The Foundry

Like, I think most players and GMs (especially those of us that come from the D&D paradigm) tend to think of the dice roll as representing how well the character does the thing. This seems intuitive, but it tends to make a character’s perceived level of competency at the things they’re supposed to be good at weirdly swingy, which might be undesirable unless you’re aiming for a slapstick tone.

Like, your stats/skills/modifyiers/whatever the hell the game you’re playing has/ already represent how good/bad your character is at doing certain stuff. So the die roll, being a luck-based number unrelated to these skills, probably shouldn’t ALSO represent how well your character does the thing, but instead represent outside factors that influence the outcome of your action, such as something distravting your hero, the enemy jumping away to avoid the swing, or the lock you’re trying to pick having a bit of rust that’s giving you trouble.

It’s mostly a joke, but I always try to remember to ask “what exactly did you not do” before describing the environmental factors or the actions of their opponent that got in their way- nothing sucks the momentum out of a scene like reducing it to a set of die rolls with no in-universe context.

I see this most often with players of Spellcasters who don’t really know what a spell gone wrong looks like, but they roll or ask for a save before they even get as far as declaring their action.

I need to get into the habit in those cases of asking “What are you casting?” or “What are you trying to do?” as soon as I see a die hit the table or I’m asked to roll a save for a monster, rather than waiting for the “I do nothing” moment.

It’s tempting, especially in combat, to just keep the game moving- but not describing failure can just lead to a fight feeling like a ton of fizzled spells and non-committal feints at best, and at worst, a staring contest. Describing failure in a fight can look like desperate parries, split second dodges, and displays of mental fortitude instead, even if none of those blows land.

That said, I think it might be a little extreme to call it bad manners in the culture of our table (though I can see why it would be at yours). I admit I personally was mostly speaking about in-initiative combat, where we sometimes roll just before our turn if we’re pretty certain we know what we’re going to do. (This is a sort of unspoken agreement we have at our table, and there’s a sort of trust that my players know what their spells do, that admittedly sometimes backfires!)

Some of that is on me, players ask me to roll a constitution save or the like for X monster for their spell or ability- and sometimes the impulse to just do it and keep the momentum overrides the knowledge that I should ask what exactly they’re doing.

Frankly, I think what’s happening, at least a little, is that players are almost embarrassed to say that they’ve rolled poorly- probably because they’re carrying baggage from, as you said, the DnD meme culture, and past DMs making their characters look foolish: “Nat 1; you shot your buddy.

I’m personally guilty of setting that expectation for some of my players in the past. Though now I’m making an effort to move away from ‘Critical Failures,’ it can be hard to push players into a territory where they aren’t afraid to fail because they know a good story will be told regardless.

Otherwise, the players might, even if they rolled early, say “[Character] thrusts at the monster with her rapier- I rolled a 9, though” instead of just opening their turn with “I missed” or “I do nothing.”

Like you said, it’s during exploration where this behavior really becomes a problem for the game and kind of a bad habit for a lot of players. 

Like, I think most players and GMs (especially those of us that come from the D&D paradigm) tend to think of the dice roll as representing how well the character does the thing. This seems intuitive, but it tends to make a character's perceived level of competency at the things they're supposed to be good at weirdly swingy, which might be undesirable unless you're aiming for a slapstick tone.

Like, your stats/skills/modifyiers/whatever the hell the game you're playing has/ already represent how good/bad your character is at doing certain stuff. So the die roll, being a luck-based number unrelated to these skills, probably shouldn't ALSO represent how well your character does the thing, but instead represent outside factors that influence the outcome of your action, such as something distravting your hero, the enemy jumping away to avoid the swing, or the lock you're trying to pick having a bit of rust that's giving you trouble.

It’s mostly a joke, but I always try to remember to ask “what exactly did you not do” before describing the environmental factors or the actions of their opponent that got in their way- nothing sucks the momentum out of a scene like reducing it to a set of die rolls with no in-universe context.

I see this most often with players of Spellcasters who don’t really know what a spell gone wrong looks like, but they roll or ask for a save before they even get as far as declaring their action.

I need to get into the habit in those cases of asking “What are you casting?” or “What are you trying to do?” as soon as I see a die hit the table or I’m asked to roll a save for a monster, rather than waiting for the “I do nothing” moment.

It’s tempting, especially in combat, to just keep the game moving- but not describing failure can just lead to a fight feeling like a ton of fizzled spells and non-committal feints at best, and at worst, a staring contest. Describing failure in a fight can look like desperate parries, split second dodges, and displays of mental fortitude instead, even if none of those blows land.

That said, I think it might be a little extreme to call it bad manners in the culture of our table (though I can see why it would be at yours). I admit I personally was mostly speaking about in-initiative combat, where we sometimes roll just before our turn if we’re pretty certain we know what we’re going to do. (This is a sort of unspoken agreement we have at our table, and there’s a sort of trust that my players know what their spells do, that admittedly sometimes backfires!)

Some of that is on me, players ask me to roll a constitution save or the like for X monster for their spell or ability- and sometimes the impulse to just do it and keep the momentum overrides the knowledge that I should ask what exactly they’re doing.

Frankly, I think what’s happening, at least a little, is that players are almost embarrassed to say that they’ve rolled poorly- probably because they’re carrying baggage from, as you said, the DnD meme culture, and past DMs making their characters look foolish: “Nat 1; you shot your buddy.

I’m personally guilty of setting that expectation for some of my players in the past. Though now I’m making an effort to move away from ‘Critical Failures,’ it can be hard to push players into a territory where they aren’t afraid to fail because they know a good story will be told regardless.

Otherwise, the players might, even if they rolled early, say “[Character] thrusts at the monster with her rapier- I rolled a 9, though” instead of just opening their turn with “I missed” or “I do nothing.”

Like, I think most players and GMs (especially those of us that come from the D&D paradigm) tend to think of the dice roll as representing how well the character does the thing. This seems intuitive, but it tends to make a character's perceived level of competency at the things they're supposed to be good at weirdly swingy, which might be undesirable unless you're aiming for a slapstick tone.

Like, your stats/skills/modifyiers/whatever the hell the game you're playing has/ already represent how good/bad your character is at doing certain stuff. So the die roll, being a luck-based number unrelated to these skills, probably shouldn't ALSO represent how well your character does the thing, but instead represent outside factors that influence the outcome of your action, such as something distravting your hero, the enemy jumping away to avoid the swing, or the lock you're trying to pick having a bit of rust that's giving you trouble.

It’s mostly a joke, but I always try to remember to ask “what exactly did you not do” before describing the environmental factors or the actions of their opponent that got in their way- nothing sucks the momentum out of a scene like reducing it to a set of die rolls with no in-universe context.

I see this most often with players of Spellcasters who don’t really know what a spell gone wrong looks like, but they roll or ask for a save before they even get as far as declaring their action.

I need to get into the habit in those cases of asking “What are you casting?” or “What are you trying to do?” as soon as I see a die hit the table or I’m asked to roll a save for a monster, rather than waiting for the “I do nothing” moment.

It’s tempting, especially in combat, to just keep the game moving- but not describing failure can just lead to a fight feeling like a ton of fizzled spells and non-committal feints at best, and at worst, a staring contest. Describing failure in a fight can look like desperate parries, split second dodges, and displays of mental fortitude instead, even if none of those blows land.

Week 3: Craft Day 1: Combat Superiority Classes

So this week is a project week- every post this week will be content from Robilar’s Treatise on Combat (name pending). These are the new subclasses represented in the suplement, and they demonstrate the thought process that went into much of this supplement: combat superiority is for everyone. And by that, I mean that the Battlemaster Martial Archetype nails the little tactical decisions that make fighters fun to play. These lean into some already existing roles the battlemaster can fulfill, and grant some special maneuvers and class features to make them the go-to specialist for it.

Week 3: Craft Day 1: Combat Superiority Classes

So this week is a project week- every post this week will be content from Robilar’s Treatise on Combat (name pending). These are the new subclasses represented in the suplement, and they demonstrate the thought process that went into much of this supplement: combat superiority is for everyone. And by that, I mean that the Battlemaster Martial Archetype nails the little tactical decisions that make fighters fun to play. These lean into some already existing roles the battlemaster can fulfill, and grant some special maneuvers and class features to make them the go-to specialist for it.

Week 3: Craft Day 1: Combat Superiority Classes

So this week is a project week- every post this week will be content from Robilar’s Treatise on Combat (name pending). These are the new subclasses represented in the suplement, and they demonstrate the thought process that went into much of this supplement: combat superiority is for everyone. And by that, I mean that the Battlemaster Martial Archetype nails the little tactical decisions that make fighters fun to play. These lean into some already existing roles the battlemaster can fulfill, and grant some special maneuvers and class features to make them the go-to specialist for it.

Week 3: Craft Day 1: Combat Superiority Classes

So this week is a project week- every post this week will be content from Robilar’s Treatise on Combat (name pending). These are the new subclasses represented in the suplement, and they demonstrate the thought process that went into much of this supplement: combat superiority is for everyone. And by that, I mean that the Battlemaster Martial Archetype nails the little tactical decisions that make fighters fun to play. These lean into some already existing roles the battlemaster can fulfill, and grant some special maneuvers and class features to make them the go-to specialist for it.

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 5: Oath of the Valkyrie

With the entertainers, reasearchers, and other guests in place, you’ll need some devoted folks to protect them all. Enter: a new order of Paladins, who have their own interest in observing the thinning of the Veil. Those who swear the Oath of the Valkyrie fight on the material plane with an eye for the war in the outer planes- claiming souls with consideration for how it effects the position of heaven and hell more than how it effects the battle in front of them.Of course, with that power comes a measure of privelege, and they can use it to keep their companions alive, and ensure that their fallen foes do not rise again.

Those of you who have been keeping up this week know that another oath, the Oath of Twilight, was supposed to drop today as well.

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 5: Oath of the Valkyrie

With the entertainers, reasearchers, and other guests in place, you’ll need some devoted folks to protect them all. Enter: a new order of Paladins, who have their own interest in observing the thinning of the Veil. Those who swear the Oath of the Valkyrie fight on the material plane with an eye for the war in the outer planes- claiming souls with consideration for how it effects the position of heaven and hell more than how it effects the battle in front of them.Of course, with that power comes a measure of privelege, and they can use it to keep their companions alive, and ensure that their fallen foes do not rise again.

Those of you who have been keeping up this week know that another oath, the Oath of Twilight, was supposed to drop today as well.

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 5: Oath of the Valkyrie

With the entertainers, reasearchers, and other guests in place, you’ll need some devoted folks to protect them all. Enter: a new order of Paladins, who have their own interest in observing the thinning of the Veil. Those who swear the Oath of the Valkyrie fight on the material plane with an eye for the war in the outer planes- claiming souls with consideration for how it effects the position of heaven and hell more than how it effects the battle in front of them.Of course, with that power comes a measure of privelege, and they can use it to keep their companions alive, and ensure that their fallen foes do not rise again.

Those of you who have been keeping up this week know that another oath, the Oath of Twilight, was supposed to drop today as well.

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 5: Oath of the Valkyrie

With the entertainers, reasearchers, and other guests in place, you’ll need some devoted folks to protect them all. Enter: a new order of Paladins, who have their own interest in observing the thinning of the Veil. Those who swear the Oath of the Valkyrie fight on the material plane with an eye for the war in the outer planes- claiming souls with consideration for how it effects the position of heaven and hell more than how it effects the battle in front of them.Of course, with that power comes a measure of privelege, and they can use it to keep their companions alive, and ensure that their fallen foes do not rise again.

Those of you who have been keeping up this week know that another oath, the Oath of Twilight, was supposed to drop today as well.