34 

    35 ***** Conflict vs Task Resolution (in lumpley.txt)

    36 

    37 In task resolution, what's at stake is the task itself. "I crack the

    38 safe!" "Why?" "Hopefully to get the dirt on the supervillain!" What's at

    39 stake is: do you crack the safe?

    40 

    41 In conflict resolution, what's at stake is why you're doing the task. "I

    42 crack the safe!" "Why?" "Hopefully to get the dirt on the supervillain!"

    43 What's at stake is: do you get the dirt on the supervillain?

    44 

    45 Task resolution is succeed/fail. Conflict resolution is win/lose. You

    46 can succeed but lose, fail but win.

    47 

    48 In conventional rpgs, success=winning and failure=losing only provided

    49 the GM constantly maintains that relationship - by (eg) making the safe

    50 contain the relevant piece of information after you've cracked it. It's

    51 possible and common for a GM to break the relationship instead, turning

    52 a string of successes into a loss, or a failure at a key moment into a

    53 win anyway.

    54 

    55 Let's assume that we haven't yet established what's in the safe.

    56 

    57 "I crack the safe!" "Why?" "Hopefully to get the dirt on the supervillain!"

    58 It's task resolution. Roll: Success!

    59 "You crack the safe, but there's no dirt in there, just a bunch of

    60 in-order papers."

    61 

    62 "I crack the safe!" "Why?" "Hopefully to get the dirt on the supervillain!"

    63 It's task resolution. Roll: Failure!

    64 "The safe's too tough, but as you're turning away from it, you see a

    65 piece of paper in the wastebasket..."

    66 

    67 (Those examples show how, using task resolution, the GM can break

    68 success=winning, failure=losing.)

    69 

    70 That's, if you ask me, the big problem with task resolution: whether you

    71 succeed or fail, the GM's the one who actually resolves the conflict.

    72 The dice don't, the rules don't; you're depending on the GM's mood and

    73 your relationship and all those unreliable social things the rules are

    74 supposed to even out.

    75 

    76 Task resolution, in short, puts the GM in a position of priviledged

    77 authorship. Task resolution will undermine your collaboration.

    78 

    79 (later, in Practical Conflict Resolution Advice):

    80 

    81 In Conflicts Resolution, Success/Failure give you a bonus/malus on

    82 accessing what's at stake.