What if your player wanted to make a bet?

[Ry]

I put this out there because deciding that players can make those kind of freeform bets - on any roll - may be the best thing that I've tried in my games. I reserve the right to say "no bet" whenever I please - and I don't accept every bet, but the ones I accepted have sure made the game more fun.

 

[The_Universe]

I want the guy the original poster plays with playing in my games. I never guarantee success, but I never penalize players for thinking big.

 

[Tewligan]

Nope. You said in your example that most of his men are already dead - sounds like he barely has anything to lose, and plenty to gain.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

We've always done stuff like that. It's important (to me, anyway) that it not be done often. It has to be a once-a-character type thing. It has to be a special, game defining event.

 

[Thurbane]

I'm a big fan of heroic last stands, and the old addage "fortune favors the brave", so I'd probably let him go for it.

 

[Rackhir]

I am so going to have to take you up on this sometime.

Er, yeah. Like Meiji is going to be making a last stand against a superior force. You'd be the first one to the rear.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I'm a big fan of heroic last stands, and the old addage "fortune favors the brave", so I'd probably let him go for it.

Yup...I'd allow it

hell, I'd talk about it for years.

 

[shilsen]

Er, yeah. Like Meiji is going to be making a last stand against a superior force. You'd be the first one to the rear.

Well, sure - but I could make the bet on Rackhir's behalf, couldn't I? Hell, Meiji's arguably been making bets on Rackhir's behalf in almost every fight, since Meiji stands behind him and bets that he'll remain standing long enough for Meiji to be able to make his escape if needed.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'd make him role play it out and give him a circumstance modifier.

No rolling for big power without something to back it up. I need to be entertained too dang it.

 

[Wik]

you know, D&D *is* a collaborative experience, which is something DM's can forget occasionally.

If a player wants to say something like "hey, could there be a trap here? I think it would really add to the dungeon...", sometimes, I think the GM should step back and say "why not?"

In the mentioned case, I think the GM should appreciate something like this. The player, paying attention to the scenario, has decided to take a gamble. As the GM, I'd say something like:

"Hell, I'll one up you. You roll a fifteen or higher, and they get the bonus. You roll a 20, and I'll double it."

Anything that encourages the player to take up the GM hat, even for a moment, is something that should be cherished; after all, it means that the player is involved in your campaign world.

My two cents.