CrashFiend82
Explorer
After reading some of the ideas in the DMG I found one very intriguing... Success at a cost on pg. 242. It was a blast but after a more attentive reading I realized how badly, I had it screwed it up. To begin I read rolling a 1 (critical failure) instead of missing by a 1 or 2. It allows the character to succeed but at the cost of another step of action. I mistook that for you succeed on a roll of 1, however it leads to greater effort and a change in the narrative. Now on to why my most grievous error made for one of our worst (and most fun adventures to date). Warning!! Spoilers ahead!!
We were playing LMoP specifically the Red Brand hideout portion when the folly began. The group had completed a few contests where I used an older style of critical failure. Example: roll 1 on an attack and you fell prone or ended up dropping your weapon (they enjoyed this a little but were a little upset when a 1 appeared). I decided to shake it up using Success at a Cost (or my misunderstanding there of). They found the crevice and offered the Nothic food to outright avoid the fight, then moved into the larger area, and found the secret door. They got into a fight with the wizard (Glass Staff or something similar). It went alright but not great as they were rolling poorly. He wants more than anything to escape, and he was slowly heading that way. Almost out of HP he makes a final attempt to flee, running out towards the larger open area. The barbarian has a final shot and decides to throw his ax and rolls a 1. Okay I decide Succeed at a Cost, the ax lands in his back and he wobbles forward falling into the crevice, big deal. Except they know from informants in town that he may have information to gain. So the players decide to send in the barbarian since it was his fault, with the Nothic waiting below. Fast forward a bit and they all end up in battle with the Nothic, the barbarian knocked out solid, but they survive heal up a bit collect the information and are ready to move on. However they are still at the bottom of the crevice, so the rogue heads up the rope and sure enough rolls a 1. I share that he makes it just about to the top and the rope snaps (overuse or some such excuse) he is no hanging on the ledge. He rolls a success and pulls himself up but the rope is now down the hole. Thankfully the barbarian has a grappling hook, they attach the rope and he tosses it up and over and rolls a 1. I explain that the throw was strong and accurate making over the ledge but catches on the rogues leg, who now must make two additional acrobatics checks to keep from being pulled into the crevice and also secure the grappling hook before it falls back over. He makes both and the party climbs out and moves on.
At the end of the session I reread the notes on Succeed at a Cost, oops I botched that one. I explained to the players my mistake and further how it was meant to work. I was all ready for a mutiny and cries of outrage, instead they exclaim how awesome it was and beg for it to continue. After a brief discussion I came to realize what made it so exciting was that even though they still cringe when they roll a 1, they get a more excited over what shenanigans are in store.
I realize this might not be for every group, but it certainly added a new dimension to our table and I thought it was worth sharing. A) because it can take an afternoon of bad rolls in a whole new direction and add excitement. B) for any new DMs too afraid to make mistakes, sometimes misreading a rule can lead to the best session yet.
We were playing LMoP specifically the Red Brand hideout portion when the folly began. The group had completed a few contests where I used an older style of critical failure. Example: roll 1 on an attack and you fell prone or ended up dropping your weapon (they enjoyed this a little but were a little upset when a 1 appeared). I decided to shake it up using Success at a Cost (or my misunderstanding there of). They found the crevice and offered the Nothic food to outright avoid the fight, then moved into the larger area, and found the secret door. They got into a fight with the wizard (Glass Staff or something similar). It went alright but not great as they were rolling poorly. He wants more than anything to escape, and he was slowly heading that way. Almost out of HP he makes a final attempt to flee, running out towards the larger open area. The barbarian has a final shot and decides to throw his ax and rolls a 1. Okay I decide Succeed at a Cost, the ax lands in his back and he wobbles forward falling into the crevice, big deal. Except they know from informants in town that he may have information to gain. So the players decide to send in the barbarian since it was his fault, with the Nothic waiting below. Fast forward a bit and they all end up in battle with the Nothic, the barbarian knocked out solid, but they survive heal up a bit collect the information and are ready to move on. However they are still at the bottom of the crevice, so the rogue heads up the rope and sure enough rolls a 1. I share that he makes it just about to the top and the rope snaps (overuse or some such excuse) he is no hanging on the ledge. He rolls a success and pulls himself up but the rope is now down the hole. Thankfully the barbarian has a grappling hook, they attach the rope and he tosses it up and over and rolls a 1. I explain that the throw was strong and accurate making over the ledge but catches on the rogues leg, who now must make two additional acrobatics checks to keep from being pulled into the crevice and also secure the grappling hook before it falls back over. He makes both and the party climbs out and moves on.
At the end of the session I reread the notes on Succeed at a Cost, oops I botched that one. I explained to the players my mistake and further how it was meant to work. I was all ready for a mutiny and cries of outrage, instead they exclaim how awesome it was and beg for it to continue. After a brief discussion I came to realize what made it so exciting was that even though they still cringe when they roll a 1, they get a more excited over what shenanigans are in store.
I realize this might not be for every group, but it certainly added a new dimension to our table and I thought it was worth sharing. A) because it can take an afternoon of bad rolls in a whole new direction and add excitement. B) for any new DMs too afraid to make mistakes, sometimes misreading a rule can lead to the best session yet.
