Darths & Droids

ARCHIVE     FORUM     CAST     BONUS MATERIAL     FAN ART     RSS     FAQ     ACADEMY

<     Episode 2495: Force Majeure     >

Episode 2495: Force Majeure

<<FIRST     <PREVIOUS     NEXT>     LATEST>>

It's interesting to decide that a really bad dice roll will result in some catastrophe that the player really doesn't want to happen. But if something super bad is possible with a bad roll, it's a good idea to let the player know what the stakes are before they roll. Compare:

"I swing on the chandelier and attack with the Demon Sword!"
"Okay, roll."
"Uh oh. A 1."
"You fall, hit your head on the table, and chop your own arm off!"
"Whaaaat??!?! That's not fair!"

To:

"I swing on the chandelier and attack with the Demon Sword!"
"Cool! But that's gonna be super risky. It could be awesome, but you're likely to hurt yourself on a bad roll."
"I try anyway! Uh oh. A 1."
"You fall, hit your head on the table, and chop your own arm off!"
"Dang. Can't say I wasn't warned."

Okay, these are a bit contrived, but you get the point. The player being surprised by something bad happening feels worse than the player who knows what the risk is but chooses to accept it. The player should have agency over their choices. Their character is (probably) an experienced combatant—they'd be able to evaluate the risks before they try something dangerous. So don't hide that risk from your players. Tell them the risks, and let them make the choice.

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Wow, and here I thought I'd get a little bit more time to gush about the collision in the last comic now that the sound is back! What the heck happened?? There's no way Snoke gets out of this one right? No Darth Maul spider legs in the near future? The room doesn't look like it's been damaged at all, but maybe there really was enough shaking to distract Snoke and let Rey Force Pull her lightsaber? We've gotta be really close to the end of the movie now, right? But we've only had about 260 comics so far; if the last episode is any indication, we're somehow due for another hundred pages at least!

Okay, okay. I think both of these scenes are going to be incredible to watch live. Just for different reasons for both of them. The collision is because of how many angles we got in the comic! With three different angles, I think this is another one of those scenes that's going to look amazing in motion, like the Peace Moon destroying a faraway star system or a nearby star. And I hope there's at least part of the hyperjump crash that's in slow motion; slo-mo explosions are so cool to see. Even just a brief freeze-frame at the moment of impact would be good, like what happens with the Dragoon in one of the Super Smash Bros Brawl cutscenes.

And Snoke's death is going to be incredible because whatever caused Snoke to get bisected is going to be so different than a self-inflicted lightsaber cut. Like really; somehow Rey managed to shake off getting held in place after being tossed around the room, rotate the lightsaber without Snoke noticing, switch it on from a distance to lance into his side (which is practically on par with the Force Time Stop for abilities seen before), and pull it towards her? All with Kylo watching and pointing his own lightsaber at her? Having Kylo do the action himself is slightly more plausible, but that's like saying 8% is more than 7%. Snoke's already seen that Kylo's an impulsive hothead who needs watching. Kylo would need to secretly do the stuff with the lightsaber as well, and Kylo's already tried to take a swipe at Snoke in this very movie! It can't take that much more effort to hold Rey in place while watching Kylo's thoughts and actions. Plus, with the reflective floor, it shouldn't have been that hard to Force Lightning across the room if Kylo thought like he was going to turn on Snoke.

Confoundment aside, it looked like there's enough debris in the last comic that's been spread to hit most of the regular star destroyers. Not something I'd expected from the Supremacy being hit, but I'll take it. The Resistance has desperately needed something to level the playing field, and this might just do the trick on the space combat side. At the very least, with Snoke dying and the flagship being hit like this, hopefully there will be enough chaos that we can have a more even last fight of the movie. And that Finn and Rose can get loose somehow, having not died to electro-axes or the crash. And Crait better have a shield generator like Hoth, otherwise I'm going to be disappointed by the Resistance losing to an orbital bombardment at the very end.

Transcript

GM: There’s a terrible ghastly noise.
[SFX]: Kaboom!! {the shock wave of the hyperspeed destruction finally hits}
Snoke: Found the die!
GM: Call it where it lies, Sally!
Snoke: Just a sec, let me see.
Snoke: So I push Rey to the floor, hold up her left arm, and slice the sword through it!
GM: This happens simultaneously with the huge explosions ripping through the ship. So there’s a substantial penalty.
Snoke: Uhhh... it’s a 1.
GM: Oh dear.
[SFX]: Whoooom!!
Snoke: {sitting with laser sword impaled through the hips} I... never had control, that’s the illusion...
[SFX]: Slice! {the sword bisects Snoke}
[SFX]: whmmmm... {the sword flies horizontally away from Snoke}
[SFX]: whmmmm...
[SFX]: whmmmm...
[SFX]: catch! {Rey catches the sword in her left hand}
[SFX]: slump {Snoke’s top half falls...}
[SFX]: bisect {... separating from the lower half...}
[SFX]: thud {... and hits the floor}
Rey: Best. Crit fail. Ever.


Our comics: Darths & Droids | Irregular Webcomic! | Eavesdropper | Planet of Hats | The Dinosaur Whiteboard | The Prisoner of Monty Hall | mezzacotta
Blogs: dangermouse.net (daily updates) | 100 Proofs that the Earths is a Globe (science!) | Carpe DMM (whatever) | Snot Block & Roll (food reviews)
More comics we host: Lightning Made of Owls | Square Root of Minus Garfield | iToons | Comments on a Postcard | Awkward Fumbles
Published: Tuesday, 23 July, 2024; 02:11:02 PDT.
Copyright © 2007-2024, The Comic Irregulars. irregulars@darthsanddroids.net