FitzTheRuke
Legend
I think that "oh you sail poorly so you have to take shelter in a bad area" is a reasonable consequence of a failed roll. "you hit rocks and drown, make new characters" would.... well I know damn well *you* wouldn't do that, but some people...
Anyway, still astounded how *close* it was.
Always fun when every roll matters!
I've taught DM's workshops where I try to teach what I call "the Illusion of Disaster". You'll have seen it with things like when the CR23 Dracolich was searching for your level 7 characters while they were trying not to drown to get across the river. He could have found you, had you done ALL the wrong things (not just bad rolls, but also bad decisions) but it was not likely. You had teleported and he couldn't possibly know where to look. On top of that, he was searching by air and there were other people (the Beast Boys) fleeing on foot by the road - much easier to spot! But I sure as heck described it as he's coming around the mountain, about to dive down and kill you all.
The illusion of disaster is fun. Actual disaster is not. Still, actual disaster has to be possible to have a sense of accomplishment. It should just only result from a series of unfortunate events, not one bad roll and its all over. Especially not in what is otherwise an unimportant cut-scene!
That's how I see it, anyway.