You know what drives me crazy? Seeing all these D&D stories that were like “Well, I rolled a nat 20, so the DM couldn’t say no.” I don’t like it, cause that’s not how the system works.
A nat 20 gives you the best possible outcome in this situation, or the best result your actions can give you. Just because you got a nat 20 doesn’t mean you can kick down a heavy steel door, but you could jar it and discover a weak point that was cleverly hidden. A nat 20 doesn’t mean that you immediately make someone fall in love with you by trying to seduce them, especially if it’s a character or creature who’s not prone to getting involved with people like that, but you might endear yourself to them or make someone willing to hear you out. A nat 20 won’t let you jump a gap that any living being is physically incapable of jumping, but you could make it far enough to reach a small and safe outcropping somewhere in the middle.
I don’t know, it just annoys me that a nat 20 is kind of a game-breaking solution to everything at this point. As a DM, it’s frustrating because players expect anything to work if they just roll a 20, but that’s not always the case. It will get you the best result at the time, but the best result isn’t always what a player wants it to be, and it also may not always be what they expect. And it’s often more fun if a roll like that isn’t just an immediate, world-shattering success, since there’s so much that can be done with it.
So I found out a few months ago that wanting to ‘not exist’ or wishing you could ‘just sleep forever’ is also considered suicidal (specifically suicidal idealization). It shocked me cause I used to think that way when I was younger but had previously thought that being suicidal meant explicitly wanting to die.. but it actually involves wanting to not live too.
I think its an important thing to note cause it might allow someone to realize the severity of their condition earlier.
This was the funniest thing to me. Because I was talking to a counselor, and they were like “Are you suicidal?”
“No not really. But sometimes I don’t want to exist though”
“You do know that’s suicidal ideation?”
“…what?”
I wish I kind of knew before. Like honestly, we know so little about mental health.
Well it’s still rather shocking because… it’s wanting to not exist without having to go through the phase of death. Just… poof. Float in the void for all eternity.
Don0303 