There's one in every gaming group
Took a break from the campaign this week -- ended up playing a few rounds of Munchkin instead. As the last game of the night came to a close, I decided to play kingmaker:
Me: Alright, you're short by a point. Aaron, want my help for free?
Aaron: ...?! ... Sure!
Cole and Steven: WHAT? You can't do that! He'll win!
Me: I know. But you guys both made me lose my combat just now, and I'm the only character who wasn't even at level 9 at the time. Aaron didn't screw me over.
Cole: Aw, c'mon, that's not fair. We're talking about ending the game here! I've been nice to you all game and you're going to make him win just because I dumped on you once?
Me: Alright. Fine. (*thinks*) I'll give you a chance. Roll double sixes on 2d6 and I'll rescind my offer of help.
Cole's eyes light up.
He grabs his four Big Reds (old casino dice) from his bag. Tests them to see which are feeling generous tonight. Grabs the two highest. Stands up ...
... and down come boxcars.
'Course, this is also the guy whose AD&D character has no attribute less than 14, and whose d20 has long strings of refusing to roll anything less than an 18. Both with plenty of witnesses and on dice that don't roll equally well for others. This goes beyond Story Dice; this is a straight-up supernatural power. (He jokes that he's got a level or two in Fate Mage.)
Even Aaron ended up agreeing it was worth losing the game just to see that work. ("Cole, grab your character sheet.* You just earned a Fate Point**.")
--
* This isn't actually the first time that player actions have had character effects. We have a long-running campaign in-joke about the Pie skill. It has no actual in-game effects, but it exists and we can train up ranks in it. This is actually harder than it sounds, since the only way to get Pie points is to do something exceptionally cool out-of-game, usually but not always involving actual pie.
** House rule. Spend a Fate Point in-game to get an instant deus ex machina, like averting fatal damage or re-rolling any die just rolled. Only earned by doing something that probably should have required a Fate Point to pull off in the first place (like when I single-handedly routed a slaver camp).
Me: Alright, you're short by a point. Aaron, want my help for free?
Aaron: ...?! ... Sure!
Cole and Steven: WHAT? You can't do that! He'll win!
Me: I know. But you guys both made me lose my combat just now, and I'm the only character who wasn't even at level 9 at the time. Aaron didn't screw me over.
Cole: Aw, c'mon, that's not fair. We're talking about ending the game here! I've been nice to you all game and you're going to make him win just because I dumped on you once?
Me: Alright. Fine. (*thinks*) I'll give you a chance. Roll double sixes on 2d6 and I'll rescind my offer of help.
Cole's eyes light up.
He grabs his four Big Reds (old casino dice) from his bag. Tests them to see which are feeling generous tonight. Grabs the two highest. Stands up ...
... and down come boxcars.
'Course, this is also the guy whose AD&D character has no attribute less than 14, and whose d20 has long strings of refusing to roll anything less than an 18. Both with plenty of witnesses and on dice that don't roll equally well for others. This goes beyond Story Dice; this is a straight-up supernatural power. (He jokes that he's got a level or two in Fate Mage.)
Even Aaron ended up agreeing it was worth losing the game just to see that work. ("Cole, grab your character sheet.* You just earned a Fate Point**.")
--
* This isn't actually the first time that player actions have had character effects. We have a long-running campaign in-joke about the Pie skill. It has no actual in-game effects, but it exists and we can train up ranks in it. This is actually harder than it sounds, since the only way to get Pie points is to do something exceptionally cool out-of-game, usually but not always involving actual pie.
** House rule. Spend a Fate Point in-game to get an instant deus ex machina, like averting fatal damage or re-rolling any die just rolled. Only earned by doing something that probably should have required a Fate Point to pull off in the first place (like when I single-handedly routed a slaver camp).