Rogue Two Part 7

How hard should things be, really? I find this question comes back to me often in making this show. I'll be honest, I'm not someone who carefully balances the difficulty of a game to maximize the fun, make it challenging but not impossible. And I'm also not someone who crafts challenges around the skillsets of their players. I write character sheets entirely on instinct of what feels appropriate for the character I saw in the movie, or for the new character I'm imagining. And I create challenges that feel right for the world we're in and the story we're telling.

That means that sometimes the characters are truly shit outta luck, but I don't really design challenges with a single solution, like a lock and key. I'm always finding challenges in the world that come organically from the story and will naturally have a range of different solutions. But yes, failure is always an option. Failure is part of life, and failure is an opportunity for new storytelling. After all, we mostly do hollywood movies, and hollywood is not known for exploring the dramatic possibilities of failure.

But so how hard should things be? Let's say, a death star, for example. A labyrinthine warship on a scale unimaginable. It should be damn hard. I trust my players to find the drama in being beaten down by impossible odds, even if they don't come out ahead. If you're playing a game, too much difficulty can be frustrating, but if you're telling a story, it means the stakes are that much more elevated. The only way that you can make something that feels unsatisfying is if it's too easy: If you spend six episodes hyping up the Death Star and then the players just walk through it.

Make it too hard, and trust the players will break things in ways you didn't think of. Make it too hard, and close the trap when it's supposed to close. Make it too hard, and find the relish in tragedy. Make it too hard, and if they actually manage to beat it, it'll feel goddamn amazing.