Sansuki, Reizu: Excellent<img alt=";)" src="./images/smilies/wink.gif" title="Wink"/>now they’re all right!<br/><br/>Now, here’s an update with some more clarifications about how to play!<br/><span style="font-size: 120%; line-height: 116%;"><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"> Interactions with the World, Combat and Exploration</span></span><br/>The game system is designed to allow interesting, dynamic and narrative development of combat and action scenes, in a relatively quick fashion.<br/>Actually it is all extremely simple, but hey, I like writing longish explanations!<br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Anyway, LONG STORY SHORT: </span><br/><span style="font-style: italic">The game is NOT intended for one-move posts (I make an attack / I advance six steps / I dodge the dragon’s breath); it is intended for scene-long action posts (I engage the monster and do my best to keep it busy avoiding its attacks, to buy some time for the others to escape / I run through the ruins, diving from one shelter to another; whenever it seems safe enough, I expose to shoot one or two arrows at the nearest target and then roll away / I light a fire and set my camp, always keeping a watching eye at the dark surroundings). This approach to action allows us to resolve in two or three posts-and-responses to resolve a scene that would otherwise take dozens of posts (and potentially weeks and weeks). </span><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Action check:</span><br/>The only dice rolls you’ll ever have to take are the<span style="font-style: italic"> <span style="font-weight: bold">action checks</span> </span>(AC for short); an action check is made rolling 2d6.<br/>The action check is intended to determine the overall outcome of a complex action or sequence of actions in a dilated timespan, rather than verify whether a single punctual action succeeds or not.<br/><br/>Here’s an example on how the AC does work.<br/><span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="font-weight: bold">NO:</span><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Master: You glance through the doorway: the room is gloomy and smells of blood and putrefaction, and four foul-looking giant rats are feasting on a corpse.<br/>Player: I enter and attack the first rat. Do I hit it?<br/>(Rolls dice)<br/>Master: Yes, you strike connects and deals … Roll for damage.<br/>(Rolls dice)<br/>Master: Very well, you kill the rat. Now, the remaining three will attack you…</span><br/></span><br/><span style="color: #40BF00"><span style="font-weight: bold">YES</span>:<br/><span style="font-style: italic"> Master: You glance through the doorway: the room is gloomy and smells of blood and putrefaction, and four foul-looking giant rats are feasting on a corpse.<br/>Player: I cover my nose in disgust, then, grasping the heavy hammer, I opt to take action immediately, to take them by surprise.  I take a moment to prepare, then I storm through the door and charge them hastily, rotating my hammer. I want to take down as many as I can before they can react. <br/>(Rolls dice and gets a Partial success)<br/>Master: Good one. The vermin are fighting over a cracked bone and they react too slowly to your abrupt irruption. The first rat’s skull is crushed by your strength, and a second one is sent flying against a wall, squeaking in pain and surprise. Still, one of them reacts faster than the others and leaps for your throat … You catch it mid-air with your left hand, but not fast and steadily enough to avoid its bite on your shoulder. While you’re struggling, the last one scuttles to your leg and starts biting ferociously your boot . Also, you’re not sure that the one you sent flying is completely dead … <br/>What will you do now?</span><br/></span><br/><br/>Ok, I suppose you’ve got the point.<br/>The results of the action might seem a little arbitrary …well, it is a Master’s right to be arbitrary, but in this case, everything is actually determined by the character’s description of his or her actions, attributes and equipment, and of course by the ongoing situation.<br/><span style="font-style: italic"> A partial success means either success with a price or harmless failure; the example goes with the first option, allowing the character to get some easy kills but suffering a bite and a potentially nasty situation; otherwise, a harmless failure could have meant being immediately noticed by the rats and having to confront them without any advantage from the surprise attack.<br/>A total success would have seen all the rats dead or fleeing without any serious damage for the character.<br/>A total failure could have meant, for example, that the character manages to take one out immediately, but trips on the bones and gets swarmed by the remaining critters, suffering serious wounds; or that the character loses the surprise factor and hesitates as the rats squeak and call for reinforcements. </span><br/><br/>And why should I choose one option rather than another? That’s simple: I’ll go according to your description.<br/>From the description provided by the character in the example, the Master has considered that:<br/><span style="font-style: italic"> -The character clearly wants to rush in, take the rats by surprise and deal as much damage as possible before they react;<br/>-The character definitely isn’t on the lookout for other possible threats and is totally disregarding defense at the moment. </span><br/>Thus, on the Partial success result, the master goes on with a “Partial success at a price” rather than “Harmless failure”.<br/>Had the description been something more like:<br/><span style="font-style: italic"> I take my hammer and sneak in cautiously, trying to get closer to the rats unnoticed, but also checking out every other possible threat in the room</span>;<br/>Or:<br/><span style="font-style: italic"> I proceed steadily forward the rats, my hammer ready to strike. I expect them to charge disorderedly, so I get ready to smite them as they approach </span>;<br/>the outcomes would have been extremely different. The first one maybe wouldn’t fell so many enemies so soon, but he’d more probably spot a trap before it triggers; and the second wouldn’t be able to take the rats by surprise, but he’s also more prepared to react to their charge.<br/>Other factors that could greatly influence the outcome of the action?<br/>-If the character had a greatsword instead of an hammer, his attacks could have been even more deadly, but he wouldn’t have been able to use it against the rats once they got close enough to bite;<br/>-A character clad in heavier armor would have suffered even less damage from the rats’ attacks, but the lower speed and agility wouldn’t have allowed him to take the critters by surprise;<br/>-A less Athletic character probably wouldn’t be able to catch the leaping rat, suffering a more serious injury;<br/>…and so on.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Action check results:</span><br/>The AC is performed rolling 2d6.A modifier based on your relevant attributes will be added by me; the final result will tell the actual outcome of your action.<br/>The possible outcomes are:<br/>Up to 6 -<span style="font-style: italic"> <span style="font-weight: bold">Failure</span> </span>: A failure generally means that your fail to achieve whatever you were trying to do; this will often mean that you will suffer severe consequences from the failed attempt. Depending on the actual type of action and how you described it, it is also possible that even a failure will grant you a small degree of success (you manage to achieve part of your goal), but in this case, the consequences will be even<span style="font-style: italic"> worse </span><br/>7-10 -<span style="font-style: italic"> <span style="font-weight: bold">Partial success</span> </span>: A partial success is absolutely not a failure, but neither it is a complete success. This either means: you achieve only partially your goal; or you fail, but with no negative consequences; or you achieve your goal either fully or partially, but with some negative consequences.<br/>11+ -<span style="font-style: italic"> <span style="font-weight: bold">Total success </span> </span>: Congratulations, you succeeded! Most commonly this means you get the best possible outcome from your action, so the greater degree of success with very little negative consequences – or none at all.<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 120%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold"> Interactions Between Characters</span></span><br/>Now that the interactions between character and world (=player and master) are explained, it’s time to explore a little the interactions between characters.<br/><br/>First of all: I want you to feel free to interact with each other independently. If two or more characters want to chat, or to wander around in a safe area, or whatever else … well, you don’t need to wait for the Master (me) or for other players to respond.<br/><br/>Second: The world is free to explore. And you don’t need to act as a group. Every character can travel around on his or her own; don’t follow the usual tabletop RPG assumption of party-wise campaigns.<br/>If you’re thinking “Well, but there’s strength in numbers!”, you should also consider that you’re stuck in a misty, gloomy field of ruins; in such places one person could sneak around quite easily, while a four or five-men group would be loud and easily notable.<br/>Also … the place might look scary, but how can you be sure you can trust other people here?