@@ -234,7 +234,6 @@ Failure indicates not getting away.
Noticing patterns in the rules can help you to remember them.
Make the following principles a habit, and you'll find your role becomes a lot easier.
And speaking of rolls, let's start with dice stats, and why `7' is the magic number.
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@@ -259,36 +258,33 @@ And speaking of rolls, let's start with dice stats, and why `7' is the magic num
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\paragraph{Always round up} -- whether someone is helping another character with half their score, or combat calls for half damage, or just any time someone divides a number, they round up at 0.5.
\paragraph{Always round up} -- whether someone is helping another character with half their Bonus, or combat calls for half Damage, or just any time someone divides a number, they round up at 0.5.
One quarter of a +1 bonus is still 0, but half of a +3 bonus is always +2.
Every rule in the book keeps to this pattern, so you will never have to wonder about which rules round up, and which down.
You always round up.
Always round up.
\paragraph{Additions half every step} with every rule.
When team mates add their scores together, the second grants half, and the third grants half again.
When many people want to combine their Strength scores to lift something, the highest score counts as usual, the second counts at half, then a quarter, an eighth, and so on\ldots
\paragraph{Only resting actions allow failure,}
so if someone has to get this spell just right the first time, or judge the chances of a cave-in and commit to a particular tunnel, they do not get a resting action, even if they have a couple of moments to spare.
\paragraph{Dangerous actions are not Resting actions}
so if someone has to get this spell just right the first time, or judge the chances of a cave-in and commit to a particular tunnel, they do not get a resting action, even if they have a couple of moments (or months) to spare.
If a task must succeed first time, it's not a resting action!
\paragraph{It's only a Team Roll when experts can work together,}
so if the group ask to make a team roll to craft a fantastic statue, reply `no'.
\paragraph{It's only a Team Roll when working together helps.}
Writing as a group might seem fun, but it won't always help, so writing a play would not normally allow for a Team Roll.
And if the players ask to make a team roll to craft a fantastic statue, reply `no'.
Master carvers don't ask for help chiselling their statues, so the roll has to be a Group Roll, i.e. the lowest score can drag everyone down.
Conversely, anyone building a basic raft would welcome all the help they can get.
This shows that the group should make a Team Roll.
This shows that the group should be allowed a Team Roll.
\paragraph{When in doubt, set the \glsentrytext{tn} high!}
The standard \gls{tn}of `7' seems like an average, but it functions more like a basic number to add to.
\Gls{tn}7 may seem like an standard, but it functions more like a basic number to add to.
A professional \gls{npc} would normally have a Skill at +2, and some relevant Attribute at +1 (at least), along with the Specialist Knack,%
\footnote{See page \pageref{specialist}.}
granting a +2 bonus.
If the standard professional has at least a +5 bonus, they will succeed on professional tasks at \tn[12] every time (assuming they take a resting action).
This means a \gls{tn} of 12 isn't monstrously high -- it represents a starting figure for basic professionals.
which grants a +2 bonus.
That leaves professionals with at least a +5 Bonus to do their job.
And if they can take a Resting Action to do their job, they will roll at least 12 every time.
Therefore, \gls{tn} 12 isn't monstrously high -- it represents a starting figure for basic professionals doing what professionals do.
And if the \emph{average} professional would struggle with a task, then a \gls{tn} of 14 or more fits fine!
\paragraph{The dice tell the story,} but only with interpretation.
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@@ -296,6 +292,9 @@ A crappy roll to open a door suggests the massive door has wedged properly shut.
A fantastic roll to talk to the local lord might indicate he has family in that character's home village.
Explaining dice results can come easier than making up a situation whole-cloth.
The world of the game runs on completely deterministic mechanics -- nothing occurs because of `luck'.
Traits represent reliable elements of the world (such as a character's Strength), while the dice represent unknown elements, such as the wind or the movements of animals.
If you interpret the dice rolls as just how well a character has performed that day, a lot of the system will stop making sense; when one \gls{pc} `just fails' to convince a warden to fund their mission, another might step in to `try their luck' (with the dice).
But if the first player to roll understands that the town warden's raging toothache has put him in a foul mood, the rest should understand that the result (or at least the roll) will remain no matter who tries to speak with him.
This leaves room for some other \gls{pc}, with better stats, to succeed in the endeavour (by using the same roll), but does not encourage a ring of players rolling dice like a bunch of bored gamblers.
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@@ -343,11 +342,19 @@ It's also hard playing a non-social character.
You have been lumped with a character with a Charisma Penalty of -4 and by all the gods you intend to roleplay it, so it's time to ask the town warden which lady he stole his robe from and then wipe your mouth with the tablecloth.
But the other players are not impressed; all they can see is someone intentionally ruining the encounter rather than the fun-loving, amazing improviser that you are.
Consider the following solution: tell the players that if they wish to speak, they must roll Charisma plus Empathy or Wits plus Whatever, then set the \gls{tn} for the encounter.
Getting information from the drunken patron of a Temple of Ale might be \tn[4] while getting a noble to stop and help might be \tn[10].
The player should not declare the result but make a mental note of the roll's Margin.
If the Margin is high, they should confidently roleplay someone saying just what the situation appears to demand.
On the other hand, if the roll was not only a failure but had a high Failure Margin, they should attempt to roleplay the worst kinds of insults -- perhaps because the character is genuinely mean-spirited, perhaps because they are making persistent, accidental faux-pas.
Consider the following solution: tell the players that if they wish to speak, they must roll \roll{Charisma}{Empathy} or \roll{Wits}{Whatever}, then set the \gls{tn} for the encounter.
\subsubsection{Interpretation over Performance}
When players roll high on a social encounter, they get to set the scene.
They may take it as an opportunity for a grand speech, or may prefer to simply describe loosely how the event goes, and leave it at that.
Asking for `roleplaying' in order to make an encounter go smoothly tells players never to interpret failures, which is a great loss.
\begin{quotation}
Rolling a total of `1' won't get you into the keep.
What exactly does Corbelch say to the guards?
\end{quotation}
This method of players rolling before roleplaying to indicate their roll gives value to the social characters' Traits and legitimacy to the antics of more socially clumsy players saying all the wrong things.
The roll of the dice also acts as a way of saying `I am about to speak', so people can pace conversation without interruption.
