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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6182485" data-attributes="member: 42582">[MENTION=33132]WhatGravitas[/MENTION] says "and success/failures aren't focussed on a particular task, but overall progress". That doesn't mean that a skill check doesn't correspond to a particular event - it means that adjudication of the outcome of that event pertains to success or failure at the overall challenge - hence WhatGravitas's suggestion upthread that a failed skill check might be consistent with succeeding at the task at hand, but not making progress at the overall challenge due to some other consequence (eg the wall crumbling as you climb it).This is basic "intent and task" stuff from Burning Wheel.I don't really understand this, either as a point about logic or a point about gameplay.As a point about logic, it seems to entail that partial success is impossible, because partial success entails that everything desired was not achieved, which is to say that there was not (full) success, which entails that there was failure.That's fine if you want to use "success" to mean "full success" and "failure" to mean "anything short of full success". But once the notion of partial success is introduced, I'm assuming that we're liberalising usage a bit.As a point about gameplay, here are some ways in which partial success is possible:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the challenge succeeds, but due to failed checks along the way the group loses surges, or even has a PC die; </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the challenge succeeds, but due to concessions made by PCs along the way (eg as part of making social skill checks) they have to make compromises they didn't want to make; </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the challenge fails, but due to successes along the way the PCs get some of what they want (eg they don't persuade the duke to give them troops, but along the way a successful check has led to the duke or an advisor telling them something about the lay of the land, or the disposition of the troops, that is helpful for the party).</li> </ul>This is much the same as how combat can have partial success (if the PCs beat all their enemies but take casualties in the process) or have partial faiure (if the PCs fail to beat all their enemies but do defeat some of them, thereby weakening them, or otherwise achieve some of their lesser goals even while failing at their overall one of victory).</blockquote>

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