All Failures are Not Catastrophic
The occasional adventure to save the world from immediate, irrevocable, and
utter destruction is fine, but not every situation high-level PCs find themselves
in should be an all-or-nothing proposition. After all, what happens to your
campaign world—the one you put all that work into—if they fail?
The PCs have earned a little resiliency; if they fail in a task but manage to
survive the attempt, allow the world to change for the worse, just a little,
and then allow the party another chance to set things right. For example, if the
player characters cannot stop an assassination attempt against an important
NPC, such as a king or high priest, there should be a general cry of dismay among
the people loyal to the slain individual. A dead king might also cause a
valuable military alliance to break down, and the passing of the high priest could
bring about a deity’s wrath.
Use failure to create additional opportunities for adventure as the PCs
scramble to limit the damage.
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