers. In poker, you have the player type called the Rock, a risk adverse player who works the odds. Sounds like a smart player, but they rarely win big because poker is more about playing position, bluffing and tells than the random premium hand.</p><p></p><p>If a lot more players were truly honest about loving randomness and unpredictability, they'd have more -5s and no +10s. And it's also probably why a lot of GMs have a sweet spot that they, not the players, enforce.</p><p></p><p>Go above the sweet and many GM get frustrated because the outcomes are become more and more the same, which is that their challenges get handily defeated again and again.</p><p></p><p>For the group, as a whole, the session has - indeed - become a foregone conclusion.</p><p></p><p>In fact, that's sort of what the whole hamster wheel of leveling is about -- getting "better" at something by reducing the odds.</p><p></p><p>And I am not saying that is a bad thing, but for someone to embrace it and say they <em>love </em>randomness and unpredictability while making PCs with +10s in several places, there's some paradoxal thinking going on at some level.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Von Ether, post: 8562390, member: 15582"] The social context between those two rolls are different though. One player anticipates probably succeeding with a +10 and is really hoping for that 5% chance to get a nat 20 for extra bonuses. If they fail, it probably will be a unpleasant surprise and the dice "failed them (and probably goes to dice jail.) It's like an athlete going for the gold. The -5 player is probably rolling out of desperation, completely tense and expecting a fail. The win is unexpected, a thrill and something everyone will be talking through the week. It's like an amateur player takes a random shot and make the goal despite themselves. That's the difference when the more rare and unexpected outcome weighs on your success, not your failure. Weighting the odds in a game is more than about numbers. In poker, you have the player type called the Rock, a risk adverse player who works the odds. Sounds like a smart player, but they rarely win big because poker is more about playing position, bluffing and tells than the random premium hand. If a lot more players were truly honest about loving randomness and unpredictability, they'd have more -5s and no +10s. And it's also probably why a lot of GMs have a sweet spot that they, not the players, enforce. Go above the sweet and many GM get frustrated because the outcomes are become more and more the same, which is that their challenges get handily defeated again and again. For the group, as a whole, the session has - indeed - become a foregone conclusion. In fact, that's sort of what the whole hamster wheel of leveling is about -- getting "better" at something by reducing the odds. And I am not saying that is a bad thing, but for someone to embrace it and say they [I]love [/I]randomness and unpredictability while making PCs with +10s in several places, there's some paradoxal thinking going on at some level. [/QUOTE]
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