When Not to Fail Forward
I was still a bit burned out on writing after my camping trip, so I took a few more days off to work on some Roleplaying Tips projects. I’m back today, though, with some notions about when you might not want to apply partial successes.
RPT GM Gustavo asks:
What are your thoughts on when to use falling forward and when it’s best not to?
Some things, like trying to open a locked door, is a perfect place to fail forward. That’s to avoid the rerolls till they open that is not fun. So if they open it on first try, they open it. If they failed the roll, they opened but something bad or complicated happens, like losing a resource or alerting somebody.
Great question, thanks Gustavo. Here are a few thoughts. Please note that my tips and examples don’t include all edge cases or variables, so consider them guidelines.
Say No
Boundaries are important. I just read a terrible GM advice book that advised letting players do anything they wanted. Then the authors spent the rest of the book offering weak hacks on limiting player choices when it breaks the game, trashes the plot, or conflicts with the GM’s goals.
Save yourself a ton of time and energy by saying No. No is ok. It’s great, in fact.
For example, trying to break through an iron door with an axe. If you don’t think it’s possible, for various reasons, tell the players. “No, you won’t be able to break this door down that way. Go ahead and try, but there won’t be a roll because it’s futile.”
Avoid Unnecessary Rolls
This quickens the pace and reduces your cognitive load. And if you don’t roll, there’s no need to fail forward.
- Is there a cost to failure? If not, don’t roll.
- Can the attempt be made repeatedly until it succeeds, without penalty? If not, don’t roll.
- Are there any constraints that would offer interesting choices, such as urgency, a question of approach, or risks of complications? If not, don’t roll.
For instance, if your locked door is wooden, time is not a factor, and there’s no cost to making a lot of noise or destroying property, let the axe-wielder automatically succeed.
Play the Infinite Game
James Carse’s book on finite and infinite games changed the way I run my campaigns.
In finite games such as Tic Tac Toe, Monopoly, and Civilization, your goal is to end the game before your opponents do. Every move you make, therefore, has an eye towards stopping play.
In TTRPG campaigns, though, we want the game to continue. Technically, we want it to end with a grand finale at some point in the distant future. So I’m not following his definition 100%. But the mindset is the same:
We play to keep the campaign going.
We play to play again. Everyone at the table wins by opening up more gameplay for the group. I love that mindset. Teamwork at its finest.
We can facilitate the goal of playing an infinite game by failing forward when it looks like a roll or action will result in the end of play or putting the kibosh on the plot.
For example, if the party getting blocked by that locked door means the adventure abruptly ends, I’d institute fail forward. The party opens the door but at a cost of perhaps alerting foes on the other side, summoning more foes in a future wave, or breaking the axe used to clobber it open. (I’d also look at my adventure’s design and fix upcoming bottlenecks.)
Genre & Game System
Some campaigns might always call for failing forward. Dungeon World, Amber Diceless roleplay, and Blades in the Dark, come to mind. Partial successes or succeed-with-consequences are baked into their mechanics, so I would lean into the design goals there.
In addition, some genres prompt 99% success rates, such as heroic fantasy and four colour super hero settings. Getting blocked by a dumb door would go against the grain and player expectations.
Failing forward is a fantastic tool in our GM Toolbox. Use it to keep gameplay alive and to increase player engagement. But common sense and other considerations mean it not always need apply.
Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
Have more fun at every game!
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