Comments on: Risk Taking (Not a Podcast)

By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged)

Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:30:16 +0000

Dread definitely handles that problem well. You can totally make that heroic last stand or heart-wrenching sacrifice, and the game backs you up. Few games do that.

Hell, I can’t think of ONE off the top of my head.

By: Timo

Timo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:14:20 +0000

Interesting, I was thinking along these lines. The online comic darths & Droids (http://www.darthsanddroids.net/) made some comments about “the Cavalry.” It’s basic point is that if the DM brings in the cavalry out of nowhere, it really feels like just Deus Ex Machina UNLESS the pc’s have done something to set up the cavalry coming.

Something felt weird about that, and I realised what it is: this is only true because you’ll never see a PC actually choose to make a real last stand. Thinking back on it, I’ve never seen a player take his character and put him in a situation where he really believes he won’t make. I’ve never seen someone say “I won’t survive this, but it has to be done.”

Well, come to think of it, I have. But then the DM just goes “yeah, you’re right. you die a noble death.”

But yes, awesome article.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:03:44 +0000

Agreed. On some level, the entire concept of XP is antithetical to risk taking. It’s like “okay, everyone in the party is level 8. I’m level 8. I kick ass. It took me a year to get here. If I die, I start over.” Why would you risk that character?

By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged)

Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:35:03 +0000

Good article. Most rpgs emphatically do not reward risk taking, no matter what the rules text says about it.