To start this discussion, I'll take first crack at the question.

Threat and Despair are often viewed with an equal measure of "Here we go again" and "We're all gonna die!" at our table. To mitigate the psychological impact of misfortune I often cite examples from movies of succeeding against challenge and adversity.

My players just laugh their asses off whenever we fail and or get despair, they are definitely of the 'here we go again' mindset

My group is absolutely terrified of despairs because of how I've used them in the past, so they try to avoid unnecessary risks when they can. Since they're higher XP characters I've made the checks a lot harder, and rather than just roll and see what happens they sometimes opt out of taking risks. It's fine though because only one or two people really do this while the rest want a challenge and to see if they can triumph (get it?) over what I have in store for them.

Since they're higher XP characters I've made the checks a lot harder

So, by making them harder, are you changing the difficulty of checks?

When things go bad in-game, my players handle it pretty well, but if they start to consistently roll poorly over the course of a session, many of them get pretty angry. I've had to stop the session in order to bring everyone back and calm them down before continuing.

Since they're higher XP characters I've made the checks a lot harder

So, by making them harder, are you changing the difficulty of checks?

Some of my players have used dedication and implants to get characteristics of like 4s and 5s, so in order to keep it interesting I upgrade and increase the difficulty a lot more than in earlier sessions. They don't complain as I still put easy checks here and there, but the challenge die keeps them on their toes

Since they're higher XP characters I've made the checks a lot harder

So, by making them harder, are you changing the difficulty of checks?

Some of my players have used dedication and implants to get characteristics of like 4s and 5s, so in order to keep it interesting I upgrade and increase the difficulty a lot more than in earlier sessions. They don't complain as I still put easy checks here and there, but the challenge die keeps them on their toes

The problem I have with going this route is that tasks that were once mundane don't get harder just because the character is better at the skill. Taking a 2-Difficulty check and turning it into a 4-Difficulty check for the same task, for example, seems unfair to them.

I do not change the difficulty of the same task, like I said I still have easy checks to sneak by minion characters or hack simple computers. I simply have more challenges they must face, as their story path has led them to try to get by advanced sensor equipment or hack encrypted databanks on top of what's easier. I just want to scale the difficulty a little bit so they don't succeed on every check they make.

When things go bad in-game, my players handle it pretty well, but if they start to consistently roll poorly over the course of a session, many of them get pretty angry. I've had to stop the session in order to bring everyone back and calm them down before continuing.

I've been in that boat before - not with this engine, but over in Hero, where EVERY. SINGLE. ROLL. was a complete wiff. In a binary result system like that, waiting 15 minuets for your turn, roiling once coming up with a 17 and then sitting on your ass for another half hour really sucks.

Here? Even the failed rolls can lead to interesting times. Usually we'll laugh at Despair At Critical Moments or throw up our hands when we get a sucess with 4 threat, a Despair and a Triumph. "Well, how you gonna rule that one, Mr GM?"

I have always felt that if players are too afraid of failure then they shouldn't be playing the game. Although some of my players get a little salty over Despair and failures generally it's seen as part of the game. Without failure there is no meaning in the successes and without Despair there is no satisfaction in Triumph.

I keep Despair and Failure in the loop of try-try-again, so even when things go sideways the players have an opportunity to act on new circumstances.

Over the years, some of our best game situations have come up because of a Despair. Or failure to Succeed.

The dice tell us what the results are, and then we have to come up with a narrative to fit those results. And that narrative can be pure gold (maybe comedy gold ), regardless of what the actual results are.

So, yes — sometimes I get the “Oh, no — we’re all going to die!” feeling when I see a Despair or lack of net success, but most of the time I try to roll with it and see where it goes.

Because if we always succeeded at everything we ever did, life would be pretty boring, eh?

I have always felt that if players are too afraid of failure then they shouldn't be playing the game. Although some of my players get a little salty over Despair and failures generally it's seen as part of the game. Without failure there is no meaning in the successes and without Despair there is no satisfaction in Triumph.

Or, this is just the game for them. Players in my gaming group where at one point scared of failed rolls, because of their D20 background. Now Players are braver, because they are learning that failed roll doesn't necessarily mean absolute failure, and something good can come from it.