Players bad choice.. take back??

[garhkal]

Ok lets say you had one session go well, right up to the 'escape' combat near the end of a big mission (or somethign akin to it), and during said combat the player piloting the party ship makes the decision to NOT dodge a shot from a cap ship, due to his or her belief that the scaling diff will make it impossible for the cap ship to hit...

Now you and some of the others on the table have asked him to reconsider several times (or her), and eventually he (or she) flat out calls for the to hit roll to be made. You make the roll in the open so all can see, and Whammo it is a hit. You then pick up the dice to roll for damage, and roll them too, asking for him to make his hull roll to resist...

NOW upon seeing how 'nasty' the hit is, he is balking at making the hull roll and wants to do a piloting roll.


Would you back it up??

For note this is based on a dream i had last night about a game session i was witness too but was not a part of that happened way back in 93 when i was still new to starwars...
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[Doomhead]

I'd roll the hit and NOT let the player take it back... But you don't have to out right destroy the ship and the characters, instead you can use it as an opportunity to introduce a new plot device or other complications. Basically let the players actions speak for themselves but at the same time not to detriment of the game. The could become captured, forced to crash land on a strange planet... so on and such forth!!! Just my two credits worth!
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[Gry Sarth]

I would certainly not allow the player to retread his decisions in such a case. If he's escaping an attacking capital ship, dodging is what he should be doing, regardless of how he imagined the game mechanics would play out. It seems you even gave him fair warning that it would be smart to dodge just for the heck of it and he insisted in his course of action. So... he chose poorly, and paying the price for it is part of the fun. As said above, you don't have to instantly pulverize the ship, but at least a crash landing and some nasty injuries are called for.

I will only allow "do-overs" in my game if the players decisions were clouded by either miscommunication or sleepiness.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[YodaWI]

One possible option, to add to the captured idea. If you had not specified before hand, you could have easily made it an ion cannon instead of a turbolaser. It would make it pretty easy to be captured, or give them a chance to make some heroic repairs so they can narrowly escape.

I myself would have a hard time punishing the rest of the players for the actions of one individual, especially if they know/knew the right thing to do, but the pilot was too stubborn to concede. Perhaps the other characters all have time to get to an escape pod. It might be fitting if the other characters 'mutiny' against their pilot.
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"May the Force Be With You."

[jmanski]

He cannot have it back. There has to be some element of danger. Besides, this is a lesson not to look at game mechanics. As Gry said, if a cap ship is shooting you should be dodging- it's common sense.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[mastereji]

I definitely wouldn't let a player worm their way out of a poor decision like that but i also wouldn't punish the other players for that one players actions. Did you state what weapons were being fired at them? Turbo lasers? Maybe a tractor beam? If it was a tractor beam there ya go, problem solved, they are caught but if it was other weapons i definitely would have their ship severely damaged and/or disabled, then they get boarded or what not. Maybe they could get away in escape pods?

Especially if you are having fun with the campaign it is easy to come up with alternative outcomes for poor player decisions that can spawn new campaign ideas (like others had suggested) or make things really really interesting for your players. Im one of those gamemasters that treads lightly on killing pcs, especially if it is the direct outcome from another player's actions.

Im curious, was imperials? pirates? or another opposing entity? That might also have a great impact on what i would decide would happen to the group.
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"Remember the PCs are just putty in your hands"

[ifurin]

i'm going to have to echo the group consensus and say that the action has been done. especially if warnings and pleadings took place. and i'm all for character death if it's appropriate. but in a situation like this i'd try to come up with something other than a total party kill. at worst the ship is hit and a section explodes and the ship is disabled, and maybe have a character get severely injured. in my games there can be dire consequences for stupidity but i try not to kill the party for it.

[Ankhanu]

I'm in the same boat. By that sort of point, the player's intention is well established, and there is ample warning of the possible consequences. Going through with a bad plan when the GM (and everyone else) suggests, or outright states, that it's a bad idea means you deal with the consequences.

The only time I might back it up (or simply fudge the result) is if the outcome is vitally important to the story plan... but that's rare, very rare.
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[Esoomian]

I guess I'm just adding another dose of I'd do what everyone else does.

If they had not got some information that was vitally important to the decision that they would have had in character (say for instance that the ship was badly damaged and would fall apart if a AT-ST shot it) when making the choice then perhaps, but that would usually be included in the warnings.

And just like everytone else I'd probably look for a result other than total party kill (either by using ions, tractor beams or whatever)
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[masque]

I'd make him roll, and when the hull roll comes up lousy, it's time to suck the pain pipe. The best way I can think of to minimize the damage to the other players is to have the shot take out the engine, most likely with some electrical overload that fries the cockpit, preferably exploding the panel in whichever way hurts the stubborn pilot most, even to the point of death, if necessary.

Ideally I would allow for the uninjured and/or surviving players to repair the controls just enough to crash land somewhere, and pick up the pieces, or possibly, even limp away with some heroic repair skill rolls (Force points being encouraged if necessary. If available escape pods can also be used, of course.

Alternately, if no one else was in cockpit, I'd have the shot shatter the transparisteel, explosively decompressing the pilot and sucking him out the hole, then have a bulkhead slam shut to prevent air from escaping. Send another character out in a space suit to retake the controls and make an emergency landing. Things like that.

A player ignores GM advice at their own peril, and sometimes you have to hammer that point home. Done right, they probably won't do it again.
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[garhkal]

[PsiberDragon]

I kinda have to agree w/ Gry & Masque - You roll your dice and take your chances...

I tell my players at the beginning of each game: I will not kill you JUST on bad dice rolls (of course, healing and recouping isn't death - it's a lot more expensive and painful), but STUPIDITY - whether on your part or one of your party member's parts... yeah, you're fair game.

And not dodging when another ship is firing at you, whether same size or not, is as stupid as it gets...

Let everyone know EXACTLY who caused all their characters to die... and have them start all over. That would be punishment enough for the one player, I'd pretty much guarentee it.
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"Love like you will die tomorrow. Hate like you will live forever." - Unknown

[TrueGrit]

[garhkal]

Well said. Punishing them all is a time honored tactic of rpgs, whether it is all get captured for one's spurting off the mouth at an imperial (or hutt), or whether it be they all get into a fight cause one tried to be stupid.

[Yak Face]

No mercy.

He arrogantly trusted to a rules mechanic that he did not fully understand or appreciate. The others begged him to do the right thing, and he didn't. In RL a person would not behave that way - flying straight and level at a cannon. Absurd.
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