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Rolling poorly doesn't necessarily mean just failure. But this is how many people play it:
- Character attempts something.
- Player rolls dice, doesn't roll the target number.
- Character simply fails to do the thing. Now what?
There are other options which are potentially more interesting and lead more directly into subsequent events. If a player fails a roll, consider the following:
- They actually succeed, but at a cost. They pick the lock, but break their lockpicks. They jump over the pit, but land awkwardly and twist an ankle (ouch, take 1d4 damage). They open the door, but the alarms go off.
- Time passes. They can try again, but it will take longer. They might be able to pick the lock but now they have to worry about guards showing up, or the bomb going off.
- The attempt makes a whole bunch of noise. They fail to kick the door in, and it makes a huge clanging sound loud enough to (perhaps literally) wake the dead.
- Make it a partial success. They've got one of the tumblers in the lock sorted, they just need a bit... more... time... to get the others. Give them another roll, but make it clear that it's now taking too long and bad things are around the corner. Again, the player has a choice: continue or abandon the effort.
- They leave traces of their presence. They drop something, or leave fingerprints or something else that can identify them. These can be used by monsters, pursuers, cops, etc., to follow and ID them.
- They use up resources. It'll cost bribe money, or rations to distract the beast, or ammo, or an offering of a magic item to overcome the failure and get a good reaction.
- Or, my favourite, offer the player a choice! If the roll failed, they can either accept failure and can't try again, OR they can succeed but with a complication like one of the above: they break equipment, make a racket, it takes too long, they are wounded, or something else.
Another tip: If you just want to make it a straight failure, don't just say, "You fail". Say something like, "The lock is too cunning for you," or "The metal bars are much too strong," or "The official isn't interested in your bribe and tells you off for impugning his honesty." The difference might seem subtle, but the goal is to put the emphasis on the situation being too difficult for the PC, rather than the PC being a failure. When a hero fails, it should be because they're in a situation that is too tough for them, not because they are incompetent.
The way you describe it makes a difference to the vibe of the game. Always talk as if the PCs are competent and they are on a dangerous and difficult adventure, not as if they are ordinary people who can't cope.*
* Unless you're playing Paranoia, in which case go for the exact opposite.
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Ohhhhh, this is why DJ had to be played by Jim; Jim does all of the door hacking. And by hacking, I mean ripping things to pieces in hopes of making the door open.
And I just noticed that DJ flipped his hat around. It somehow feels both completely unnecessary and yet completely in character for him. While I might flip my hat around or completely remove it if I'm working on something, it'd only be because the hat would get in the way. DJ feels like he did the hat flip because he thinks he's doing something cool and he's gotta look the part as well.
So maybe I missed something, but it's odd that DJ would take the medallion from Rose on the ship, take it with him onto the Finalizer, and then hand it back now after using it to fail at opening a door. It couldn't actually be cursed right? Maybe it's meant to be DJ making a point that medallions are more than metal memorabilia? Hmmm. Maybe it's less a shared medallion between sisters and actually a symbol of yet another Resistance group? If we see someone else with a medallion or the yin-yang shape shows up again elsewhere, I think that'd definitively answer that mystery.
Transcript
GM: Let’s get started. Finn, Rose, BB-8, and DJ turn into a corridor and spot a door to a computer room.
Finn: It’s locked, of course.
DJ: I hotwire the door!
GM: You open a panel, revealing a cluster of wires.
[SFX]: pop
DJ: I short some out.
GM: With what?
DJ: The gold medallion. That’s a good conductor. Aurum potestas est.
GM: You stashed that for safe keeping on the ship.
DJ: Yeah, but we’re not on the ship. It’s safer with me now.
[SFX]: 4!
[SFX]: Zap!
GM: Another panel opens, exposing more wires. The door remains closed.
[SFX]: spoing
DJ: Some lucky charm.
Rose: I told you, my sister had one and she died horribly.
DJ: That’s why I couldn’t leave it on my ship. It’s a cursed artefact! I think you better take this back.
Rose: I’m glad curses aren’t a part of this setting.
DJ: It’s a Force curse!