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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gribble" data-source="post: 7688687" data-attributes="member: 12430">IMO: experts having a chance of failure at something that others couldn't reasonably even attempt isn't actually a good model of reality. For example - I'm a software developer by trade. I can do things that I literally would have zero (i.e.: not even a miniscule) chance of failing at, that most people I know outside of the field couldn't even attempt. If there is a good reason why I might fail (e.g.: outside forces working against me), then Gumshoe handles that scenario too. I'm pretty sure that is generally applicable across medical and other fields as well. Certainly I can think of lots of other examples like the history buff who recalls without fail the exact date of a particular event they are familiar with whereas I'd struggle to place the year, or the architecture student who identifies with 100% accuracy the style and time period of a building I look at and think "that's got three stories and a roof".But that's kind of beside the point, which I think a lot of these posts are missing. If you want a game that simulates that kind of "reality" (and I use that term loosely), by assuming that every PC has a chance at failing at everything, then Gumshoe isn't for you. Alternatively, if you want something completely freeform, where everyone describes down to the nth degree exactly the actions they're taking, and the GM just narrates results without ever rolling dice, Gumshoe isn't for you. But if you want a game that emulates the source material very well, and the abilities of your character (it's important to distinguish this from the abilities of the player and the things they might ask) have a direct impact on the success (or not) in uncovering clues, then it might be the game for you.It isn't freeform or dependent on you having to perfectly describe what your character is doing to succeed, it has a tight and elegant set of mechanics behind it which are tailor-made for the investigative genre and don't have to be shoehorned or modified to work.So to answer an earlier question - would I recommend it for standard dungeon crawling D&D? No, I wouldn't. Perhaps for something like an Eberron adventure which chronicled the stories of a fantasy private eye/investigator, that what certainly wouldn't be your typical dungeon crawling D&D experience!</blockquote>

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