Determination: points used to reroll dice, get a single bonus, perform a feat, get narrative power or avoid a consequence. Gained every when a hinderance comes into play, or when the character achieves something significant.
Approaches: Force, Grace, Speed as score 1 to 5. The approach score the maximal number of dice that can be assigned to this approach in a single challenge round. They can be spent for a one-time bonus equal to the current score, which is then reduced by 1. Renews every session.
Attributes: Physicality, Intellect, Sociality as dice d4 to d12.
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All resources are given a dice value (see table) and the dice can be added to any challenge in which the resource applies.
Personal: something unique about the character, e.g. large, great eye-sight, strong will, street-wise.
Experience: a significant life experience acquired over a period of time such as training, profession, or background. E.g. Fighting, riding, investigation, blacksmithing, intriguing.
Material: actual materials such as tools, clothing, items, or abstract materials such as debts owned. Material resources can be taken, used up or destroyed. They give specific die bonuses, for example a sword might give +d6 grace +d6 force when used to inflict a wound. Material resources are limited but powerful.
Situational: something in the current situation that can be used for the character’s advantages. E.g. holding the high ground or general confusion. Has a die bonus associated with it, and might have a limited lifetime (e.g. 2 uses, or next action only).
Same as resources, but can usually be used against the character. Has a die value associated with it that can be used by others.
Trouble: all important characters (PCs and central NPCs) have at least one hinderance that is the reason why they get into trouble. E.g. drunk, can’t say no, blood vengeance against my brother’s killer, must know the truth.
Hinderance: e.g. bad health, clumsy, foul-mouthed, unlucky, ugly, enemies everywhere. Can only be changed by a major character event in which it is replaced by another hinderance.
Consequence: a temporary hinderance, that slowly disappears over game play, and related to an attribute. E.g. embarrassed (sociality), bruised up (physicality), confused (intellect).
Every time a player decides to use a hinderance, s/he give the story guide (or another player) a die according to the hinderance, and receives one point of determination. The story guide may suggest using a hinderance.
All participating characters assign dice to the 3 approaches, and describe what outcome they wish to achieve. The dice are rolled in any order, rolls of 4 or more are successes, rolls of 1 are setbacks. After everyone has rolled, the players, under the guidance of the story guide resolve the challenge.
Some challenges might be split to rounds, most commonly combat and chases.
For each challenge, a player can assign a single attribute die, a single experience die, and dice from any relevant resources.
The approaches that generated successes and the attributes and resources used determine how it unfolds, and what are the outcomes in practice.
A challenge is resolved when a certain outcome reaches a value designated by the story guide. E.g. a combat ends when everyone has at least d8 physicality or d8 intellect consequence.
Some challenges involve dynamic opposition, represented by the story guide assigning and rolling dice like other players.
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All players, SG included, declare what outcome they aim for ‘beat up the thugs’, ‘create a distraction’.
All players assign dice relevant to their goal, ‘physicality + street brawler + heavy stick’ to the different approaches. Maximal number of dice in an approach is determined by its score.
Dice a rolled. 4+ is a success. 1’s are setbacks. Maximal result on the die gives another die of the same kind, that may be rolled in a different approach, or discarded.
Challenge round is resolved, first the player who rolled the most ‘speed’ successes. Ties occur simultaneously. One of the players involved has to narrate the resolution according to the success in the relevant approaches.
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And outcome can be one of: new situational resource, removing a situational resource, new consequence or removing a consequence. A single success can create a situational resource or consequence of d4, additional successes increase the value by 1 die (d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d12 to d10+d4, etc.)
Each time a situational resource is being used, it decreases by one level, until it disappears.
Consequences, however, do not disappear one being used, but the character which suffers a consequence can take stress instead. Stress decreases a relevant attribute by the number of levels equal to the consequence level, e.g. stress from d4 consequence reduces an attribute by 1 die level, d6 by 2 etc. If an attribute is reduced below d4 it cannot be used until the next scene.
Successes can be used to nullify other success if they resulted from a different approach: force results can remove grace results, grace removes speed, speed removes force (F→G→S→F)
Setbacks are some kind of interesting complications that arise due to the players actions. They complicate the scene in some way that should be agreed upon with the group.
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Setbacks in play:
You can only have up to 3 consequences in each category and each at different severity. Consequences have values d4, d8 and d12. If you have to take a consequence but its die value is already taken, you must take a more severe one. If your character has more than 3 consequences in the same category, they might take a consequence in a different category, or they might receive a new hinderance. Regardless, they cannot act in this scene, and might require a story for their recovery.