An odd question came up when I was explaining the Trollbabe system to my group. I was describing the reroll mechanics, and had just answered a few questions that had popped up about players narrating failures when a player asked;

"Can I use a reroll to reroll a success (ie: try and fail)?"

Well, that one just kinda floored me. My initial answer was "no", but I reconsidered and changed it to, "not right now." I figured I should at least run this by you guys.

I’m thinking an anti-success reroll mechanic could have some interesting merit, especially for Rival relationships. (Or even normal relationships. Sometimes allies and friends can 'get in the way')

Any ideas on this?

Nope. Success means success. The player ought to think in terms of goals and reaching them. If they want to "fail" at something, then simply concede to the rival (or whoever) via actions.

Best,
Ron

Ok. I may still mull the idea over, but for now I’ll stick to the existing rules. It’s ‘cleaner’ that way.

I think he was referring to a hypothetical situation where the Character wanted to succeed, but the player secretly would prefer a failure.

For this player, even considering such a situation is a rather large breakthrough (he generally plays himself, and plays to ‘win’) so I figured I should at least entertain the idea.

He’d probably use a ‘strategic failure’ to further his own goals, but it’s a new direction for him to take, and I at least applaud him for trying to think ‘outside the box’

What I've done in this kind of situation is ask the player exactly what portion of the conflict they'd like to intentionally fail, and have them exclude that portion from their goal & stakes.

In that situation, they're not narrating if they win, but I make it a point to include the "concession" in my narration. (The last time this happened, someone wanted to have their supporters decimated during a victory, and so I included it in my narration.)

I'm not sure if that's by the rules as written, but it fits with our general style of play, where "sole narration rights" leave room for everyone at the table to kibitz and make suggestions.

Hi Andrew,

Works perfectly, and fits the rules just fine.

Best,
Ron