Summary
In this role-play, you can describe your character as having two broad things they are good at and one broad thing they are bad at. If you have to make a /random or /dice then a 500+ means you succeed. If the reason you are rolling has to do with something you are good at, then roll twice and keep the highest roll. If the reason you are rolling has to do with something you are bad at, roll twice and keep the lower roll.
That’s it!
For details and examples, keep reading!
Details
Role-play is guided freestyle, but everyone will be given an opportunity to interact (or pass) each time the Storyteller completes describing a scene, action, or dialog. (Or egomaniacal monolog.)
Heroes are generally considered to be competent in anything they do.
If there is a question as to the success of an action, a /random or /dice may be called for. This can occur when a Hero is faced with an especially difficult challenge, distracting circumstances, or when opposed by another character. On a 500 or higher result, the Hero is declared a success.
If your character is particularly good at something and the roll called for an action that would fall within their specialty, you can roll twice, and keep the higher roll.
If your character is particularly bad at something and the rolled called for an action that would fall within this are, you must roll twice and keep the lower roll.
For any other actions, you are considered to be competent.
Interpreting Success
As mentioned above, if you roll 500+, you are considered to be successful. The Storyteller may, if appropriate, provide additional details or allow extra embellishment if you roll very well. This can include up to taking temporary control of the narrative for extraordinary success in particularly stressful conditions.
However, interpretation of success is entirely up to the Storyteller to decide. Her decision is final.
Interpreting Failure
If you miss that 500+ result, be a sport! Write up your failure and don’t hold back! Whatever happens to your character is totally up to you. It should match the narrative as much as you can, but your character is not going to be permanently maimed or killed without your consent.
Failure is a story opportunity! And it often leads to further adventures. In fact, failure is often more interesting than success and you can dictate your character’s failure should you so choose, regardless of your /random or dice result.
Describing Your Character
Choose two broad areas your character in which your character is especially competent. Then choose one area in which your character is particularly weak. In all other areas you are competent and don’t need to specifically detail them.
Examples of broad areas include: alchemy, athletics, deceit, defending, fighting, handling and caring for animals, healing, inventing, investigating, science, shooting, surviving in nature, tracking, and so on.
Your hero can have additional areas of specialty, but each must be accompanied by an area in which your character is weak. My suggestion is to try to limit yourself to at most five areas of specialties and weaknesses, as more than that can be hard to track.
Example Character:
Mylenia is a female hyur mystic.
She is good at healing and investigating.
She is bad at denying vices.
So, when Mylenia is investigating an area, or if she is using her magic to heal someone, she gets to roll twice and keep the higher roll. But if she is ever in a situation in which she must resist having a drink or other vice, she has to roll twice and keep the lower result.
Advanced Role-play
Once everyone is familiar with the system, it’s time to move on to more advanced topics! Players can set themselves up to gain advantage beyond simply looking at what describes there characters.
Environmental Advantages
If character have some kind of situational or environmental advantage, then let them use it! For example, having the high ground in combat, or being able to see in the dark at night when opposing forces cannot.
Created Advantages
Heroes can tip the scales in their favor by using tactics. Ganging up on a single target should get them an advantage, for example. Sneaking up from behind is worth getting an advantage for at least the first attack! Any situation in which the victim is not aware of the attacker, should grant advantage to the attacker.
Be Creative
These are only examples here. If it seems the heroes are putting some effort into gaining a bit of leverage on the situation, then it just might merit gaining advantage on that next roll!
For Storytellers Only
If you want to use this system and are mystified as to how to judge who rolls when, just know that whoever the acting character is, that’s who will /random or /dice. And only if a roll is really necessary.
Storytellers should note that stopping for /random or /dice interrupts the flow of the story. Sometimes this is useful in high stress scenes. But other times, it can simply derail the story. Use your good judgment! Do not be a slave to the RNG. You are the Storyteller and your word trumps dice results.
That said, a Storyteller might wonder what to do when characters oppose each other. This is mostly a matter of good sense.
For example, if an attacking character is good at fighting and the opposing character is good at defending, you could ask everyone to roll twice and take the highest. But this slows down the action! Instead consider the odds. You can simply say that because they are both competing in an area they are highly competent, then just the attacking character should roll once and let the chips fall where they may.
However you adjudicate the challenge, I suggest you never ask anyone to roll more than twice. And that goes for Storyteller characters, too. Twice is quite enough! Then get the dice out of the way and carry on with the story.
On Defeating Characters
In a conflict, Heroes get three strikes. One hit is a bruise, scratch, headache, confusion, or other superficial injury. Two is something that’s really bleeding, causing emotional trauma, or otherwise slowing a character down. Three is mortal injury, abject terror, or total humiliation. The character needs help immediately! On the fourth defeat, the Heroes is taken out and unable to directly influence the current scene. The Hero can’t speak or move on their own.
That said, Storytellers should avoid wiping out their Heroes. A pile of heroic corpses do not a good story make! Consider capturing, demoralizing, stunning, or knocking out a Hero rather than a bloodier alternative is a total party kill seems imminent.
==Minor Storyteller characters should be taken out of a fight with a single hit. And in general, Heroes don’t even have to roll dice to do it! They are that competent. Minor characters working together might cause injury to a Hero, though, so they shouldn’t be ignored.==
Major Storyteller Characters are far tougher. Some may be tougher than Heroes! Their defeat, when appropriate, should be driven by plot and/or by the creativity of the Heroes.
I encourage Storytellers to make and use lots of characters! The Heroes should and often will defeat them. But remember defeat doesn’t necessarily mean slaughter, and recurring villains can be fun! But if a Hero goes out of a her way to make your bad guy very, very dead — then leave that baddie dead and move on to the next challenge for the Heroes.