…all things to everyone, run, run, away!

Welcome to the GM’s Roundtable of June Doom.  Pull up a pew, make yourself comfortable, grab a drink, whatever.  Just don’t spill tea with milk and 2 sugars on your new laptop, that hardly ever ends well.

This month’s topic comes to us courtesy of Lex Starwalker:

Many of us probably remember the AD&D days when the DM could roll a black dragon on the random encounter table and end a low-level party’s career. The 3rd and 4th editions of the game led some newer players to believe that every encounter should be defeatable and appropriate to their level and capabilities. However, 5th edition has moved away from this structure.

We see this mirrored in other games as well. At one end of the spectrum is the style and belief that the PCs should be able to overcome any challenge that comes their way, that challenges should be “appropriate”. On the other end of the spectrum is the syle and belief that the world should be realistic, that every fight shouldn’t be able to be won, and that one of the requisite skills of the game is knowing when to fight and when to run.

Where do you, as a GM, fall on this spectrum, and why? Should the PCs always be able to win?

Should the PCs always be able to win.  Long story short: yes.  Well, yes and no.  If by “win” you mean “survive”.  So no.  Not every encounter is there for the PCs to be able to beat from the start of the game.  And it depends on what you mean by “beat”.  And “Encounter”.

Encounter:  Something the PCs have to deal with.  Orcs.  Locked doors.  Sections of wrecked starship exposed to the vacuum of deep space.  Koru Behemoths.

Beat: Overcome. Get around successfully. Defeat in combat.  Unlock.

So, you set up your challenges, your encounters, to drive the story forward. Sometimes those encounters need to teach the PCs that they have a place in the world – and they’re not at the top of the heap.

13th Age – amongst other games, or so I’m reliably informed – has a sweet mechanic that covers the eventuality of the PCs having their arses handed to them on a plate by a combination of bad dice rolls and monsters far too tough for them to beat right now: Campaign Losses.

Campaign Losses

Put simply, when the PCs are faced with overwhelming odds, when the dice are against them and they’re down to their last recovery rolls, they can always (*looks both ways to make sure no-one is looking, whispers*) run away.  Yep, those brave Sir Robins can tuck their tails between their legs and get themselves hence to a place of safety.  But this comes at a cost.

You didn’t defeat those Orc barbarians?  Well, bolstered by this success they’ve pushed onwards and overrun the next village, gaining reinforcements as they go.  Next time you face them, you’re in for a tougher fight.  Oh, and you dropped the Arch Mage’s wand as you were running.  You didn’t beat those skeletons?  That Necromancer now has a few more in his legion and has persuaded the Lich King that you’re worthy of his attention.  Didn’t defeat those demons?  They’ve managed to convince the local militia that you’re bad guys and they’re going to give you a hard time next time you’re in town.

Campaign Losses are a nice carte-blanche to deprive your PCs of resources and to give cool stuff to the adversary-level NPCs in your portfolio.

Encounters are one of the main ways the narrative is driven forward in most roleplaying games and they can serve a number of purposes:

1. Give the PCs stuff – XP so they can improve, treasure/s, and information
2. Challenge the PCs and let them know that defeating the Big Bad isn’t going to be a walk in the park
3. Encourage the PCs to try a different approach to the problem.

For 1 and 2, the PCs should be able to defeat whoever they’re battling – moreso for 1, 2 should be a bit tougher fight.  For 3, well, that’s when you’ve got the opportunity to bring on the pain.

Game Masters’ Roundtable of Doom

The Game Masters’ Roundtable of Doom is a meeting of the minds of tabletop RPG bloggers and GMs. Every GM has his or her favorite system, but in these articles we endeavor to transcend a particular system or game and discuss topics that are relevant to GMs and players of all roleplaying games.

If you are a blogger, and you’d like to participate in the Game Master’s Roundtable of Doom, send an email to Lex Starwalker at gamemastersjourney@gmail.com and supply the URL of your blog.

Want to see some other blogger’s takes on this subject? Check out the following (I’ll add post specific links as they roll out):

+James August Walls – X at http://ilive4crits.blogspot.com/

+Scott Robinson – Realism and Challenge at http://strangeenc.blogspot.com/

+Lex Starwalker – X at http://www.starwalkerstudios.com/blog/

+John Marvin – X at http://dreadunicorngames.com/

+Marc Plourde – X at http://inspstrikes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/nuts-bolts-36-game-masters-roundtable.html

+Peter Smits – the sliding scale of difficulty at http://planeataryexpress.blogspot.com/

+Arnold K. – X at http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/

+Evan Franke – X at http://asageamonghisbooks.blogspot.com/

+Burn Everything Gaming – Game Masters’ Rountable of Doom #6 at http://burneverythinggaming.com/