Brownies

A brownie appears to be a three-foot tall, hairy man, frequently with only nasal slits instead of a nose.  

They are shy and retiring, preferring not to be seen by those of mortal races. Despite their size they are fantastically strong.  

Brownies attach themselves to individuals or households, performing work in exchange for a bit of bread and a small bowl of the best cream.  

Like many fey, brownies are easy to offend, so that gifts (including food) left for a brownie must be placed for the brownie to find – they should not be obviously gifts.  Some few (10%) brownies have been known to accept other gifts without offence, such as a linen shirt once a year, but this practice is perilous because, should the value of the gift diminish or grow, the brownie will certainly take offence.

                                     

A brownie that is happy with its household can do the work of ten people, and will help with such tasks as harvesting, reaping, threshing, cleaning, keeping animals safe, spinning wool into thread, making shoes, baking bread, brewing, or any of a thousand other tasks that can be done while the household is asleep or is busy elsewhere.  Brownies do not like to be observed at their work, and intentionally watching them can cause them to be offended (50% chance).  

Most brownies stay hidden during the day, and most households with brownies know – and avoid – the spot where their brownie likes to hide.  This may be a dark corner of the house, a cellar or attic, somewhere in the barn, or even in a nearby hollow tree or ruined building.   A brownie who is disturbed in its hiding spot is 75% likely to take offence.

A brownie will also take offence if its work is criticized by a member of the household.  A brownie is intimately familiar with its household, however, and does not take offence against the household due to the actions of outsiders, so long as the response of the household is appropriate.  Such a brownie might well take offence against the outsider, though, and work some mischief to plague him.

A brownie that takes offence will (roll 1d6):  (1-2) desert the household, (3-4) desert the household, and curse it at the same time, or (5-6) become a boggart to plague the household.  Typical brownie curses cause a –1d6 penalty to all skill checks performed in a household, and last until the household somehow makes amends, the curse is magically lifted, or all the members of the household die.  Sometimes abandoning a household will work to avoid a boggart or a brownie’s curse, but there is a 25% chance that the boggart or curse will follow people who move to avoid them, regardless of how far, how fast, or how often they move.

Billy Blind:  A billy blind is a special type of brownie that usually dwells in or near the fireplace or chimney.  It is blind, but has the ability to prophesy.  Questions may be whispered up the chimney, and if the billy blind knows the answer, it will whisper it back down.  

A billy blind has a chance of knowing the answer to any question as follows:  100% if it pertains to the household (“Where did I lose my keys?”), 75% if it pertains to the area within 15 miles of the household (“Have any of my neighbours found my keys?”), 25% if it pertains to a more distant area within 100 miles (“Would my keys fit the locks in the Duke’s treasury?”), and 5% if the question pertains to an area more distant, or is truly esoteric (“Can you teach me the ritual to make a love potion?”).  

If the question concerns the future, the chance of the billy blink knowing the answer is reduced by –10% if it pertains to the immediate future (“Will I find my keys today?”), –25% if it pertains to the future within one year (“Will the weather be good this harvest time?”), and –50% if it pertains to an even more distant future than that (“Who will my youngest daughter marry when she has grown?”).

Boggart:  An offended brownie becomes a boggart.  It can be difficult to tell one from the other initially – stories tell of brownies who only reveal themselves to be boggarts when it becomes obvious that all the good luck of their household is at the expense of the (infuriated) neighbours.  In general, while brownies have only slits for nostrils, boggarts have sharply pointed noses. 

Boggarts can be (1-3) mischievous, (4-5) malicious, or (6) even deadly.

A mischievous boggart performs pranks meant to annoy rather than to cause real damage.  It might hide important pieces of equipment, spook the livestock, clog the chimney, or rearrange the furniture while the household is asleep or out.  In many ways, the behaviour of such a boggart resembles that of a gentle poltergeist.  Any reasonable attempt to make amends with the boggart has a 50% chance of being successful.

A malicious boggart uses its abilities to harm the household, but isn’t seeking anyone’s death.  Such a boggart will ruin crops, lame animals, steal equipment outright (and it will seldom, if ever, be found again).  It will ruin materials, cut straps, put holes in pots, and otherwise prevent the household from prospering.  All skill checks made in the household suffer a –4 penalty due to the boggart’s sabotage.  Any reasonable attempt to make amends with the boggart has a 25% chance of downgrading it to a mischievous boggart.

A deadly boggart means to see its household dead.  It saws partly through saddle straps, balances blades over doorways, carefully places items near the top of stairways to cause falls, and so on.  In such a household, all skill checks suffer a –4 penalty due to the boggart’s sabotage, and each member of the household over the age of nine must make a saving throw each day (DC 20) or suffer 1d6 points of damage due to a boggart-inspired accident.  If the save fails by 10 or more, the individual takes 2d6 points of damage instead.  Each individual can use its best save bonus for this saving throw.  Any reasonable attempt to make amends with the boggart has a 5% chance of downgrading it to a malicious boggart.

Brown Man:  A brown man, sometimes called a Buckawn or Bucca, is a type of brownie that protects natural regions.  Unlike most brownies, the brown men often travel in groups of 2d6 individuals and are not shy of being seen.  Often a single brown man will appear to mortals travelling in an area they protect, warning them not to harm beast or fowl in their lands, and to do no damage.  Those who attack the brown man, or violate his prohibitions, find themselves losing Luck, and possibly feathered with stone-tipped arrows sped by unseen hands.

Fenodyree:  The fenodyree is a large brownie, taller and bulkier than a man, and hideously ugly.  Like most brownies, it is shy around mortals.  The fenodyree aids in reaping, mowing, threshing, and herding during the hours between dusk and dawn.  

Killmoulis:  A killmoulis is a tiny brownie with an enormous nose, but no mouth.  It lives in mills, where it aids the miller by grinding grain during the night and keeping the mill free of mice and rats.  It attacks using a poisoned needle.  The needle does a single point of damage, plus poison (1d6 Sta damage, Fort save DC 15 for half damage, rodents have a – 4 penalty to the save and take double damage).  Killmoulis apparently eat by stuffing grain up their noses, and can communicate by telepathy with a whispery-sounding voice at a range of 30 feet.

Victorian Brownie:  Compared to the traditional brownie, the brownie of the Victorian Era was smaller (as with the killmoulis), and formed more similarly to a human or elf.  They have normal noses, pointed ears, and are not exceptionally hairy.  A Victorian brownie never becomes a boggart or curses its household.  If offended, it simply leaves.

Obligatory 5e Post

Interesting question at Once More Unto the Breach:  What are you doing to promote the hobby?  It's just too bad that the question has to come up as a criticism of harsh words related to the 5e covers that have been splashed about the Internet this week.

What am I doing to promote the hobby?

I am playing, and promoting, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, including running World Tour events.  The new D&D covers do not "do it" for me, although I think the Starter Set cover is the best of the grouping, and the DMG cover is not too bad.

In my neck of the woods, rpgs are not dying at all.  I personally find the multiple covers of the DCC RPG to be evocative, although I like the red "fire" cover the best.  The interior art not only has energy, but strongly implies story.

(And I do not mean "character building" or "railroad" by "story"; I mean a sequence of events that might happen in the game, or in a good pulp fantasy story.)

There are a lot of RPG materials that inspire me, and that I enjoy.  I do not feel a need to pander to WotC's current iteration in order to "do something" for the hobby.  I do not feel that WotC need even do well for the hobby to prosper - Paizo has taken the lead role these days, and there are games waiting in the wings to steal the top position should it become available.

I am really happy with a game that focuses on adventures, instead of endless new editions to end all editions. That doesn't mean that I would never play 5e, but I don't see any reason to switch at this point.  I have found my bliss, and I don't need to spend $170 plus tax to see if WotC has something to add to it.

Creeping Beauties of the Wood!

IF YOU GO DOWN IN THE WOODS TODAY...

The faerie tales of old have been conveniently "cleaned up" from their original form, when witches were considerably less beautiful, and being woken from a death-like sleep by Love's First Kiss usually resulted in more death.  Big Bad Wolves, Tin Woodsmen, animated trees, Talking Animals -- all just a little more creepy that we remember as children.  But the rewards are great, as well... marrying the princess, gaining the throne, and gold and wealth, too!  

Explore the macabre wares of the Goblin Market, the Grave of the Sorcerer, the Elf Mound, and many more fascinating phenomena from ancient faerie tales.  But don't leave the path...

The FT 1: Creeping Beauties of the Woods is an exciting level 1 adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics, and the module package includes:

• Continued adventuring from FT0: Prince Charming, Reanimator
• The Dark Woods of the Three Undead Brides, with wilderness encounter tables
• Expanded information for Doctor Chapman as a Patron
• New statistics for another fearsome Patron, Hizzzgrad, Daemonic Lord of Crawling Things, with Invoke Patron list, patron taint, spellburn, and three new patron spells
• New player character class: Faerie animals!  (Yes, you can now play animals able to take human(ish) form!)

Get your copy now from the grim(m) tale-tellers at Purple Duck Games and continue the adventure!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/129993/FT-1--Creeping-Beauties-of-the-Wood


FIRST REVIEW!

Baccae

The baccae (singular and plural) are fey who represent the nature of wine, both good and bad.  They represent liberation from inhibitions, love of song and poetry, good cheer, licentiousness, poor judgement, and primal fury.  They are attracted to bards, poets, musicians, and other creative types, sometimes spurring them on to greater creativity, and other times dragging them down into carnality, addiction, and even suicide.  Most of the time, baccae appear predominantly as scantily-clad human(oid) females of startling beauty, very often at the first blush of womanhood.  However, when threatened or angered, their great age shows through, as though it had been concealed by layers of now-peeling cosmetics.  Their fingernails become claws and their teeth are revealed to be uncommonly long and sharp.  A baccae can switch between these aspects at will.

In her more attractive aspect, a baccae can charm humanoids who meet her gaze as a charm person spell with a +8 bonus to the spell check and no chance of loss or mishap.  This requires an Action Die.  If the target is male, the baccae seek to entice him into temporary carnal pleasures, to drink, and to song.  If the target is female, the baccae seek to entice her to giving up her old life, and to join the baccae for all time.  Any female humanoid who spends a full nine months with the baccae becomes one herself, and cannot be restored by any magic short of divine intervention. 

In their feral aspect, baccae can enter or exit a frenzy at will, gaining a +4 bonus to initiative, attack rolls, and damage.  They have a –4 penalty to AC while frenzied, plus 1 round thereafter.  Any allied creatures within 30 feet of one or more frenzied baccae must make a Will save (DC 20) or become frenzied themselves (gaining the same bonuses and penalties as the baccae).  Baccae automatically ignore this save – if one in a group becomes frenzied, they all become frenzied. 

Baccae can turn in a moment from immodest revellers to a savage, bloodthirsty mob.  It can be difficult to determine what will cause this change beforehand, although most agree that saying “No” is a common trigger, causing baccae to turn feral about 25% of the time.

Any being of a mortal race that spends an hour in the company of one or more baccae during one of their revels gains a permanent +1d bonus to skill checks related to playing musical instruments, singing, or acting. If that being spends another four hours with the baccae, he can gain a +4 bonus to these skill checks that lasts 24 hours.  However, thereafter he must succeed in a DC 20 Will save or become depressed, taking a –2 penalty to all attack rolls, saves, and ability and skill checks until he can again spend at least 1 hour in the company of the baccae or until 1 month has passed (whichever comes first).  If the month ends first, the being must make a DC 15 Will save to throw off this depression or else commit suicide.  

Like many fey, baccae are easily injured by iron, and will not willingly touch anything made of iron or steel. Iron and steel weapons do +1d damage when used against baccae.  Other weapons, however, do -1d on the dice chain when used against the baccae.

A typical group of baccae will be 1d6+2 members, but a group may be 6d6 or more.

Baccae:  Init +0 (+4); Atk by weapon +0 (+4) melee (1d4 or 1d4+4) or bite +0 (+4) melee (1d4 or 1d4+4); AC 15 (11); HD 3d8+3; MV 30'; Act 1d20; SP charming gaze, frenzy, iron vulnerability, damage reduction from non-iron weapons, low-light vision, addictive, inspiration; SV Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +0.

The Cosmopolitan GM

The word "cosmopolitan" can be literally translated as "citizen of the world", and it is used to denote, in philosophy, a viewpoint in which one's polis (literally "city") is the world.  The idea is that one owes the same obligations, and should give the same respect and rights to, everyone, as though they were a member of your own citizen ("denizen of the city") group.

Taking a cosmopolitan view means that you understand that there are many ways of doing things, and that your way may not be the best.  It means that you understand that you may be wrong in your beliefs, and, moreover, even when you are not wrong, other viewpoints may be equally valid.

The converse of taking a cosmopolitan view is taking a parochial ("related to a single [church] parish") view, effectively taking an extremely narrow view of what is right.  In this case, one views one's own opinions to be right and true, and is not interested in examining other ways of doing things.  If it is not part of "our" gaming culture, it isn't worth looking at.  The parochial GM says, "This is about how I do things; if we are not discussing how I do things, I don't want to hear it."

I personally think that the cosmopolitan GM is at an advantage over the parochial GM here.  That is not to say that we should change our opinions on a whim, merely because something new comes along.  For instance, I do not advocate fudging, and I think it is a bad idea overall.  I have written at length on the subject.  I have given reasons why I believe this to be so, I have experienced the converse directly, and I have examined arguments that countered my position.  I am also, however, willing to grant that any particular GM might differ.  There are times when my reasoning may not apply.

(My experience has also shown me that, in most cases where someone claims that my reasoning does not apply, they are incorrect.  That is not the same as saying in all cases, however.  Anyone reading the Comments section on this blog will note that I do not always agree with every comment, and I will not be shy about pointing out poor arguments, but a poor argument does not mean that the conclusion is wrong...or that the person making it has nothing else interesting to say.)

What does this have to do with anything?  I have taken comments off of this blog because they were spam, or because they were simply abusive (and then after warning).  But it is very simple to decide that something is abusive simply because it disagrees strongly with the position that you are asserting.  It is improper to decide that someone's comments are equivalent to "dog poop", but that they are "blameless" because they "don't know better", and then to wonder why people find you abusive.

You may, of course, then note that people are still reading your blog, even people who do not share your parochial viewpoint.  Well, of course there are.  The cosmopolitan GM is not merely interested in his own ideas, and takes an active interest in the ideas of others, even where they are in opposition to his typical viewpoint.  This doesn't mean that he will necessarily agree with you....and, if you have decided not to accept contrary comments, you will never know what he things of your argument.  You have chosen not to be challenged.  That doesn't mean what you write is never interesting; it's just intellectually lazy.  And you are allowed to be intellectually lazy if that is what you want; let's just not pretend that you haven't made that choice.


I imagine that most of my readers already know who I am talking about here, and which post(s) I refer to, so that I need not drive traffic in that direction for those posts.

In any event, I look forward to the comments of those who read this blog.  I look forward to comments that I can agree with, that point me in new directions, and that challenge my arguments and views.  But then, while I think that I do have a good handle on this joy we call GMing, I don't think that I know it all.

Marvel's Agents of Shield Theory

The designation 0-8-4, used to denote an object of unknown origin, and used in specific reference to Skye, is a comics issue number.  When Skye's identity in the Marvel universe is at last revealed, we will discover that the character first appeared in Issue #84 of some Marvel comic book.....related to Avengers: Disassembled, perhaps?

Maybe...maybe not....just spitballing here.

Around the Campfire

If you are not reading Telecanter's Receding Rules (and you should be!), and if you have not come across this in your wanderings about the InterWebs, then stop and read this excellent post.  It is a great example of how the GM, as game designer, asks himself, "How should this feel in the game?" and then proceeds to investigate mechanics that might create or enhance that feeling.

For those of us playing the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Luck offers a great incentive for any type of play the judge might wish to encourage.  Luck bonuses or penalties need not be permanent; temporary changes based upon circumstances are absolutely appropriate.  The judge can, for example, grant a temporary +1 (or even +1d3) bonus to Luck for all characters on the day following a camp with fire, fresh food, and good cheer.  Because Luck is important when rolling over the fallen to determine whether or not they survived (as well as being used to modify rolls), this is potentially a bonus worth accepting a little risk for.

This can also be used to make joining the inn's company more attractive (rather than staying in one's room), with the added bonus being based upon what one contributes.  Similarly, events like marriages, births, religious ceremonies, etc., can modify the Luck of those who attend them...and those who refuse.

While we are gathered around the campfire talking, here is some other news or bits to ponder.  I would be happy to hear feedback on any of these items:

• FT 1: Creeping Beauties of the Wood is written, formatted, illustrated, and (as far as I know) just waiting for approval.  Hopefully, that will be available soon.

• I had been considering writing a countdown of published DCC adventures, excluding my own, from the least to the greatest, but that would require putting someone in the "least" position, the "second least" etc.  The DCC adventures are, overall, quite good.  Joseph Goodman sets a reasonable bar for approving adventures, and I don't feel good about suggesting that any are less than worthy.  I am considering just making a list of my personal "Top Ten", though, if there is any interest.

• I have never even seen a pdf version of Pesh Joomang, the Ultimate Patron, which was written as an exclusive stretch goal on the Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between Indiegogo project.  Emails to Sean Connors have never been returned.  So far as I know, no one has received this.  I am interested in hearing if you have, as well as your thoughts about including Pesh as a blog post here.  After all, it seems unlikely that Pesh will see the light of day otherwise, and the in-jokes in the write-up are becoming dated.

• I am strongly considering running the DCC Free RPG Day adventure, Elzemon and the Blood-Drinking Box, at a store in Toronto for Free RPG Day.  It would make a good start to running World Tour 2014 games, which I have yet to do this year.

Ammonites for Dungeon Crawl Classics

Ammonite

An ammonite is a prehistoric cephalopod mollusc, similar to a chambered nautilus in appearance, but related to squid and octopi.   An ammonite has a large, spiral shell resembling a tightly-coiled ram’s horn and numerous long tentacles.  They attack with grasping tentacles and a sharp jawplate structure called an aptychus.  Smaller ammonites only attack in swarms, while larger ones can attack individually. 

Depending upon the size of the ammonite, the tentacles may be used merely to grasp, or may also constrict and rend for additional damage.  Damage from constriction and rending is automatic to any creature struck by a tentacle attack, taking place each time the ammonite has initiative.  A captured target can escape by making an Agility or Strength check (using an Action Die; DC determined by ammonite size).

A Large or a Huge ammonite can hold multiple opponents, although it can only bite one at a time.  A Large ammonite can hold two creatures; a Huge ammonite can hold four.  An ammonite with a bite attack can only bite a held opponent, and it can do so once per round without using an Action Die.

If its morale fails, an ammonite releases a cloud of black ink into the water, creating an area of total concealment four times as large as the originating creature.  This ink cloud disperses after 1 round per Hit Die of the ammonite creating it.  Each ammonite holds enough ink to create 1d4 ink clouds.  It takes from 1 hour to 1 day, depending upon the size of the ammonite, to create enough ink for an additional usage, with smaller ammonites recharging their ink clouds more quickly than larger ones.  The ammonite uses the opportunity so created to escape.

Ammonite swarms share the common characteristics of all swarms:  They are effectively immune to weapons damage and spells without an area effect.  A creature caught in the area of a swarm must make a DC 10 Fort or Will save in order to take any action, or the Action Die is lost.  A swarm automatically attacks any creature in its area each round.

5% of Medium ammonites gain an evil intelligence.  As ammonites grow, this chance increases by 5% with each size category, so that there is a 10% chance of Large ammonites being intelligent, and a 15% chance of Huge ammonites being so.  Intelligent ammonites gain 1 levels of the wizard class if Medium, 1d4 levels if Large, and 1d5+2 levels if Huge.  The manifestations of an ammonite’s spells should always match the creature’s nature – related to water, tentacles, the ocean, clouds of ink, its spiral shell, and darkness.  An ammonite wizard can only use one of its Action Dice to cast a spell in any given round.  Ammonite wizards are Chaotic.

Tactics

Ammonites simply grasp their prey, drawing it close enough to bite, until driven off or slain.  If an ammonite can hold more than one creature, it will bite at the creature it bit last 50% of the time, and bite a random held creature 50% of the time.  An ammonite that fails a Morale check releases its ink cloud and flees in a random direction.

Shared via GNU Free Documentation License, author Nobu Tamura

Note

“Size” is not normally used in Dungeon Crawl Classics the way it is used in SRD-based games.  I used it in this case to allow

Ammonite swarm (5’ radius swarm of six-inch-long ammonites):  Init +3; Atk swarming bite +0 melee (1d3); AC 16; HD 2d8; swim 10’; Act special; SP swarm traits; SV Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +0; AL N.

Ammonite swarm (10’ Radius swarm of foot-long ammonites):  Init +2; Atk swarming bite +1 melee (1d5); AC 14; HD 3d8; swim 20’; Act special; SP swarm traits; SV Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0; AL N.

Ammonite (Small):  Init +6; Atk grapple +2 melee (1d5) or bite +0 melee (1d4+1); AC 14; HD 1d8; MV swim 30’; Act 1d20; SP grapple (DC 10 to escape); SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0; AL N.

Ammonite (Medium):  Init +4; Atk grapple +6 melee (1d6) or bite +3 melee (1d5+2); AC 14; HD 2d8+2; MV swim 40’; Act 2d20; SP grapple (DC 12 to escape), 5% are intelligent with 1 Wizard level; SV Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2; AL N.

Ammonite (Large):  Init +2; Atk grapple +8 melee (1d7+1) or bite +4 melee (1d6+2); AC 16; HD 3d8+6; MV swim 30’; Act 4d20; SP grapple (DC 16 to escape), constrict and rend, 10% are intelligent with 1d4 Wizard levels; SV Fort +8, Ref +1, Will +4; AL N.

Ammonite (Huge):  Init +0; Atk grapple +12 melee (2d6+2) or bite +4 melee (3d5); AC 20; HD 8d8+24; MV swim 20’; Act 8d20; SP grapple (DC 20 to escape), constrict and rend, 15% are intelligent with 1d5+2 Wizard levels; SV Fort +12, Ref +0, Will +6; AL N.

R’yalas, Lord of the Drowned Ones

This huge, ancient ammonite wizard is a suitable opponent for powerful PCs.  He dwells in a deep grotto beneath the warm seas of a “Lost World” region teeming with gigantic amphibians and huge saurian monsters.  This creature keeps the Malachite Rod within its lair, allowing it to animate and control drowned sailors as guardians and servitors.  The wealth of a dozen or more wrecked ships awaits whoever can defeat R’yalas. 

They will need some form of diving gear first.

In writing stats for R’yalas, I used Umwansh, Father of the Waves, from Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between, as his patron.  This was merely so that invoke patron results for a maritime patron would be readily available to the harried judge.  However, if the judge has the time and inclination, a more specific patron of warm seas, un-dead sailors, drowning, madness, and molluscs would be even better.  Cthulhu, anyone?

R’yalas, Lord of the Drowned Ones (Huge ammonite wizard 5):  Init +0; Atk grapple +14 melee (2d6+2) or bite +6 melee (3d5); AC 20; HD 8d8+5d4+39; hp ;79; MV swim 20’; Act 8d20 + 1d14; SP grapple (DC 20 to escape), constrict and rend, spells (+6 to spell check:  Animal Summoning, Choking Cloud, Flaming Hands [energy substitution – freezing hands], Magic Missile, Invoke Patron (Umwansh, Father of the Waves), Patron Bond, Invisible Companion, Nythuul's Porcupine Coat, and Fireball [energy substitution – acid ball]); SV Fort +14, Ref +1, Will +9; AL C.

Bonus!

Permission is hereby granted to reproduce any part of the text of this blog post in any Dungeon Crawl Classics product approved by Goodman Games, provided that you include credit to Daniel J. Bishop for the material and supply the myself with one pdf or print copy.

Breaking Down the Fudge 2

Matt Thomason writes:

"If the goal of the game is "fun", as Frank Mentzer suggests, then wouldn't the GM be better off, say, following the preference of the majority of gamers in this regard? " - Personally I'm far more interested in the preference of the gamers at my table (who prefer me to control the game as GM rather than be relegated to the role of monster A.I. that some games are pushing nowadays) than anyone else out there in the world. I wouldn't care if 99% voted for no fudging, it's the four others at my table I care about.

We don't all play the same way, and the moment someone forgets that and tries to apply a gamestyle choice across the board problems will happen. Every table is unique, and the best thing we as GMs can do is tailor our own game to fit the needs of our table.

I play a "story trumps rules" game, and play it with similarly-minded people. I don't usually play RPGs to get into math puzzles, or into tactical game scenarios pretending to be combat, or into winning and losing, or even into games of chance. I play RPGs to get a group of people together to tell a story and to explore the ways their characters interact with the game world, to see how they think and feel, and to find out how they react to various situations. 

For example, if my players face down the BBEG and are defeated, I'm happy fudging the dice and rewriting rules on the fly so they survive the encounter. Not to make them win, just to keep them alive so we can keep telling the story of how their characters cope with the aftermath of their failure. That's usually a far more interesting story than having them all killed and a replacement party gathering to try again.

Dealing with consequences is a good goal to have. Sometimes fudging the dice is the thing that allows you to tell that story of how those consequences were dealt with, rather than shrugging it off as a TPK and starting again.

Matt, obviously the players at your table matter more than hypothetical players. And, as I have said repeatedly, so long as you can get even a single player, you should run the game the way you want to. Nonetheless, let's break it on down.

You play a "story trumps rules" game;  I play a game in which the "reality" of the game milieu trumps the "reality" of the ruleset.

It is strongly my position that my job as GM is to supply players with context, from which the players make choices, and then I adjudicate the consequences of those choices.  This adjudication, which includes both success and failure, as well as every grey shade between, creates a new context from which additional choices are made.

The players' choices do not come from a menu.  Every ruleset embodies certain default choices within a framework of rules, but that does not mean that players cannot have their characters attempt anything, even if that "anything" requires an adjudication from outside the rules or modifies the rules themselves. The players are not guaranteed to succeed, and I will keep the rules in mind, but if the players come up with a reasonable means to fuel a spell with a major sacrifice, in keeping with the game context, why wouldn't I allow it?  The "reality" of the game milieu trumps the "reality" of the ruleset.

Now, while math puzzles, games of chance, and tactical play may occur as part of this, they are not the overall goal.  The goal is to enable the players to partake in the associative game.

You bring up, not for the first time in this series, the false dilemma of choosing between fudging and a TPK.  Not surprisingly, the answer is the same:  this is a false dilemma.  

Even the premise that even a TPK prevents you from exploring how the characters deal with their defeat in a fantasy game is a false dilemma.  As Joseph Goodman points out in the Dungeon Crawl Classics core rulebook, you can always pick up the action in Hell.

And, again, you should run the game however you want, so long as you can get a single player.  However, your post doesn't eliminate the pitfalls of choosing to fudge, and it doesn't demonstrate that it is a good idea.  

However, there is a big difference between saying, "Yes, these drawbacks exist, but I will accept them in order to get what I want from the game" and saying "some DMs ARE good enough to avoid the negatives that are described....(Sorry you've never seen a game that good.)".  One denotes an understanding of the issues involved, and a conscious choice to accept some negatives to gain what you view as a positive.  The other is douchebaggery.

(I am sure that I have engaged in similar douchebaggery from time to time, so you can accept that as the word of an expert if you like.)

Allow me an analogy:  Once upon a time, folks thought that it was possible to have the perfect physique.  Eventually, though, it was discovered that various forms of exercise not only build muscles in certain ways, but inhibit building them in others.  You can have a perfect swimmer's build, or a perfect weight-lifter's build, but you can't have both at the same time.

I am putting forth an image of the game that is analogous to the swimmer's build.  You are putting forth one that is analogous to the weight-lifter's build.  I am pointing out how the distribution of muscle mass is going to inhibit your swimming.  You are saying that it is more important to you that you can lift heavier weights.  

That's fine; it's important to know what you want.  Your desire to lift heavier weights doesn't change the validity of my point about swimming, and you could make a claim that a swimmer's build inhibited weight lifting.

Frank is claiming that he has both builds at the same time.  And then, when called on it, he claims that he doesn't concede swimming is a sport anyway.

So, while your post hasn't demonstrated that you need a weight-lifter build to lift the weights you discuss, neither does it suggest that you are unaware of the negatives that result.  If neither you nor your players are bothered by those negatives (and my research on the topic indicated that most fudging GMs were of the opinion that their players were not bothered, but polling their players had unexpected results for the majority) then my opinion shouldn't matter.

Finally, having said this before repeatedly, let me again say:  If you can get even one player, run the game you want the way you want to.  If not fudging would take the joy out of the game for you, and you have even one player, then do what brings you joy....even if the player(s) would prefer you do not fudge.  Ultimately, if you are not enjoying the game, there is no reason to play.

Just don't expect me to agree with you, or play in your game.