NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7632460" data-attributes="member: 177">No, I don't require a mechanical test.  That was merely the easiest example, and the way we typically form challenges in RPGs.  What is required for a challenge is 1) More than one possible end state, in which one is preferable to others.2) Significant question over whether you can attain a preferable end state.3) Some ability to influence the course of events.So, a fight between a 20th level fighter and a base goblin - not a challenge, as there's no real question about being able to reach the preferred state.  Similarly, flip a coin, and that's the result you get, no matter what you do?  Also not a challenge, as no effort on your part influences results.If you maintain full control of the choice, there is no challenge, as there no doubt you can reach your preferred end state.In this context, no.  That isn't a challenge.  That is a question.  "Who are you?  What do you want?"  You can have either just as easily.  There is no difficulty in attaining either.  Angst over not being able to have your cake and eat it too does not constitute a challenge.  Questions over what really is your preferred end state, similarly, do not constitute a challenge.This is something we should note - a difference between the real world and authored fiction.  In the real world, resisting temptation may be a challenge for a person.  For an authored fiction, there is the *illusion* of a challenge.  If we suspend our disbelief, it makes us *feel* like a challenge took place.  But, really, the author just decided - there is no person whose will was honestly tested.  If someone has full, or zero, control over the result, there is no test.</blockquote>

Verification