I got to play D&D in my first meaningful multi-session way this year.
I loved how much I got tossed around for trying to use tricks and the like instead of combat.
We also did a one-shot of Alien. I crashed the ship right away, failing like 5 roles to ease the damage, and then in our first encounter died to shrapnel while hiding in a bush. A player left early so I took theirs over and was the only player to die at all, and twice.
I love a DM who isn’t pushing me to fail but also isn’t going to have the NPCs not take logical steps. It was some of the most fun I’ve had.
Oh most definitely. I don’t want my players to fail (if I can help it) and generally try to reward creative thinking, but also want their victories to be earned and not just fudged rolls or suddenly dumb NPCs.
I think where the line gets crossed is when they’re doing actions their character would never do, or they’re trying to poke holes in the set without a clear goal. I usually ask additional questions to see what they expect to happen (in case they are playing 4D chess), but sometimes they’re just trying to cause chaos, in which case I got to pull them aside and give them the talk.
