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dm_s_guide_chapter_2 [2018/06/28 07:23]
triptycho [Chapter 2: Adventure Structure]
dm_s_guide_chapter_2 [2018/12/21 11:21]
triptycho [Freeform Roleplay]
Line 70: Line 70:
 You may also permit players to pay resources (Wealth or Karma, generally) in order to progress without needing to run a scenario. ​ Let's consider the situation of bandits on the road again. ​ Instead of fighting, requesting intervention,​ or going around the long and dangerous way, perhaps the players simply hire a group of mercenaries to take on the bandits for them.  In this case, the players sacrifice some of their Wealth in order to bypass a scenario with its risk of failure. ​ This should frequently be an available option; players will be limited in how often they can exercise this option by how many resources they have at their disposal. ​ Since those resources are generally acquired through winning scenarios, they'​ll eventually have to buckle down and play some cards to continue progressing anyway. You may also permit players to pay resources (Wealth or Karma, generally) in order to progress without needing to run a scenario. ​ Let's consider the situation of bandits on the road again. ​ Instead of fighting, requesting intervention,​ or going around the long and dangerous way, perhaps the players simply hire a group of mercenaries to take on the bandits for them.  In this case, the players sacrifice some of their Wealth in order to bypass a scenario with its risk of failure. ​ This should frequently be an available option; players will be limited in how often they can exercise this option by how many resources they have at their disposal. ​ Since those resources are generally acquired through winning scenarios, they'​ll eventually have to buckle down and play some cards to continue progressing anyway.
  
-=== Individual Rolls ===+===== Quick & Improvised Activities =====
  
-An alternative to resource expenditure ​is to allow individual rolls of [[Charisma|Charisma]],​ [[Acrobatics|Acrobatics]],​ or [[Search|Search]],​ with an opposed roll dependent upon difficulty of the activity. This is appropriate when a full scenario is overkill for modeling an activity and especially whenever a PC is acting on their own rather than involving the whole group. Be careful about regularly allowing such rolls to bypass scenarios, however, as players may find that letting one PC with the highest Charisma do all the talking for them gives them better odds than playing out a scenario as a group. That is highly undesirable for most groups and should only be permitted if your group does not particularly enjoy playing interaction scenarios.+An alternative to running scenarios ​is to allow individual rolls of [[Charisma|Charisma]],​ [[Acrobatics|Acrobatics]],​ or [[Search|Search]],​ with an opposed roll dependent upon difficulty of the activity. This is appropriate when a full scenario is overkill for modeling an activity and especially whenever a PC is acting on their own rather than involving the whole group. Be careful about regularly allowing such rolls to bypass scenarios, however, as players may find that letting one PC with the highest Charisma do all the talking for them gives them better odds than playing out a scenario as a group. That is highly undesirable for most groups and should only be permitted if your group does not particularly enjoy playing interaction scenarios.
  
 The appropriate roll to use depends on what kind of activity the player is attempting to perform. Charisma should be used with any effort to interact with another being, including silent efforts like trying to tell if they are lying or otherwise hiding something. Search should be used for any sort of perception-related efforts that don't involve other people, as well as problem-solving such as trying to find a safe place to tie a rope without risking a break. Acrobatics is appropriate for feats of physical ability, whether those of dexterity, strength, balance, or skill. The appropriate roll to use depends on what kind of activity the player is attempting to perform. Charisma should be used with any effort to interact with another being, including silent efforts like trying to tell if they are lying or otherwise hiding something. Search should be used for any sort of perception-related efforts that don't involve other people, as well as problem-solving such as trying to find a safe place to tie a rope without risking a break. Acrobatics is appropriate for feats of physical ability, whether those of dexterity, strength, balance, or skill.
  
 In the case where a player wants to attempt an activity not reasonably covered by any of these rolls or a scenario, it's usually best to skip rolling altogether and choose the outcome that would be the most fun and interesting for the players. If that's unclear, or a roll is really desired, choose a dice for the player to roll based on your best judgment of how skillful the character would be at the activity (based on the character'​s [[role|roles]],​ personality,​ experience, equipment, etc). Rolls representing the bottom level of skill should be performed with a 1d4, while the absolute highest levels of mastery would be represented with 1d20. In the case where a player wants to attempt an activity not reasonably covered by any of these rolls or a scenario, it's usually best to skip rolling altogether and choose the outcome that would be the most fun and interesting for the players. If that's unclear, or a roll is really desired, choose a dice for the player to roll based on your best judgment of how skillful the character would be at the activity (based on the character'​s [[role|roles]],​ personality,​ experience, equipment, etc). Rolls representing the bottom level of skill should be performed with a 1d4, while the absolute highest levels of mastery would be represented with 1d20.
- 
-When selecting dice for the opposed roll, determine with your best judgment the overall difficulty of the activity being performed. For the easiest of activities, use a 1d4. For really difficult activities, use a 1d20, or even a combination of dice such as 4d6, particularly at higher levels. 
  
 Ties for such opposed rolls should be in favor of the player in most cases. If you wish for the player to lose ties, declare this before the roll is made. This generally should only be done when the player is performing an activity in response to some NPC activity, such as trying to tell if an NPC is lying. Ties for such opposed rolls should be in favor of the player in most cases. If you wish for the player to lose ties, declare this before the roll is made. This generally should only be done when the player is performing an activity in response to some NPC activity, such as trying to tell if an NPC is lying.
 +
 +Use the table below for resolving individual Charisma, Acrobatics, and Search rolls outside scenarios. You may also use this table when a player wants to use Acrobatics to improvise terrain traversal within combat when the scenario doesn'​t otherwise detail how to resolve it. Since these rolls don't naturally increase with player levels, the table doesn'​t include levels. Instead, entries are based on how difficult you perceive the activity to be. Keep in mind that the difficulty judgment should be relative to the PC's level; what is difficult for a level 1 PC might be easy for a level 4 PC.
 +
 +^ Difficulty ​ ^ Dice  ^
 +^ Easy  | 1d4  |
 +^ Typical ​ | 1d6  |
 +^ Tricky ​ | 1d8  |
 +^ Challenging ​ | 1d10  |
 +^ Hard  | 1d12  |
 +^ Very Hard  | 3d4  |
 +^ Nearly Impossible ​ | 3d6  |
 +^ Varying / Wild  | 1d20  |
  
 Next: [[dm_s_guide_chapter_3|Chapter 3: Running Scenarios]] Next: [[dm_s_guide_chapter_3|Chapter 3: Running Scenarios]]
dm_s_guide_chapter_2.txt ยท Last modified: 2019/05/01 11:05 by triptycho