Common situations

There are some common situations that come up during an adventure. Here’s how to deal with them.

Fights

Sooner or later blades are drawn and blood is shed. When this happens the players are likely to start hacking and slashing, volleying, and defending. Think about more than just the exchange of damage. Villains might be trying to capture the characters or protect something from them. Understand what the fight is about; what each side wants and how that might affect the tide of battle.

No self-respecting villain just stands still for their beating. Combat is a dynamic thing with participants moving in and out of range, taking cover, and retreating. Sometimes the battlefield itself shifts. Have your villains take action that the players will react to. Make sure you’re making use of consequences beyond deal damage, even in a fight.

And make sure everyone has a chance to act, and that you know where each player is during the chaos of combat. Make a map of a complex battle so that everyone knows just what’s happening and can describe their actions appropriately.

Traps

Traps may come from your prep, or improvised based on consequences. If nothing has established that the location is safe, traps are always an option. 

The players may find traps through clever plans, trap sense, or discerning realities. If a character describes an action that doesn’t trigger a consequence, but the action would still discover a trap, don’t hide it from them. Traps aren’t allowed to break the rules.

People

Dwarven smiths, elven sages, humans of all shapes and sizes occupy the world around the characters. They’re not mindless stooges to be pushed around but they’re not what we’re playing to find out about either. The non player characters are people! They have goals and the tools to struggle towards those goals. Use them to illustrate what the world is like. Show your players the common people struggling for recognition or the noble classes seeking to uplift their people. 

Some whole adventures might take place in an environment of people rather than an isolated dungeon. Some classes, the bard in particular, are adept at manipulating and using people as resources. Don’t shy away from these situations. Be a fan of these characters, giving them interesting, nuanced people to interact with.

People, just like dungeons, change over time. The passing of the characters through their lives might inspire or enrage them. The characters’ actions will cause the world to change, for good or ill, and the people they meet with will remember these changes. When the characters roll back through a town they were less-than-kind to on their previous visit, show them how the people are different now. Are they more cautious? Have they taken up a new religion? Are they hungry for revenge?

Relationships between characters are represented by the bonds but relationships with NPCs are more tenuous. If the players want to make real, lasting connections with the people of the world, they need to act. Remember, “what do you do?” is as valid a question when faced with the hopes and fears of a potential new ally or enemy as it is when staring down the business end of a longsword.

Player VS. Player

It is inevitable that the player characters will want to go after each other. What can we do? Forbid it? Blue bolt everyone into submission? Flip a coin? Break out the larp swords? Hopefully this is better.

Basically the players involved take turns stating their intentions until one of them can not counter, at which point the other player’s cliché roll is used to resolve the conflict. Note that the interpretation of the roll depends on whether it was the attacker’s or the defender’s dice.

So, we need to decide which character is the attacker and which character is the defender. Usually the character who chooses to act first will be the attacker.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Attacker states their intention. Can the Defender counter?

a. If yes then goto 2.

b. Otherwise goto 3.

2. Defender states their intention. Can Attacker counter?

a. If yes goto 1.

b. Otherwise goto 4.

3. Attacker rolls relevant cliché(s) and GM interprets as follows:

a. Full Success

• Defender suffers based on Attacker’s intention

b. Partial Success

• Defender suffers, but not as severely, based on Attackers intentions

c. Failure

• Attacker suffers based on the Defender’s intention or inject a GM consequence when no intention was stated

• Attacker is now Defender and Defender is now Attacker

In all cases goto 1.

4. Defender rolls relevant cliché(s) an GM interprets as follows:

a. Full Success

• Attacker suffers based on Defender’s intention

• Defender is now Attacker and Attacker is now Defender

b. Partial Success

• Defender suffers, but not as severely, based on Attacker’s intention

c. Failure

• Defender suffers based on Attacker’s intention

In all cases goto 1.

Seems complicated but hopefully a couple of examples will help to clarify. Consider the following exchange between Flinch, a Dwarven Ninja Assassin (4), and Ando, an Andorian Space Samurai (4). 

Our heros are dining at opposite ends of a very long table in the ship's galley; sharing a meal and making polite conversation. However, when the topic of the Andorian princess is raised, Flinch’s inapropriate comments towards her cause Ando to snap.

Ando: That’s it! I charge across the table top, ignighting a laser sword in each hand, and when I get to the other end Flinch’s tailor won’t have to worry about whether he dresses to the left or the right.

GM: We are at step 1 with Ando as the attacker. Lets see if Flinch can counter.

Flinch you seem to have struck a nerve.There's a very irate Space Samurai charging you and he looks like he means business. What do you do?

Flinch: I dab the corners of my mouth with my napkin and when Ando gets close I give the table cloth a yank causing a spectacular wipe out.

GM: Flinch has countered so 1a takes us to step 2. Now can Ando counter? 

Ando?

Ando: I’m going to use my Space Samurai cliché to see if I sense that coming.

GM: Ando has countered so 2a takes us back to step 1. Pretty sure that's it but let's check. 

You got anything for that Flinch? 

Flinch: Not today.

GM: So 1b takes us to step 3, which means we'll be resolving with the attackers' dice.

Ando, roll your space samurai cliché.

Ando: Nothing but 1s and a 2.

GM: A failed cliché roll. That puts us at 3c. Flinch was looking for a spectacular wipe out but with such an extraordinary failure we will kick it up a notch.

Ando, you go ass over tea kettle tangled in the table cloth sliding head first down the table.

GM: Back to step 1 with Flinch as the attacker and just to spice up the scene, add a consequence.

Flinch, Ando is tangled and sliding head first towards you. Also [Put them on the spot] your bottle of château lafite is heading for the floor. It’s Ando or the bottle. What do you do?

Flinch: That bottle is coming out of Ando’s hide. I go for the KO with a palm strike right between his stupid blue antenas.

GM: That's step 1.

Ando?

Ando: Umm

GM : And that’s 1b so on to step 3.

Roll your Ninja Assassin cliché for the KO Flinch.

Flinch: Pair of 6s and 5s.

GM: A successfull cliché roll which brings us to 3a and we can wrap up the scene.

He’s out, the bottle shatters, and your tux is stained with the ambrosia of the gods. What are you going to do?

Flinch: Tuck him into his bed and throw his laser swords in the trash compactor.

GM: Two inspiration points for Flinch. One for the table cloth move and one for tucking him in.

There is one notable problem with this approach to player vs player. What if it's too close to call and both players are attacking? Try this:

1. Both players state their characters’ intentions.

2. Both players roll their characters’ clichés.

3. Both rolls are resolved and both characters suffer based on the stated intentions of the other.

Imagine a pair of gunslingers characters in a showdown. When the clock strikes noon they will both shoot to kill so each will make their gunfighter cliché roll and the GM will resolve as follows:

• A full success kills the other character

• A partial success kills the other character unless someone interviens. 

• A failure means the other character is unharmed.

This means that it would be possible for both characters to kill each other or leave each other completely unharmed or possibly one or both survive if the doc gets to them in time. 

In other cases the full, partial, and failure may resolve to different consequences but the idea of a simultaneous defenseless conflict still stands.

One last example; Consider, Craig, a 

Former Necromancer Parrot turned Demi Lich (4) 

possesses Hector, a

Thieving man servant (1), 

and attempts to kill Jack Blaze the

Paladin school dropout (2)

• who’s surprisingly good at close quarters combat

Take it away Craig:

Craig: Now that I have control, Hector draws his dagger, sneaks up behind Jack and slits his throat.

GM: Craig is attacking so we’re at step 1 trying to decide whether it's 1a or 1b.

Jack anything a Paladin school washout can do about that?

Jack: Umm, I mean, not that I can think of.

GM: That means 1b which takes us to step 3.

Okay Craig,  Roll for Hector’s sneak attack.

Craig: Rolled a 4, 4, 5, 4 so partial.

GM: Not so fast. You only get to roll one die. Hector is only a Thieving Man Servant (1) after all.

Craig: Sorry. My bad. Got a 3 so it's a fail.

GM: So that’s 3c. Hector will suffer partially and Jack will now be the Attacker. We will need to inject a consequence since Jack never stated an intention.

Jack [Give an opportunity], your close quarters reflexes kick in and you have Hector in a clinch with his knife hand pinned. What do you do?

Jack: This doesn’t seem like the Hector that knows and loves me! “There must be evil forces at work”, I say aloud. Concentrate on detecting evil.

GM: That would be step 1 and most likely headed for 1b

Craig?

Craig: I best skidaddle before Jack figures out where I am.

GM: Definitely 1b which takes use to step 3

Alright Jack, I need a couple rolls against your Paladin school washout cliché…

One last thing to note. While it is possible to use these rules in scenes with players and non player characters / villains, it should only happen rarely. For example, the final scene of the story where the players throw down with the villain of the piece might call for this level of detail.