"Failing Forward" is occasionally useful, but I think it's overused, or at least, overrated. I'm referring to the principle that failure should always move the story forward in some way, but I think even this very simple construction betrays a number of conceits that aren't universally true, and may even be harmful to your game.
The classic example of failing forward is someone trying to pick a lock to gain access to a forbidden room. The assumption is that standing outside Dumble's Door is less interesting than being inside his office, which presumably has an incriminating letter or a body inside, so the DM should convert failure from "do not enter the office" to "enter the office, but with consequences." Apocalypse World introduces the concept of the DM Move largely to facilitate and formalize the kinds of consequences the DM might offer for a party that is failing forward.
I want to propose an alternative. See, one of my all time favorite improv games is "Try Again," a game in which one player watches while the rest act out a scene, and the observer has veto power over their actions. A typical interaction might play out something like-
"Hello!"
"Hi, how are you?"
"Fine, than-"
"TRY AGAIN"
"I'm doing wonderfu-"
"TRY AGAIN"
"Extremely bad"
"TRY AGAIN"
"I'm dying."
"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that"
"TRY AGAIN"
"Oh! Oh god no! Ple-"
"TRY AGAIN"
"Hurray! I'm so glad you're finally dying."
The power of Try Again is that it forces the performers to dig deeper and deeper into their well, returning with ever more unlikely options. In that respect, replacing "try again" with "fail forward" denies tabletop RPGs one of their greatest strengths: the ability to process strange things from deep wells, unanticipated by anyone before they surfaced, is one of the only things that I have over Dragon Age. Flame knows I can't compete with their music budget.
"Try Again" means spending more time in the hallway outside Dumble's Door, and less time delivering the monologue I had prepared, but honestly, the game was never about me painting pictures with my words, it was about my players seducing the baker to steal a pie to trade the alchemist to get acid to melt the lock they couldn't pick because wow did they run out of ideas. Anything less is letting Ogren win.
The classic example of failing forward is someone trying to pick a lock to gain access to a forbidden room. The assumption is that standing outside Dumble's Door is less interesting than being inside his office, which presumably has an incriminating letter or a body inside, so the DM should convert failure from "do not enter the office" to "enter the office, but with consequences." Apocalypse World introduces the concept of the DM Move largely to facilitate and formalize the kinds of consequences the DM might offer for a party that is failing forward.
I want to propose an alternative. See, one of my all time favorite improv games is "Try Again," a game in which one player watches while the rest act out a scene, and the observer has veto power over their actions. A typical interaction might play out something like-
"Hello!"
"Hi, how are you?"
"Fine, than-"
"TRY AGAIN"
"I'm doing wonderfu-"
"TRY AGAIN"
"Extremely bad"
"TRY AGAIN"
"I'm dying."
"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that"
"TRY AGAIN"
"Oh! Oh god no! Ple-"
"TRY AGAIN"
"Hurray! I'm so glad you're finally dying."
The power of Try Again is that it forces the performers to dig deeper and deeper into their well, returning with ever more unlikely options. In that respect, replacing "try again" with "fail forward" denies tabletop RPGs one of their greatest strengths: the ability to process strange things from deep wells, unanticipated by anyone before they surfaced, is one of the only things that I have over Dragon Age. Flame knows I can't compete with their music budget.
"Try Again" means spending more time in the hallway outside Dumble's Door, and less time delivering the monologue I had prepared, but honestly, the game was never about me painting pictures with my words, it was about my players seducing the baker to steal a pie to trade the alchemist to get acid to melt the lock they couldn't pick because wow did they run out of ideas. Anything less is letting Ogren win.
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