Could you win this challenge? Defend your conclusion.
I do it right and have a lot of luck.
But really, way too vague.
Here's the challenge. The opposition outclasses you; he has better equipment
So they have more magic items then me?
and better personnel.
So they have more levels then me? They're all elite? Do I need to lead an army of 1st level NPC against an army of second level NPCS?
Just trying to understand how exactly they outclass me.
To prevail you are going to need to do it right, and to have a lot of luck. You enemy will cut you no slack, using his resources to the best of his ability. And no "do overs".
Could you win this challenge? Defend your conclusion.
Without any context, I'm going to say yes. Stratedgy and a bit of luck should be able to overcome a slight mechanical superiority. Set an ambush, sperate them, ect.
Sure I can win.
I do it right and have a lot of luck.
But really, way too vague.
A lot like life, aint it? ;)
So they have more magic items then me?
So they have more levels then me? They're all elite? Do I need to lead an army of 1st level NPC against an army of second level NPCS?
Just trying to understand how exactly they outclass me.
Without any context, I'm going to say yes. Strategy and a bit of luck should be able to overcome a slight mechanical superiority. Set an ambush, separate them, etc.
They're better, they have better equipment. That's what you know, you don't get to metagame it. Is it unfair? Is asparagus detestable? Could you win? That depends on you. But if you don't even try you'll never know you just might have won.
That's what you know, you don't get to metagame it.
How do I know they're better than me? Have I heard stories in taverns about them, an eye witness account from a knight? Was my mentor, who outclassed me, slaughtered by them in a fair fight? Have I seen them in action?
Do I know how many of them there are? Are they a counter party of 5, or a newly emerged race with numbers north of 50 I need to eradicate?
If a DM presented this scenario to me like you have I would say "Its got potential, but why don't we go to the movies or something and wait till next week to start to give you time to iron out the details?
We're PCs.
Could you win this challenge? Defend your conclusion.
Of course we win. We're big damn heroes.
I mean, that's why we're playing D&D, right? Because we want to tell stories about underdogs with right on their side who win in the face of insurmountable oppression?
That's why it's "Dungeons and Dragons", right, not "Your Backyard and A Level-Appropriate Cat"?
They're better, they have better equipment. That's what you know, you don't get to metagame it. Is it unfair? Is asparagus detestable? Could you win? That depends on you. But if you don't even try you'll never know you just might have won.
Gather info and divination spells don't work? Sounds like DM railroading to me.
That's why it's "Dungeons and Dragons", right, not "Your Backyard and A Level-Appropriate Cat"?
Actually now that I think about it I reckon I could be pretty entertained by an appropriately awesome set of rules for "Your Backyard and a Level-Appropriate Cat". You could have expansions like, "Open Garage: Secrets of the Carport" and "Manual of the Herb Garden" which open up strange new locales to explore.
Here's the challenge. The opposition outclasses you; he has better equipment and better personnel. To prevail you are going to need to do it right, and to have a lot of luck. You enemy will cut you no slack, using his resources to the best of his ability. And no "do overs".
Could you win this challenge? Defend your conclusion.
Xerxes took Thermopylae. It's all a matter of what you're willing to spend to take them out. That said, your challenge is flawed, as stated earlier:
1) With no qualifications, the question is fundamentally unanswerable. It could be as simple as four 4th-level guys against five 5th-level guys, or it could be a bunch of second-levels with no magic gear against a Golem.
2) What does "win" mean? Is it a frag-count, timed match, what? A couple low-level thieves could win this easily if it's a question of getting a certain item away from the first group.
3) Just because someone's 'better' and has better equipment doesn't mean anything - there are plenty of cases in which the 'elite' troops aren't any better than the regular guys, they just happen to have a higher social position.
4) Rules? Location? Objective?
5) Similarly to the first issue, what are we? I mean, you're being so intentionally vague with the opponent that we don't know if it's Tucker's Kobolds or the Heroes of Ragnarok, but without setting any sort of baselines it's going to turn into some hideous cross between Bleach and DBZ in which nothing will get done and everyone spends their time showing how much better they've gotten.
On that note, often times creative thinking can be used in the place of luck, though it would require substantial out-of-the-box thought in this scenario. Technically, it all depends on the personnel that make up the opposition. If they have a means of methodically canceling any potential progress you would make with indirect solutions, a possibility which I find entirely probable given the description of the scenario, then this merely further reduces the chance of successful victory over the opposition.
My answer to the question? If I read the questions correctly, that is, "Could you win?", then the answer is undoubtedly, "Yes.", as the possibility for victory in a percentage-based game is always existent. I would rate the possibility quite low in this scenario, granted, but it does exist.
everyone's completely right on the point that we need context, at least as much to tell us what we are trying to succeed at.
if the goal is to actively out-do the oponent in some way, its already been stated there's invariably a chance that we will succeed, however there is no way to defend any definite answer.
if to succeed we must not fail, then you've already given us a loophole: "if you don't even try you'll never know", if we dont even try we cannot fail, thus we would succeed.
so, some clarification is needed before we can defend anything.
Seriously? What are you really asking here?
Actually now that I think about it I reckon I could be pretty entertained by an appropriately awesome set of rules for "Your Backyard and a Level-Appropriate Cat". You could have expansions like, "Open Garage: Secrets of the Carport" and "Manual of the Herb Garden" which open up strange new locales to explore.
You just made my week. I hope you don't mind if I sig that.
You just made my week. I hope you don't mind if I sig that.
Thanks! Go right ahead!
Of course we can win.
We're PCs.
This should always apply.
Actually now that I think about it I reckon I could be pretty entertained by an appropriately awesome set of rules for "Your Backyard and a Level-Appropriate Cat". You could have expansions like, "Open Garage: Secrets of the Carport" and "Manual of the Herb Garden" which open up strange new locales to explore.
Nah, a lot of people wouldn't like MotHG; mostly becomes Lawn Gnomes are monsters, and not player characters.
To prevail you are going to need to do it right, and to have a lot of luck.
In any given scenario in which the above holds true, then you will need a lot of luck even if you do it right.
Of course, is it possible to do it exceptionally well? If so, then you might need significantly less luck if you do it even better than "right".
And then, there's always the gamebreaker. A way out of the given scenario presented here. Don't play by the rules - make your own rules. This is a guaranteed or a near-guaranteed win. Given the specifics here - which is to say, very little - then it is possible to win every time, without fail.
If how well this task is done is relevant to intelligence, then you add another factor. The question essentially boils down to: "How smart are you?"
If intelligence is not a factor, then this is a non-issue. You have already answered yourself:
To prevail you are going to need to do it right, and to have a lot of luck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rcfBaVs09w
Of course I'll win. I'm the main character, so I can't lose. IT'S MY DESTINY! DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO!
Yeah... so that's the logic behind my argument. Infallible.