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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 8253225" data-attributes="member: 18333">Great points about failure.  When players understand failure adds drama, tension and sometimes leads to other paths that are very interesting, roleplaying becomes so much richer.  This is a great discussion for a “session 0.” I like when failure also leads to a new choice.  In one of my last sessions (Tomb of Annihilation), the party I DM for had to move past a magnetic statue shield that pulled any metal (up to 150 lbs) toward it.  If the metal touched the shield it instantly rusted to dust.  The pcs with no metal had no trouble, but for the ones with metal weapons or gear, they felt it all pull towards the shield (luckily the armored pcs were all over 150 lbs).   I told the pcs which of their items were being pulled and if the pcs tried to grab pulled items, and they failed a strength (athletics) check, I let them decide which item they couldn’t hold back.  That choice made the encounter much more interesting and the players loved it.  It was a failure, but also a success. It was a cinematic moment too and it made the Dwarven Cleric want to avoid passing near that statue again.</blockquote>