Author Topic: But as a [insert thing here] I should be able to do [insert activity here]  (Read 4591 times)

Offline devonapple

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Player: "How tall is that fence?"
GM: "The razor-wired-lined fence is about ten feet high."
Player: "As a [insert werecreature here] I should be able to jump it"
[GM determined the border difficulty of crossing it is 4]
GM: "Excellent: roll Athletics to see if you can jump it."
[rolls dice]
GM: "What's the final result?"
Player: "3 shifts. SO do I make it over the fence? As an [insert werecreature here] it should be pretty easy."
GM: "Well..."

What do *you* do when this happens?
"Like a voice, like a crack, like a whispering shriek
That echoes on like it’s carpet-bombing feverish white jungles of thought
That I’m positive are not even mine"

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Offline MijRai

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I hold to the difficulty. It is just as hard to jump that fence, the animal form is just better suited to do it. An elk can jump an 8 foot fence, doesn't mean it can't mess up. Deer accidentally get caught on fences all the time.
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Offline Sanctaphrax

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Why not spend a Fate Point to invoke your [insert werecreature here] aspect?

Offline wyvern

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It's pretty clear the player was trying to invoke their high concept there.  Since they seem disinclined to put a fate point on the line on their own, it's time to throw a compel at them; clearly, in their overconfidence, they ended up caught in the fence, tangled up and restrained for whoever comes by and finds them.  If the player buys off the compel, then they can make it over, no problem (as a fate point would've provided the +2 needed to actually clear the barrier normally.)

Edit: in other words, they failed, and I choose to escalate that failure, putting a fate point on the line to make the situation go from "failed to cross fence" to "failed to cross fence and hopelessly tangled up in nasty wires that'll shred you in moments if you're so foolish as to try to revert to human form to extricate yourself."
« Last Edit: June 11, 2011, 12:06:44 AM by wyvern »

Offline BumblingBear

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I hold to the difficulty. It is just as hard to jump that fence, the animal form is just better suited to do it. An elk can jump an 8 foot fence, doesn't mean it can't mess up. Deer accidentally get caught on fences all the time.

This.

The player can always try again or invoke an aspect.
Myself: If I were in her(Murphy's) position, I would have studied my ass off on the supernatural and rigged up special weapons to deal with them.  Murphy on the other hand just plans to overpower bad guys with the angst of her short woman's syndrome and blame all resulting failures on Harry.

Offline InFerrumVeritas

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The "as an x I should be able to do x" is exactly what invoking the high concept is for.  Situational bonuses are handled by invoking aspects in the game (whether through tags or fate points).

Offline Ala Alba

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I don't know if it would be appropriate in this case, but I believe there is an option to increase the time it took you to do something in to make up for the missing shifts. Say, something like "You misjudged the height of the fence, so you had to try it a second time to actually make it over". In other words, they didn't fail, they just didn't succeed as quickly as they might have liked.

Offline Belial666

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Quote
Player: "As a [insert werecreature here] I should be able to jump it"
This statement is wrong. It is not what you are that says whether you can do something or not. What you are is an aspect, giving you at best a situational +2. What you can do is determined a lot more by your skills and abilities;

Player 1 is a weregoat with inhuman speed, echoes of the beast; goat (may use alertness for navigation, +1 to athletics for climbing) and an athletics of +1. He has a +3 athletics bonus for climbing, +4 if he "sprints" to double his Inhuman Speed bonus. There's a 40% chance he fails to pass the fence - because while being a weregoat, he is far less athletic than the average goat.
Player 2 is a weregoat like player 1 but he has an athletics of +5. With an effective Athletics of +8 for climbing, he automatically goes over such fences with ease, not only because he is a weregoat but because he is also extremely athletic.


And yes, I've seen cats that cannot climb trees - when you weight 30 pounds as a cat, you can't climb.

Offline UmbraLux

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What do *you* do when this happens?
First, I'd only be asking for a die roll if both success and failure stakes are interesting.  That doesn't have to be "make it over the fence" or "can't climb the fence".  It might be "leap over in one bound and gain ground on that fleeing monster" or "leap, grab the top, and drag yourself over...meanwhile that monster has gained a zone on you..."
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Offline Todjaeger

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First, I'd only be asking for a die roll if both success and failure stakes are interesting.  That doesn't have to be "make it over the fence" or "can't climb the fence".  It might be "leap over in one bound and gain ground on that fleeing monster" or "leap, grab the top, and drag yourself over...meanwhile that monster has gained a zone on you..."

In this case though (jumping a 10 foot fence topped with razor wire) the results are 'interesting' even if the character is not chasing or being chased by someone.

A successful jump would put the character over the barrier, a failure could mean that the character doesn't make it, or gets entangled in the wires and/or cut up by the wires.

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Offline Bubba Amon Hotep

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Add a complication.

The player always succeeds.  But a failed roll means something bad happens.  An added complication.

Jumped the fence, but you ripped your backpack open on the razor wire, its contents are spread all over.
Jumped the fence, but you caught your leg on some barbs/landed wrong take some damage.
Jumped the fence, but it was electrified.  You made it over, but got a nasty shock.
Jumped the fence, but you made quite a bit of noise, you think the guards noticed something going on and can see them coming to investigate.

etc etc etc

Offline ways and means

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I think it was Devon himself who came up with the idea of taking concequences to help boost a bad roll, I would off thought this would be a prime example let the person get over the fence and give them a minor concequence of a cut from the barbed wire. 
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Offline devonapple

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I think it was Devon himself who came up with the idea of taking concequences to help boost a bad roll, I would off thought this would be a prime example let the person get over the fence and give them a minor concequence of a cut from the barbed wire. 

Yes, I think I did! Thank you for the reminder.
"Like a voice, like a crack, like a whispering shriek
That echoes on like it’s carpet-bombing feverish white jungles of thought
That I’m positive are not even mine"

Blackout, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

Offline InFerrumVeritas

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I think it was Devon himself who came up with the idea of taking concequences to help boost a bad roll, I would off thought this would be a prime example let the person get over the fence and give them a minor concequence of a cut from the barbed wire. 

Ooh, I like that! 

Offline Taer

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Eh? This argument just... seems weird. I mean, is he arguing that he should get to skip rolls or ignore their results because it's appropriate for his supernatural type?

I mean, what. That's like arguing that because your High Concept is "Badass Assassin", you get to skip attack rolls and always hit whatever you want. After all, shooting accurately should be easy as [insert gun wielding concept here].

What his character is capable of is outlined on his sheet. If he doesn't have a particular ability, he doesn't get to handwave it away.

This is just not how it works. If he wants, he can invoke any of his Aspects for bonuses as per the usual - or use anything else that is on his sheet.
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