Skill Check Successes and Failures in Your Game

Skill checks are a fairly ubiquitous feature in RPGs. Whether they’re called “Skills”, or “Abilities” or “Talents”, in the end, your character is going to have to roll one. You may be rolling hot all night, but then, at that one fateful moment, the DM tells you, “roll for your Acrobatics check” and you roll… a 1.

What happens from there? It’s entirely up to the machinations of your DM. Some may simply say, “you don’t succeed” and you move on. Others, depending on the degree of failure, make you really fail.

I’m of the view that if the player attempts to do something that is potentially life-threatening that involves a roll, I warn them. “If you fail this check, you will probably die. Are you sure you want to do this?” If they do, it’s on their heads, not mine.

Here’s an example: It is the Star Wars galaxy, six months before the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo. One of the heroes is on the roof of one of the Coruscanti skyscrapers, miles above the surface of the earth. On the floor below, the rest of the heroes are engaged in combat with a group of smugglers, fighting for their lives. The rooftop hero, (we’ll call him Mike, because, ironically, that’s his name) decides that instead of taking the stairs, he’s going to do something heroic.

Him: “I want to jump over the edge of the building and swing in through one of the windows.”

Pause.

Me: “Are you serious?”

Him: “Dead serious.”

Me: “You do realize that if you fail this check, you’re going to fall. And fall. And fall.”

Him: “I do. But what an awesome way to die, huh?”

Me: “Roll.”

He rolled. He succeeded. With flying colors. Swinging in through the window, he took down one of the smugglers with a boot to the head. And play progressed.

There is of course, the flip side of the coin. What happens when players fail? Badly?

The player is warned that this dungeon is full of fatal traps, and fails to disarm one of them, causing massive wounds to themselves or other members of the party. They fail a critical piloting check, and now their A-Wing is barreling towards the side of a Star Destroyer. There’s no walking away from a fighter exploding in deep space.

Is it simply a risk that comes with the territory? Or is it something that should be mitigated by the DM? After all, Luke Skywalker never blew up and died. Should death be reserved for moments that matter, dramatic points in the story, or should that be left up to the dice?

I think that failures can lead to some great moments in RPGs. I’m not talking about a skill check failure that ends with someone’s death. I’m talking about the Rogue pickpocketing the city guard and rolling a 1. When that guard turns around and sees you, you’re going to have a decision to make.

When you are meeting with the king of some far-off kingdom and roll a 1 on your Diplomacy, you’re going to have a decision to make.

When you are trying to sneak into a room to steal a priceless artifact, and roll a 1 on your Sneak, alerting the guards, you have a decision to make.

How do things go in your game? Do you warn players about the consequences of failure? Have they ever surprised you with their successes?