consequences might lead to serious changes in the course of the long-term arc of the story — especially because the character should only find themselves failing this badly through total recklessness or because the GM has purposefully put them in a staggeringly difficult situation.
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Exploding Rolls and Narrative
When you roll the highest value of the die and thus roll again (when the roll
“explodes”), the narrative should reflect that you have done something beyond what you could accomplish on your own. As the GM works with a player to narrate an “exploding” roll, the outcome should be influnced, in part, by external forces.
For Example: Take Tricia from the previous example, the character being interrogated. She has a Grit stat of d6 and needs a 12. Since her maximum possible Grit roll is a 6, she will need external forces to intercede for her to succeed. Instead of the 3 she rolled in the previous example, she rolled a 6 on her first roll. She rolls again, getting a 5, and adds that roll to the first result, making her total 11. She only fails by 1, meaning that there are very, very minor short-term consequences. Tricia holds out long enough to give her friends time to do what they need to do — but the government agents show up just as they’re finishing. Tricia’s friends then have to flee quickly, making checks to ensure that they escape. Narratively, you could say that Tricia holds up as well as she possibly could, and there is something else that happens to prevent her from failing badly. Just as Tricia reaches her limit and is about to tell the agent what he wants to know, that agent gets called out of the room by a supervisor, buying Tricia some time to collect herself.
Or perhaps it’s Penelope who is trying to run away from a group of government agents who are pursuing her on foot. She has a Flight stat of d8, and the GM sets the difficulty at 12: impressive, but certainly possible for someone skilled. She rolls an 8 on her first roll, then 6 on her next roll for a total of 14 — a success! Perhaps, as she’s running from the agents, a gate comes down, separating them. Perhaps as she’s running she knocks over and spills a container of motor oil, on which the pursuing agents then slip and fall, allowing her to escape. Whatever the outcome, it’s not that Penelope simply outruns them.
Combat Encounters
Combat in this game functions in the same way as other stat checks, though sometimes you will be rolling against another character to determine success or failure.
As with the other checks in the game, combat can be resolved in multiple ways. Suppose you are about to be physically attacked. You could stand firm and take the hit (Brawn check). You could attack first and hope to be a better fighter (Fight check). You could try to talk the attacker out of it before the punches start flying (very difficult Charm check). You could try to intimidate the attacker from carrying out the assault (Brawn check or very difficult Grit check). You could run (Flight check) or stand your ground and dodge the punches (difficult Flight check).
For combat between two player characters, the GM must confirm that both players are comfortable with their characters combating each other. Because of the possible consequences of in-game physical violence, if both players do not agree to it, the story will need to take a different direction.
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Physical Damage: Physical attacks are more direct combat, either a fistfight or, if things have gotten really bad, knives and bats.
Roll the attacker’s Fight against the defender’s Brawn (if they’re planning to stay and fight back) or Flight (if they’re planning to dodge or flee). Presumably, in a physical fight, both characters will be attacking each other, and assuming that’s the case, roll separate attack and defense for each character.
At the GM’s discretion, weapons like knives, baseball bats, and so forth might lead to successful hand-to-hand hit being treated like a projectile hit — or a slingshot or thrown object might be treated like a hand-to-hand hit. Still, whether the hit occurs or not should be calculated the same way.
Remember, there are no safe fights in this game. Any time physical conflict occurs, a character might die. Once players decide to attack each other, a misplaced blow could hit a temple or a throat. There are no “pulled punches”
or “called shots.” Every fight could be fatal. That said, of course the GM should allow a playful (or even somewhat aggressive) shove or a nuggie — or even somewhat hostile wrestling — without risk of anything serious.
Projectile Damage: Most of the time in the game, projectiles will take the form of guns, which are terribly dangerous for all characters. But, children sometimes throw rocks or have bows and arrows, which could land just right and be bad — but most likely won’t be all that bad. Keep in mind, though, that all projectile weapons are potentially lethal.
When projectile combat occurs, roll the attacker’s Fight against the defender’s appropriate stat (likely Flight or Brawn, depending on whether the character is diving out of the way or taking the shot). If both characters are shooting or throwing at each other, roll separate attack and defense for each character.
Remember, high differences between attack and defense with projectiles are much more dangerous than the same difference for physical combat.
Injuries & Death
During the course of the game, one or more of the characters will likely be injured. In this game, there are no hit points — but none of you are immortal.
Far from it. Compared to the forces you will probably come into contact with, you’re exceptionally fragile. A well-aimed bullet from a government agent, the quick flick of a monster’s jaws, or a telekinetic character could end things in a moment.
In this game, violence should never be without consequence. Rather than trading blow after blow, stat rolls and applicable skill rolls should determine the outcome of a fight before it starts. Players and the GM should then narrate the outcome. The difference between the rolls (and applicable modifications) should determine the amount of damage that a player sustains (refer to chart below) and who gains narrative control over the encounter.
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Narrative Result
(with applicable modifiers)
defender’s roll
Narrative Control: The defender narrates the outcome.
is greater than
or equal to
Effect: The defender is uninjured; the projectiles miss attacker’s roll
or the blows don’t land or hurt them enough to matter.
Narrative Control: The attacker explains how they attack, and the defender narrates what they do to attacker’s roll
mitigate the harm to them.
is greater by