Risk In RPGs

[robin_d_laws]

I am less interested in categorical distinctions between RPG game designs than I am in those that describe what actually happens during play. This is part because, as a designer, I’m more interested in providing tools that work than in adhering to an aesthetically or theoretically coherent framework. It also goes to the old saw about the rules not

Comments

[dhw]

One of the things I like very much about Dogs in the Vineyard is that the player controls most of the risk.

By making the question "what price are you willing to pay", that let's the story justify the risk.

[drivingblind]

Risk incentives are a big part of my personal game designs. Spirit of the Century has it (as is already being discussed elsewhere in the comments). But pretty much every other game I design tends to have it too

[drivingblind]

Well, to put it frankly, I don't want to support risk-aversion-enjoying players, because I find that their play impedes my fun. So I don't design games for them (usually). The extent to which I acknowledge them in my designs is by creating incentives for them to stop behaving like that. :)

I don't think a game needs to serve all players equally. I don't think a game CAN. And often, I don't want my games to serve that particular sector; for them, there's Rolemaster, et al.

[rob_donoghue]

Actually, I'll volley with fred a bit there because, see, I _am_ risk averse. Not in a paralyzed sense, but in a sense that I definitely enjoy finding a smart solution rather than a dangerous one. I'm kind of good on supporting that

[urbeatle]

I haven't thought this out fully, but it seems to me that the problem is: if we want more dramatic stories from play, character risks should not equal player risks. What players risk, in all role-playing games, is the ability to continue to add meaningfully to the story. If risking character death means risking the ability to participate, players will avoid the risk, which makes play less dramatic.

So, for more dramatic play, either don't allow character death (and make the tactical risk something else) or don't let character death stop play.

[darransims]

I have found that at conventions, especially with one-shot games, that players do and will take more risks.
Part of that could be due to the pre-gens, the goals and aims ot those characters are very clear and the scenario is geared up for them to risk everything to get there goals.
Another part is the fact that they are pre-gen characters, the players have not invested any time in them at all [aprt from this game].
The other part is the 'spirit' of the game. This is part across by the GM and the other players joining that game. Most are strangers to each other and will play the 'character' more instead of going through all the motions and issues that they have in their home games.
I not sure if this helps though?

[janewilliams20]

It's also the fact that as players, we don't expect to be playing that character any more after the one session, so whether they survive it is irrelevant. We'd like to postpone their death to the last few minutes of the game, sure, but once you're at the plot climax: what's wrong with a dramatic death? We're not risking anything!

I refer once more to last Continuum and the Char-Un HQ game in which every single PC died, usually at the hands of another PC, and generally aiding and abetting each other so as to make the deaths as dramatic as possible. That's got to have been one of the most fun games I've ever played in, but there's no way it would have worked as part of an on-going campaign.

[haganegiri]

I've found Exalted's "stunt-dice" to be effective to getting players to think less with their dice, and more with their creative side and willing to do wild things.

During the first few play sessions, my players would describe their actions, then give me this begging look and ask how many stunt dice do they get.

After about 7 games, they were vividly describing their crazy actions and completely forgetting their stunt dice altogether, and I would go "would you like some extra dice to help you jump on the monks head and kick his master?"