Always, as a player or GM, plan to fail forward. This is probably the single most important thing I learned from the Wrath and Glory rules - and I cannot say enough how awesome that system is <even if you're not into 40k, the mechanics rock>. A failure is not a failure. It shouldn't stonewall or stop the scene until the players find a solution to the problem , or engineer a way around the problem. Failures should have consequences that go beyond everyone throwing dice at the issue until someone makes it- but they should be consequences in game; and they still can be used to move the story forward albeit not in the way the players might expect and would likely make the journey onward a bit more difficult.
I've seen too many games break because the players either can't figure out something, or they just can't make the roll necessary to do it in-character. I've also seen too many plots hinge on a character making a critical roll - and if they don't, they miss out on a crucial piece of information and cannot move forward, or they just keep rolling until they eventually make it. Some things don't get a retry. Some things logically shouldn't get a retry; but that doesn't mean they should be a hard stop.
GMs: Typical Player/GM Bad Habits
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Always, as a player or GM, plan to fail forward. This is probably the single most important thing I learned from the Wrath and Glory rules - and I cannot say enough how awesome that system is <even if you're not into 40k, the mechanics rock>. A failure is not a failure. It shouldn't stonewall or stop the scene until the players find a solution to the problem , or engineer a way around the problem. Failures should have consequences that go beyond everyone throwing dice at the issue until someone makes it- but they should be consequences in game; and they still can be used to move the story forward albeit not in the way the players might expect and would likely make the journey onward a bit more difficult.
I've seen too many games break because the players either can't figure out something, or they just can't make the roll necessary to do it in-character. I've also seen too many plots hinge on a character making a critical roll - and if they don't, they miss out on a crucial piece of information and cannot move forward, or they just keep rolling until they eventually make it. Some things don't get a retry. Some things logically shouldn't get a retry; but that doesn't mean they should be a hard stop. -
@Killer-Klown These days, I take a lot of my GMing tips from watching really good movies and TV shows. Shows that deal with very competent protagonists (like Leverage, Person of Interest, etc.) give some very good tips on how to challenge characters like that without no-selling their abilities, and how to have setbacks, reversals, and complications that don't amount to 'and you find nothing' or 'this is a dead end'.
These days, I will sometimes literally sit down with a pen and notebook and watch an action movie, or a mystery show, and write down how it handles plot structure, revelations, setbacks, and clues. And try to translate those dynamics for RPGs. It's made for more interesting and dynamic games, to me.
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@Pyrephox said in GMs: Typical Player/GM Bad Habits:
@Killer-Klown These days, I take a lot of my GMing tips from watching really good movies and TV shows. Shows that deal with very competent protagonists (like Leverage, Person of Interest, etc.) give some very good tips on how to challenge characters like that without no-selling their abilities, and how to have setbacks, reversals, and complications that don't amount to 'and you find nothing' or 'this is a dead end'.
These days, I will sometimes literally sit down with a pen and notebook and watch an action movie, or a mystery show, and write down how it handles plot structure, revelations, setbacks, and clues. And try to translate those dynamics for RPGs. It's made for more interesting and dynamic games, to me.
Not long ago (couple years?) I was rewatching Fringe and I found myself taking notes regarding how they tie in all the conspiracy shit together in the long-run.
That show is a masterclass in "look at all this shit you thought was random one-offs or inconsequential information that is suddenly fucking amazing clues".