That’s solid. I still have mixed feelings about the idea of surprise being key here – it would be easy for it to come off as a cheap shot or breaking the social contract – but it’s interesting.

The particular example of Mice getting shot doesn’t sound like a “worse position, hesitation, or an ugly choice”, but I can chalk that up to the challenges of describing things in words over the internet – I’ll assume that the fiction leading up to that moment at your table made it feel like just the right thing. (No point debating that kind of stuff online, after all.)

Thanks for this excellent series of posts! It’s been a fun conversation.