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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 5654094" data-attributes="member: 66434">You seem to be under the impression that such decisions are made on a whim, in some sort of vacuum. The consequences of any success or failure are dependent upon the circumstances.  While a loss in combat to merciless savages usually results in death, not every failure including combat is fatal.  There is steering going on. What happens is driven by the motivations of those with the power and resources to determine exactly what that is. If the PCs are losing a combat and a loss seems certain, the consequences of that loss can vary depending on who they are fighting. A savage animal looking for a meal will not likely be influenced by bargaining. A gang of thugs that might be tempted by the possibility of a ransom payday is another matter.    If the players are all on board and fine with the story everything is ok. Of course knowing that combat is the only activity that the party gets to succeed at via thier own ability might influence decisions toward making more solutions combat oriented. Why spend valuable game time going through the motions to resolve something if the end result is always[insert handwave here] success somehow?  It is quite natural for players to seek out the best ways to be genuinely effective. Fudging the result of all non-combat action is telling them that fighting is the only meaningful activity in the game.     If the players are all on board and agree that story is more important to them than meaningful resolution of in-game action there isn't a problem.</blockquote>

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