Handling Failed Actions

As a GM, you will need to handle the consequences of failed character actions. Failure should be interesting, it can add dramatic tension to a scene and presents opportunities for fun storytelling. Some actions can simply fail with no other impact. For more dire failures, some options for handling these are detriments, damage, and death.

Detriments inflict one of these effects:

A penalty applied to a future roll.
A negative event in the story.
The loss of an item.

Damage and death are reserved for dangerous situations. Use these sparingly unless the type of story being told calls for frequent deadly encounters. Players should be aware when their PCs might face harm.

Catastrophic failure is when the result of an action roll is 1. This may come with more severe consequences.

For some examples of handling failure, let’s consider a secret agent leaping between high-rise rooftops. They’re asked to make an Agility TN4 roll:

The roll fails with a 3. They clear the jump but land on a skylight which shatters, causing them to fall into the swimming pool below. Nearby guards hear the commotion and rush to investigate.
The roll fails with a 2. They’re short of clearing the jump and fall a short distance, landing on a balcony. Roll 1d6 damage against them.
The roll fails with a 1. They stumble before jumping and fall the full distance. They are killed instantly.

For the catastrophic failure example, it might make sense to handle it different depending on the story’s tone. If instant death feels too severe, consider rolling appropriate damage against the character, maybe 4d6 in the case of falling off from a high-rise. Another alternative is to request a Luck TN4 roll to see if the agent can grab onto something as they fall, they’ll still take 2d6 damage but it’s better than falling the full distance.