Conflict example

[Zit]

First of all, I apologize for this very long post. I don’t like long posts myself. Its purpose is however to describe a Conflict which I played and get the comments from the game designer and other testers: what was wrong, how we could have done, etc. It is a kind of exercise to help me and the readers to better feel the mechanisms.

 

This hasn’t been played around a table but over a blog which we’ve been using for playing a campaign since a couple of years (in French, here: http://wos-rpg.over-blog.com/). It started for the supplement Wind on the Steppes, which I intend to convert to RD100. Considering the form of this game, it is difficult to explain rules in details to the players or to spend much time asking for precisions, or waiting for all the players to react.

 

I wrote in italic my comments and some questions to Paolo.

 

The situation:

The scene takes place in the mid-6^th-Century in the Gobi area. The party are Türks coming back from a secret diplomatic mission in the Western Wei kingdom. They have been guided by a smuggler along a remote path up to the camp where his colleagues are dwelling. The adventurers are actually trying to secretly go back to their territory while avoiding the city of Kumul which is controlled by the ruling Avars (or Rouran).

The camp is a semi-permanent place where ruffians are leaving with their families away from the Wei and the Kumulian authorities. The party has to negotiate the passage and avoid being plundered or sold as slaves: this is the purpose of this Conflict.

On their way, the PCs managed to gain the friendship of their guide by winning a previous Conflict and for some other reasons which I won’t detail here.

 

PCs:

Ayu-Kulak, young noble, leader of the group

Kenjeke, a young woman of high nobility, on her way to becoming a shamaness and Ayu-Kulak’s fiancée

Arslan, a mounted archer

Ulap, a mysterious black shaman

Geche-Yüz, an elite warrior, NPC

Jebe-Tsenkher, a messenger, NPC

They are travelling with horses and camels carrying goods, food, water and presents for their Khan (silk). Ayu-Kulak is looking for support and a guide and is ready to give up one camel to sacrifice, plus a part of the carried goods. He will be leading the Conflict for the party.

The smugglers are a mixture of settled Kumulians, Weis, outlawed Nomads and mixed people.

 

The fact that the Conflict has been played by blog with players ignoring the rules disturbs the normal sequence, with the character rolling for effect posting sometimes before the supporting characters. I thought at first that the description of each action had to follow the sequence of declarations, or at least that the player rolling for effect comes at last. It was not possible over the blog since players do not always wait for the others to post. It seems however to me now that only the actual die roll comes at the very last, but that players can describe their actions in another order, as long as it makes sense. This allows for example a supporting in-game speech to better fit the leader’s action or speech, and can even simulate a kind of simultaneity.

Another point is that since the players did not know the rules, I had to wait for them to describe their action before deciding myself which Trait was in use or even who would better roll for effect.

 

Setup

The Chief is an opposition of 14 RP and 65% “hard to convince”.

The friendly guide gives a free bonus bead to use when the PCs want, as consequence of gaining his friendship in a previous Conflict.

As explained above, I had to wait for the player’s description before choosing the RP and skills involved for the players.

 

Ayu-Kulak stars at the chief’s eyes, holds a hand up, snaps the fingers and says “Arslan, the Chief wants to have a demonstration of our force”.

Ayu-Kulak tries to impress the ruffians’ chief by showing how his men are good and how well he can lead them -and hurt ennemies. I choose as RP the average of Ayu-Kulak’s CHA 09 and WIL 12, since it is not only about convincing but also imposing one’s will (and Ayu-Kulak’s CHA was pretty low).

The players have a RP of 11. Setup is finished.

 

Turn 1

For this first round, I stated that the main action will be the “demonstration of force”, so I left Arslan roll for effect, with Ayu-Kulak “command” Trait as bonus (good warriors with a good leader).

Question: Is that OK to base the RP on a character'S characteristic but allow another one to roll for effect for the first turn? It seemed sensible to me in this case.

 

Arslan tries to impress the Chief with his archery skill. The chief will resist with his best combat skill, since it is not so easy to impress a good fighter. Arslan uses Bow + Fast Shooting Stunt + bonus Command from Ayu-Kulak.

Question: could Arslan use a double Trait (Bow + Fast Shooting), or is the 2^nd Trait considered as a bonus bead which has to be gained during a previous round? From my side, I just stated that a fast shooting is more impressive than a simple shooting, so I granted an arbitrary bonus to Arslan, working around the question.

Arslan wins the first round, the Chief loses 3 RP. 11 to 11

 

The Chief “counterattacks” by doubting that the PCs will be able to make their way through the desert, and as consequence, that they depend on his good will: “being a good warrior is of no use in a sable storm!” (Hard to Convince 65%). Arslan knows the region and replies that he can find the way and ask his way to encounters, using his Language Türk and Region [Eastern Tarim] traits.

See my question above about double traits.

Arslan will make the defensive roll.

Anyway, encountering somebody in the desert is not credible, and Arslan actually knows a parallel route where people speak another language. So I simply kept “Knowledge Region” (56%) vs. the opposition, refusing the Language Trait. The common RP is involved, since Arslan works here for the group.

Ayu-Kulak suggests Arslan to use the free bonus bead from their friendly guide for the roll. The friendly guide talks to his Chief in a language the PCs do not understand, but it seems to help. Arslan has 86%, rolls 36, the Chief has 65%, rolls 19. Arslan wins, the Chief loses 3 RP again. 11 to 8

 

Turn 2

Ayu-Kulak makes a long speech, explaining that the horde will be coming in the near future, that the ruffians have most interest in helping them, that he’s the son of a noble, all which I interpreted as using his Status [Noble-Chief of Hundred] Trait. Since the chief is not a full Nomad and the status is not very high, Ayu-Kulak suffers a penalty, but since the speech was good and the player involved, I gave him an arbitrary bonus which cancelled it. This is however not enough and Ayu-Kulak loses this turn: the ruffians’ Chief does not believe him and laughs. The party loses 4 RP. 7 to 8.

 

Turn 3

Then one of the ruffians whispers in the Chief’s ear. Jebe-Tsenkher (a NPC but formerly PC which I now play) makes a raw perception roll and recognizes the member of a gang they defeated a few weeks ago: this is a support action with an information roll. The party can imagine that this will be a bonus bead for the chief, who won’t be pleased to learn that the PCs already killed some of his men in the past! Ayu-Kulak orders his elite warrior Geche-Yüz to immediately defy the ruffian at wrestling before the Chief reacts. In the same time, Ulap the shaman prepares a Confusion spell to provide a bonus bead when requested.

Why shall this combat help the party in their negotiation? I stated that this fits to Ayu-Kulak’s strategy to impress the ruffians (like “we killed some of yours and we could do it again”), and wrestling is a common way to set disputes among Nomads. The Chief accepts the duel, but since Ayu-Kulak asked his champion to fight, the Chief summons his own champion, a colossal boxer with a +2 Might. He thinks he will win and that this will bring Ayu-Kulak to shut up.

I managed this fight as a secondary Conflict.

The fight is resolved with the basic combat rules, nomadic wrestling “Bökh” vs. brawl. After a few rounds, the outcome is a total victory for Geche-Yuz (who is a specialist of the Bökh), and the Chief loses 2d6 RP. 7-2

 

Question: would have it been possible to use the Chief’s bonus bead in the secondary conflict?

 

The chief takes now the PCs seriously and shows that he is willing to negotiate an acceptable price to give them shelter. Ayu-Kulak could decide a Quick exit, but he wants to keep as much goods as possible and to get a guide and so decides to try a total victory.

 

At this point, I did not have the Chief counterattack, since he was supposed to be ready to accept a compromise. That the reason why I waited for Ayu-Kulak’s reaction in the next turn for the Chief to counterattack again. Could I have him counterattack on turn 3, as soon as the players said their intention not to go for a quick Exit? It seems that the narrator does not declare any roll for effect in the declaration phase, so he can decide when he wants to roll for effect, without any pre-declaration. Correct?

 

Turn 4

Ayu-Kulak is not very diplomatic in his answer: instead of trying to give an acceptable outcome to the chief, he tries to humiliate him by being quite rude. I decide to give him a penalty: the chief cannot accept to be humiliated in the presence of his men. But Kenjeke, the young noble woman, makes her own speech and makes it clear that she wants a compromise and that her brother is the leader of a big horde and is going to come back in the region in the near future. She’s using her Status [Begum -high noble woman] Trait to support Ayu-Kulak and soften his words with an in-game speech. Ayu-Kulak makes a sign at Ulap the shaman who releases his Confusion spell, granting his bonus bead. At the end, this crucial roll would be:

Chief’s “Hard to Convince” = 65% vs. Ayu-Kulak’s ”Command” 68% - penalty 30% + bonus Kenjeke 30% + bonus Ulap 30% = 98%

Rolls: Chief 84, Ayu-Kulak 90. An advantage for Ayu-Kulak!! The chief loses 7 RP, and finishes at -5, a total victory for the PCs.

 

The attentive reader may ask “but what about the Chief’s bonus bead gained in turn 3?” Actually there was some confusion during the game -we were all learning- and I decided to cancel it. But even with this bonus bead, the result would have remained unchanged.

Question: is it possible to use a Trait to roll for effect if it has already been used as support? And conversely? By the same or another character? This is what I did, but I could have used Ayu-Kulak's Status Trait instead, which I only used to roll for effect before.

 

Outcome

The Chief doesn’t know what to think. Who are these people at last? He is confused and even more worried. He prefers to accept to welcome the PCs for the night against one single camel, hoping that they will recall it when the horde will be back. Ayu-Kulak’s player reminds me that he wanted a guide, and that’s the reason why he took the risk of a total victory. I agreed but stated that the guide will show them the way for a few days only, not knowing the route beyond.

 

[RosenMcStern]

Fantastic example, Olivier! You managed to use more or less all of the rules in one single go.

Comments and answers as they come:

43 minutes ago, Zit said:

The fact that the Conflict has been played by blog with players ignoring the rules disturbs the normal sequence, with the character rolling for effect posting sometimes before the supporting characters. I thought at first that the description of each action had to follow the sequence of declarations, or at least that the player rolling for effect comes at last. It was not possible over the blog since players do not always wait for the others to post. It seems however to me now that only the actual die roll comes at the very last, but that players can describe their actions in another order, as long as it makes sense. This allows for example a supporting in-game speech to better fit the leader’s action or speech, and can even simulate a kind of simultaneity.

Totally acceptable. The rules for ordered declarations outside combat are there to regulate the game when the need arises (i.e. someone monopolizes the game), not to constrain social interaction. If the group is more comfortable with freeform order, go for it.

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The friendly guide gives a free bonus bead to use when the PCs want, as consequence of gaining his friendship in a previous Conflict.

He could have been a Penalty to the chief RPs, but in this case this solution (allowed by the rules, section "Advanced Consequences") is more appropriate.

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For this first round, I stated that the main action will be the “demonstration of force”, so I left Arslan roll for effect, with Ayu-Kulak “command” Trait as bonus (good warriors with a good leader).

Question: Is that OK to base the RP on a character'S characteristic but allow another one to roll for effect for the first turn? It seemed sensible to me in this case.

It should be the exception, not the norm. However, in this case there is a clear reason why it is acceptable: Ayu-Kulak is the formal leader, a noble in a society where Status is paramount, so the collective RP pool in a social challenge is based on HIS stats even in a conflict where he does not utter one single word. In a group where all characters are equal, the Narrator would be perfectly right to enforce a "the leader starts the dances" approach.

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Question: could Arslan use a double Trait (Bow + Fast Shooting), or is the 2^nd Trait considered as a bonus bead which has to be gained during a previous round? From my side, I just stated that a fast shooting is more impressive than a simple shooting, so I granted an arbitrary bonus to Arslan, working around the question.

I would rule differently, meaning that since Arslan is trying something complicate it will take longer (separate Support Action). However, it is up to the GM in any case. The rules try to objectivize everything, but in the end the details left to the GM are many. I am more unsure about the bonus from Command.

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Anyway, encountering somebody in the desert is not credible, and Arslan actually knows a parallel route where people speak another language. So I simply kept “Knowledge Region” (56%) vs. the opposition, refusing the Language Trait. The common RP is involved, since Arslan works here for the group.

Good choice. Providing the correct answer is probably more a matter of knowing it than makin it persuasive. It also helps to justify the expenditure of the guide as a bonus: the guide is not addressing the chieftain directly, he is just providing the right answers to Arslan, who does the talking.

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I managed this fight as a secondary Conflict.

Perfect choice. It makes sense that the group resorts to a single challenge in such a moment, and a Secondary Conflict is the best way to handle it, as it will help the winner but not necessarily put an end to the challenge. It also provides MGF.

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Question: would have it been possible to use the Chief’s bonus bead in the secondary conflict?

I would not recommend it. The rules do not provide a streamlined way to do so, and basic combat does not use bonus beads. Most important of all, you generated the opponent on the spot, so the encounter was already fine tuned to be challenging. It would have been an unnecessary complication.

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The chief takes now the PCs seriously and shows that he is willing to negotiate an acceptable price to give them shelter. Ayu-Kulak could decide a Quick exit, but he wants to keep as much goods as possible and to get a guide and so decides to try a total victory.

Technically, it is the winner of the secondary conflict who can choose to go for a Quick Exit, but it makes much more sense, roleplaying-wise, to let the leader make the decision.

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But Kenjeke, the young noble woman, makes her own speech and makes it clear that she wants a compromise and that her brother is the leader of a big horde and is going to come back in the region in the near future. She’s using her Status [Begum -high noble woman] Trait to support Ayu-Kulak and soften his words with an in-game speech. Ayu-Kulak makes a sign at Ulap the shaman who releases his Confusion spell, granting his bonus bead.

This is a perfect example of how a character can support another character's speech in a social interaction. Kenjeke is throwing her Status - which is separate from Aju-Kulak's - into the balance, to reinforce his weak performance.

I am not so sure about the spell instead. This means that the GM must accept a hostile spell being released during the negotiation. But since this is rather subtle magic, a spirit possession rather than the pyrotechnics of a Befuddle spell, it makes sense, in the end.

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Question: is it possible to use a Trait to roll for effect if it has already been used as support? And conversely? By the same or another character? This is what I did, but I could have used Ayu-Kulak's Status Trait instead, which I only used to roll for effect before.

Normally, no. The choice of using Kenjeke's Status was the correct one.

 

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The Chief doesn’t know what to think. Who are these people at last? He is confused and even more worried. He prefers to accept to welcome the PCs for the night against one single camel, hoping that they will recall it when the horde will be back. Ayu-Kulak’s player reminds me that he wanted a guide, and that’s the reason why he took the risk of a total victory. I agreed but stated that the guide will show them the way for a few days only, not knowing the route beyond.

You could have determined the number of days by calculating the RP the chief lost (14+5 = 19, halved to 10). Here the big loss inflicted with the last roll becomes important.

 

 

[Zit]

Is it allowed during a Conflict to use a double Trait to roll for effect or to defend, if appplicable, without considering the 2nd Trait as a bonus bead, hence not requiring to have spent a round with a support action to gain it? I would say it is.

[RosenMcStern]

Yes, if one of the (few) cases when the rule allows for double traits apply, then you can use double trait. For instance, when you have Acute Vision or Hearing.