Dungeon Master Tools has turned into an ongoing series. You can catch up on the previous articles here. I’m keeping the series going because there are new things that come up that are worth talking about when it comes to being a dungeon master. Now, these aren’t new things that I haven’t written about before or new concepts, but just elements that I remembered. This time I want to talk about Failing Forward and how you can use that tool as a Dungeon Master to keep the story going.

What Is Failing Forward?

Failing forward comes from players having to do skill checks. A skill check is something that you use as a Dungeon Master when you want to see if the players notice or know something or can complete an action that they are trying to do. An example of this would be the rogue doing a stealth check or something like that.

The idea of failing forward is that the players roll their skill check and they fail it. But instead of them not getting the information or completing they action, they still do that. However, it is going to add in some sort of complication for them. So they succeed but there is a cost instead of them getting it without that cost.

Why Use It?

So why use something like this? The big reason as a Dungeon Master that you want to use failing forward is some things need to happen. Let’s say the players don’t remember a bit of information about the Big Bad Evil Guy/Gal (BBEG). And it is something that their characters need to know to be able to eventually find the BBEG. So you have the players roll history checks for their characters, what happens if they fail? Now they are soft locked out of knowing that information.

So let me define what I mean by soft locked. They aren’t completely locked out of that knowledge, but you need to feed it to them another way. But the idea of failing forward is that they get that information, they pull it up in from their memory, you don’t need to create a new role playing situation or create a reason why they would learn it again. They just know it. But, as I said, there should be a cost to it. And I wills how you what I mean by that when I give some examples later on.

When Not To Use It

So there are times not to use it as well. I think that failing forward is a very useful tool for a Dungeon Master, but sometimes it doesn’t make that much sense to do it. If they fail to disarm a trap, okay, don’t fail them forward. Let them be creative to figure out another way to avoid the trap, or to set it off and just make a run for it.

But the other big time is when it doesn’t matter that much. If the player wants to search a room for gold and they role a one, who cares. They toss the place and the three gold they might have found they don’t find. Or the barbarian wants to throw something a long ways, they roll a strength and roll low, that’s fine as long as it’s not part of the plot that they need to do it.

So, just to recap, use failing forward when you need them to succeed to progress the story. Don’t use it when it is for flavor, the players doing something that doesn’t matter, or there are other ways around the problem.

Examples of Failing Forward

So let’s talk examples, and I want to do a couple of different ones here. But just to demonstrate how you can use it well. And this is something that I’d plan on in the moment. Don’t try and pre-plan for your session checks that your player characters will have to do as the Dungeon Master, it just adds work that might not happen.

Example 1: The Deity’s Hidden Past

The characters are coming to realize that there is something off about this deity who has reached out to them for help. They know some general knowledge on the deity but how much do they actually know. If they roll well they are going to know that the deity was actually killed years ago and now someone has taken it’s place and that matters because they would then know not to trust them.

So all the players roll religion checks, and because this is ancient history it’s a harder check. The best role is an 8 and now they players really didn’t succeed on this check.

What is failing forward going to look like here?

You give the characters the knowledge but you give them more knowledge than is actually right. You explain it to them in the way of a long forgotten myth that is passed down still in some tribes, but was passed down verbally for years. The general details of the deity’s death are there, but specifics are wrong, and who killed the deity is wrong and you give them a lot to sort through that is right or not.

Example 2: The Chase

The other example I want to give is of something a bit more physical. The players were supposed to have snuck up on a criminal and knocked them out. Instead they talk to them. And they tell them exactly what is going on. So the criminal is running through the market now throwing things down behind them.

The players need that item to progress the storyline. So you give them some challenges to complete with athletics and acrobatics. They roll really poorly on their checks while on the chase.

How do you keep the guy from getting away? Well, you already know the answer, you fail forwards.

In this case, that is going to look like issues with the market in the future. The barbarian is in pursuit and runs through a cabbage cart instead of pushing it of their way. The rogue leaps over a stall with an acrobatics but instead just jumps onto it and runs through all the tomatoes. Now the people in the town won’t like them. Yes, they get their criminal in the end, but there is a consequence to their action.

Final Thoughts on Failing Forward

This is an important tool for the dungeon master. And in the examples I gave, I want to just say one thing. The issue that can arise can be something the players know or the players don’t. In the second example the people working in the market are going to be raising a big stink and shouting after the characters so they will know. In the first example, the players might suspect but they won’t know for sure and they won’t know what is right and what isn’t.

And then use it as a tool for the future as well. There are examples I could give where the character is undercover and fails a check to blend in. Now the boss knows that they aren’t who they say they are, but instead of acting on it, the crime boss just holds onto that for later. The players might know that they failed and be surprised, but now it’s something that they are worried about coming back to bite them later.

How do you use failing forward? Is it something that is part of your campaign, or do you not even make the players do a check when they need to know the information?

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