D&D General Dealing with bad luck (From behind the DM screen).

[p_johnston]

So we've been playing the 13th age 2e playtest during my weekly games for the last little while and it's been....rough. Especially the last couple of weeks I can tell the mood at the table has been pretty down and the fights have been pretty rough due in large part to a combination of extraordinarily good luck on my side last week and very poor luck from my players both weeks. I'm talking multiple critical hits in a row (including twice where I critically hit a player, player used an ability to make me reroll, and I critically hit them again) (all rolled in the open across multiple d20's), repeated rounds of the players doing nothing because the entire party is rolling sub 10, entire combats with one or two players not hitting a single creature (again not rolling above a 10), etc. I feel bad because my players aren't having fun and my players aren't having fun because they're just getting their asses kicked due to bad RNG.

I'm wondering if my fellow DM's have any ideas/advice to help when players are feeling bad about a game due to streaks of bad luck?

I was using the 13th age playtest rules for encounter building but think I'm going to scale that back for a little while to make it a bit easier for a few sessions.
I was also considering maybe doing some sort of collective luck pool mechanic where everytime a player fails a roll they get to add a token into a central pot (making it so that even with bad rolls they feel like they're making progress/contributing) and then letting anyone in the party redeem X (Maybe 5?) points for a boon (reroll, plus to a roll, etc).

 

[Shiroiken]

If the players are discouraged, I'd remind them of times that the dice were on their side, making some encounters super easy for them. The dice giveth and the dice taketh away. You could start rolling behind the screen, allowing you the opportunity to fudge the dice towards the middle to create more exciting encounters, but this tends to take away player agency.

Something else, but this depends on your playstyle, is to remind the players to be more strategic. This means avoiding fights unless they know the odds are completely in their favor, and taking action beforehand to stack it that way. While not as common in modern gaming, this was the norm in old school D&D, where you tried to win before rolling initiative. Obviously your DM style can completely negate this, so I'd only do so if you're okay with it.

 

[DEFCON 1]

This is why I roll both behind and in front of the screen.

I don't care about the "board game". The board game is fun to play, but it is by no means the reason we play. The reason we play RPGs (rather than board games) is to experience our characters moving through the world, accomplishing goals, seeing their stories progress, and evolving as people. All of that can happen with or without the "board game" of RPG tactical combat.

RPG tactical combat is most certainly one of those goals to accomplish, one of those stories to progress... so I don't want to eliminate it from the game entirely. But at the same time, there is zero reason to treat it as the end-all-be-all of this game such that I will make my players suffer just because the "board game" is killing their characters.

A bad combat happens to them on occasion? That's part of the up-and-down cycle of life and the players are good with it. My players usually accept occasional bad patches in the story (through combat or otherwise) and know that the highest of highs often face the lowest of lows, so they accept those situations. That's drama. But me kicking them over and over and over when they are constantly down and then just shrugging and saying "Sorry folks! It's the dice, not me!"? Pointless.

Characters suffering due to the way the game is going is fine and often fun for everyone just to experience it. But players suffering because the game is no longer fun is a waste of everyone's time.

 

[Theory of Games]

I cannot thoroughly express my envy of your successes. Soon, the party will be decimated and victory firmly in hand.

JUST KIDDING. Can I share a line from E.G.G.?

"But lo', every time you throw the "monster die" a wondering nasty is indicated, and the party's strength is spent trying to fight their way into the area. Spells expended, battered and wounded, the characters trek back to their base. Expectations hove been dashed, and probably interest too, by random chance. Rather than spoil such an otherwise enjoyable time, omit the wondering monsters indicated by the die. No, don't allow the party to kill them easily or escape unnaturally, for that goes contrary to the major precepts of the game. Wandering monsters, however, are included for two reasons, as is explained in the section about them. If a party deserves to have these beasties inflicted upon them, that is another matter, but in the example above it is assumed that they are doing everything possible to travel quickly and quietly to their planned destination, if your work as a DM has been sufficient, the players will have all they can handle upon arrival, so let them get there, give them a chance. The game is the thing, and certain rules can be distorted or disregarded altogether in favor of play."

Get a GM screen and roll behind it so you can fudge when you need to. Don't let the rules or dice dominate your game

 

[TiQuinn]

Definitely dial back the encounter difficulty in whatever way that works in 13th Age for a bit and let the players catch their breath a bit. Fudge some hit point totals for the monsters and when the party does hit, take some monsters off the board immediately.

Also consider throwing in some sessions built around roleplay and puzzle solving that allows some fail forward style rolls. A good mystery where even bad rolls keeps the action moving, and letting player skill come into play (let the player, not the PC, make deductions that let them solve problems - take the dice completely out of the equation.)

Finally, these are physical dice being rolled and not virtual dice? If it’s the former, at some point, the luck will turn. However, I have seen some really crappy RNG for virtual dice.

 

[Bae'zel]

If this is a playtest, definitely have a closer look at the rules to see how PCs can increase their odds (actions or maneuvers that grant them bonuses, or the equivalent of the Advantage mechanic).

If there aren't any, then as a playtester it is your duty to inform the designers that there is a definite gap in the rules

 

[aco175]

Aside from dice and monster fudging, I give each player a hero/luck/inspiration point each game night. They use it to reroll, or have the DM reroll something. Mostly it is a crit coming at them, but also for a failed save or such.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Definitely dial back the encounter difficulty in whatever way that works in 13th Age for a bit and let the players catch their breath a bit. Fudge some hit point totals for the monsters and when the party does hit, take some monsters off the board immediately.

Also consider throwing in some sessions built around roleplay and puzzle solving that allows some fail forward style rolls. A good mystery where even bad rolls keeps the action moving, and letting player skill come into play (let the player, not the PC, make deductions that let them solve problems - take the dice completely out of the equation.)

Finally, these are physical dice being rolled and not virtual dice? If it’s the former, at some point, the luck will turn. However, I have seen some really crappy RNG for virtual dice.

Absolutely this. I'd second all these suggestions, especially dial back the combat a bit and has some more RP/mystery sessions, but try to make them ones where it feels like the PCs are crushing it, and for god's sake, don't make them roll too much, like only use the dice if it's completely mandatory, and failure is important.

Also agree 100% re: physical vs virtual dice. Like, virtual dice should, in theory, be just as random, but I am really, really not convinced that we're seeing good implementations of RNG in non-physics-based die number generation and I think some of the apps for rolling and playing these games are just poorly tested and outright buggy. Playing Mothership we had to ban one player from using the official app (he was the only one who wanted to use the app), because he failed every roll, for like bloody 20+ rolls in a row. We did a bunch of fake rolls with his phone and it just kept failing and failing and failing. Given some of the rolls he had a 60% chance of success and we did tons of them, it was completely implausible. No-one using dice had similar issues, nor did he once we made him use physical dice.

 

[abirdcall]

I think it is an indication of something else that could be addressed.

A check-in to see how the players are feeling seems best.

Then if they say they don't like that they are losing solutions could go different ways. Personally, I want there to be risk and streaks of bad luck just means scoring big feels even better.

Possible bad luck is a great way to have tension in the game.

Ultimately it is a game with no real consequences for failure. Games are valuable in that they allow us to experience risk and failure without consequence.

So in my game I would make sure there are other areas of the game where they can succeed. A big strength of 5e (and 2e and prior) is the amount of stuff characters can accomplish without any rolls.

Additionally, I give them the option to play a new character if they are feeling in a slump with their current one. If a character is sufficiently engaging and inspiring their creativity then it should be fun if they are succeeding or failing.

 

[billd91]

I'm talking multiple critical hits in a row (including twice where I critically hit a player, player used an ability to make me reroll, and I critically hit them again) (all rolled in the open across multiple d20's), repeated rounds of the players doing nothing because the entire party is rolling sub 10, entire combats with one or two players not hitting a single creature (again not rolling above a 10), etc. I feel bad because my players aren't having fun and my players aren't having fun because they're just getting their asses kicked due to bad RNG.

If you normally roll out in the open, then simply ignoring the crit result probably won't fly as well as it would if you just rolled behind a screen. But... 'forgetting' to add a modifier or leaving off dice (if rolling multiples) can blunt the harshness of the damage.