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Monte Cook On Fumble Mechanics
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7695220" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Believability? </p><p>One has cause and effect within the fiction and the other links cause and effect only through the metafiction?</p><p>One is probably absurd and certainly was intended to be and the other occurs in a beloved piece of heroic fiction?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In siting examples from Star Wars, all I'm trying to suggest is that heroic fiction can contain heroes that fail - sometimes in a comic manner - and yet still be heroic. There seems to be the suggestion that you can't have 'silly things' and 'heroic fiction' at the same time. Yet most beloved fiction has moments of comedy and moments of drama.</p><p></p><p>I certainly wouldn't want to state that definitively this mechanic led to that situation in a Star Wars movie, since it wasn't produced by a game process.</p><p></p><p>But from my perspective the real fumble in this scenario is before the hydro-spanners fall on his head, back when on Hoth he's repairing the Falcon. The fumble is that Han thinks he fixed it, but actually hasn't. This mistaken belief is ultimately what leads to Han comically and frantically (but also tensely and with much audience excitement) trying to fix the Falcon while in a combat situation, leading the hydro-spanners landing on his head comically.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The hydrospanner's didn't fall on Han's head because of his failing a check at that moment. The hydrospanner's fell on his head because the Falcon struck an asteroid, probably provoking something like a reflex save by the crew to avoid taking damage, and because Han was not strapped into a secure combat position he failed and the DM colored the failure as the hydrospanner's falling on his head because that was funny and appropriate to the myth the scene had established. </p><p></p><p>Keep in mind. I'm mostly running this process:</p><p></p><p> 1) The player announces their intention to do something doubtful (the "plan" or "proposition").</p><p> 2) A fortune is decided on and chanced. The stakes are generally either the PC's plan works or it doesn't.</p><p> 3) The DM narrates the results depending on whether the fortune was successful.</p><p> 4) Return to step #1.</p><p></p><p>I don't have an notion like, "Hydrospanners fall on your head as a result of a failed Repair check." or "Since a roll was failed, the scene should get more difficult."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7695220, member: 4937"] Believability? One has cause and effect within the fiction and the other links cause and effect only through the metafiction? One is probably absurd and certainly was intended to be and the other occurs in a beloved piece of heroic fiction? In siting examples from Star Wars, all I'm trying to suggest is that heroic fiction can contain heroes that fail - sometimes in a comic manner - and yet still be heroic. There seems to be the suggestion that you can't have 'silly things' and 'heroic fiction' at the same time. Yet most beloved fiction has moments of comedy and moments of drama. I certainly wouldn't want to state that definitively this mechanic led to that situation in a Star Wars movie, since it wasn't produced by a game process. But from my perspective the real fumble in this scenario is before the hydro-spanners fall on his head, back when on Hoth he's repairing the Falcon. The fumble is that Han thinks he fixed it, but actually hasn't. This mistaken belief is ultimately what leads to Han comically and frantically (but also tensely and with much audience excitement) trying to fix the Falcon while in a combat situation, leading the hydro-spanners landing on his head comically. The hydrospanner's didn't fall on Han's head because of his failing a check at that moment. The hydrospanner's fell on his head because the Falcon struck an asteroid, probably provoking something like a reflex save by the crew to avoid taking damage, and because Han was not strapped into a secure combat position he failed and the DM colored the failure as the hydrospanner's falling on his head because that was funny and appropriate to the myth the scene had established. Keep in mind. I'm mostly running this process: 1) The player announces their intention to do something doubtful (the "plan" or "proposition"). 2) A fortune is decided on and chanced. The stakes are generally either the PC's plan works or it doesn't. 3) The DM narrates the results depending on whether the fortune was successful. 4) Return to step #1. I don't have an notion like, "Hydrospanners fall on your head as a result of a failed Repair check." or "Since a roll was failed, the scene should get more difficult." [/QUOTE]
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