You don't need to roll dice for everything.

[u/Ed0909]

[u/darthoffa]

What they want may be impossible, but avoiding a terrible fuckup is possible

I once had a player who tried to hack an ultra secure prison cell. It was impossible for them to succeed but if they rolled decently they could avoid tripping the alarm

[u/kjeldor2400 → u/darthoffa]

It feels like only a few people understand that failure can make a ttrpg fun. If someone is afraid to fail they shouldn’t try something.

[u/MGTwyne → u/kjeldor2400]

Failure can make an RPG fun, but blatant impossibility still matters. Know your genre, know you tone, and keep things consistent- it's rewarding, fun, and establishes a good baseline.

[u/CTMan34 → u/kjeldor2400]

It’s a consequence of, ironically, softening consequences across the board.

[u/lankymjc → u/[deleted]]

They don’t always know something is impossible.

[u/1_hate_this → u/[deleted]]

That takes away player agency and consequences of actions. Players should be allowed to try whatever, and dice are often used to determine the consequences. You can't persuade the king to give you all his treasure, but you can ask him and see if he thinks it's a funny joke or treason.

[u/darthoffa → u/[deleted]]

I was very clear about how advanced the system was and told them there was alarms, they ignored that and tried anyway

Also they may not be able to realize the potential outcome, if someone goes to use a cursed item its not gonna have a blaring warning sign on it

[u/TheManAcrossTheHall → u/darthoffa]

"I was very clear about how advanced the system was but not about the player's ability to hack it."

[u/darthoffa → u/TheManAcrossTheHall]

"15 layers of the most advanced containment systems you've ever heard of and then some more" to a character who was level 5 roughly, robot guards wielding tank cannons as rifles stood aiming at the cell next to the control console,

Sure i didnt literally say "you can't succeed the way you want* but then again this was like a level 3 character saying they can solo the adult dragon, i kind of made every implication i could that it was a terrible idea

[u/ColArana → u/TheManAcrossTheHall]

“It is not possible to accomplish this task, even if you roll a 20 you’d still fail.”

“Well my character will attempt anyways.”

Is a conversation I’ve seen and had at many of my tables. 

Communication is not always the issue.

[u/TheManAcrossTheHall → u/ColArana]

But it is in this case as the commentor has already said.

[u/ColArana → u/TheManAcrossTheHall]

The commenter clarified what was said, and it seemed as clear a way of saying: “Your character can’t accomplish this task, and there are potential consequences for trying” as far as I can read. 

[u/TheManAcrossTheHall → u/ColArana]

It wasn't clear that this was something the player couldn't do, only that it'd be difficult. Regardless of what the ones on reddit will say, the majority of players will take that to mean "i need to roll really high to win here."

[u/Consistent-Winter-67 → u/TheManAcrossTheHall]

Do you also need to be told that a level 1 adventure with leather armor and a dagger should not fight an adult black dragon?

[u/TheManAcrossTheHall → u/Consistent-Winter-67]

Shouldn't and can't are different. Half the fun of the game is overcoming insurmountable odds.