Monday, April 26, 2010

Natural 1 (Dragon style)

Into every game a little comedy must fall. Dragons rolling natural 1's and crashing into the scenery is a good start. The philosophy behind a natural 1 is intriguing. One camp of people says that a natural 1 should be cause for alarm. These sorts of people make critical fumble charts that allow the wielder of a weapon a chance to dismember or even decapitate themselves regardless of said wielder's skill level. This is what is known as gritty, realistic gaming. Because there's nothing more realistic than accidentally chopping off ones own head.
The other camp insists that the best way to use a natural 1 is to create a humorous, yet non-lethal, failure. This is where you get the search checks that have you finding your toes, spell failure that results in ballerina platypuses, and dragons face planting into turnip gardens. It may ruin the mood of your game completely, but darn is it ever fun.
Yes, I'm biased. No, I don't care.
LooneyDM out

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