Usually all adventures play out exactly the way we GMs envisioned them, all characters behave exactly like they are supposed to and the dice do their job exactly as we expect them to, right?
Well...No.
For me, the beauty of role-playing is in the things that surprise me. Things that are funny, clever or even just extremely unusual. These are also usually the things that are most memorable. Slashing yourself through a dungeon of an almost infinite amount of foes is just boring and replaceable. However, you'll always remember that one time the group accidentally stumbled upon an disgruntled troll, because the rogue was "100% sure" he knew the way and rolled a 1, followed by the startled troll rolling a 20 and then proceeding to do his maximum damage that immediately "fubar"ed the elf who of course messed up his save throw. That will be remembered for ages.
Still, ever now and then it comes to pass that these kinda situations develop into something potentially game-breaking (very important npcs dying, the group finding plot holes etc...). By now my players support me if it comes to that and in a they sometimes refrain from doing something, as they recognized that it would mess up my plot too much. I appreciate that, but I often feel like I failed them on that part, because I usually come up with a "clean" solution to the problem at hand a little bit later and still want to give them a strong sandbox-feeling.
By now, my strategy is usually to stop the game, take a ten minute break and think about the possible "solutions" for these potentially critical game-breakers.
So, how do you deal with potentially game-breaking situations in the heat of the moment?
Well...No.
For me, the beauty of role-playing is in the things that surprise me. Things that are funny, clever or even just extremely unusual. These are also usually the things that are most memorable. Slashing yourself through a dungeon of an almost infinite amount of foes is just boring and replaceable. However, you'll always remember that one time the group accidentally stumbled upon an disgruntled troll, because the rogue was "100% sure" he knew the way and rolled a 1, followed by the startled troll rolling a 20 and then proceeding to do his maximum damage that immediately "fubar"ed the elf who of course messed up his save throw. That will be remembered for ages.
Still, ever now and then it comes to pass that these kinda situations develop into something potentially game-breaking (very important npcs dying, the group finding plot holes etc...). By now my players support me if it comes to that and in a they sometimes refrain from doing something, as they recognized that it would mess up my plot too much. I appreciate that, but I often feel like I failed them on that part, because I usually come up with a "clean" solution to the problem at hand a little bit later and still want to give them a strong sandbox-feeling.
By now, my strategy is usually to stop the game, take a ten minute break and think about the possible "solutions" for these potentially critical game-breakers.
So, how do you deal with potentially game-breaking situations in the heat of the moment?