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Gambles

Most of the things character do during a story require no mechanical adjudication. For these tasks, the desired result is achieved with no meaningful risk of negative consequences. For these sorts of activities, the player indicates what their character wishes to undertake or achieve and they work with the GM to describe the results. If the distinction between failure and success is not interesting - for example, a situation where a character might simply retry until they succeed - no mechanical resolution is needed.

For some tasks, however, the GM may indicate that success for the character is sufficiently uncertain, and the consequences of failure sufficiently meaningful, that undertaking the task is a gamble. For these situations, a mechanical method of generating a result is used, as outlined below.

Step 1: Initiation

The player outlines a desired result for the character. This involves indicating the character's goal, determining which of the character's resources (e.g. stats, skills, powers, and equipment) are relevant, and describing, in general, how those resources might be used by the character to achieve the desired result.

Step 2: Clarification

GM Describes Difficulty and Potential Consequences

Difficulty

Examples:

Using a gun and training in firearms, keep someone from pulling a fire alarm: Hard. Using a gun and training in firearms, give someone a mortal injury: Hard. Using a gun and training in firearms, give someone a mortal injury that keeps them from pulling the fire alarm: Difficult.

Effect 1: Minor

Minor tasks only require one effect. This means that any sufficiently-simple task can be performed merely by rolling a single die above the target number. Many basic tasks that require little attention are easy tasks: holstering or unholstering a weapon, moving a small distance, popping out of cover, activating the comma system, and so on. Because these tasks require only one effect, it is impossible to critically fail them. With how frequently most character will critically succeed on these tasks, much of the time a GM might simply allow an easy task to succeed rather than risk a roll.

Examples:

• Driving normally.
• Speeding through light traffic in a police car with sirens blaring.

Effect 2: Common

Using a piece of equipment or supernatural ability to do what it was designed to do is typically a common task. A common task is one that might regularly be performed by someone with the equipment and training of the character with a moderate chance of failure.

Examples:

• Speeding through traffic.
• Seriously injuring someone with a gun.

Effect 3: Hard

Hard tasks are well within the preconceived range of ability of a piece of equipment, skill, or power, but represent an advanced or otherwise more difficult form or use.

Examples:

• Speeding against traffic.
• Killing someone with a gun.
• Knocking someone out with a blow to the head.

Effect 4: Overwhelming

Examples:

• Jumping a motorcycle into a helicopter.

Step 3: Going for It

The player decides whether they wish to go forward with the gamble or to accept a failure condition so as to not risk a critical failure.

Team Work

Two or more people working together can make a task easier. As always, consider the specific situation and the powers involved, but two people working together on the same task might each experience a difficulty of one less if the two of them work together

Bolstering

Attempts are typically rolled against a target number of 5. An attempt may be bolstered using WP, representing the extra effort that a character might put into some actions. Bolstering an attempt lowers the target number by 1 to 4. However, if an attempt is bolstered, 1 WP is lost if the attempt fails, in addition to any WP that may be lost for a critical failure. For an additional 2 WP, 3 WP total, the target number can be lowered by another 1 to 3. For an additional 3 WP, 6 WP total, the target number can be lowered by one 1 to 2. The target number cannot be lowered further.

Step 4: Resolution

All attempts use 7 dice.

Success

The desired result is achieved. The GM incorporates this result into the chain of events.

Overwhelming Success

An overwhelming success is one in which the rolled effect is at least two greater than the required effect. The character gains a point of WP and, if possible, the GM provides them with a minor bonus to their action.

Extras

Extras influence actions, either by making them easier, or by making something possible. An extra might be a skill or talent you possess, it might be a piece of equipment, or it might be a magical ability. Using an extra simply requires including it in the description of your action. The GM should take this into account when figuring out if the action is possible and what the difficulty of the action is.

An extra is typically given a name and described in a few words or sentences, depending on the complexity of the extra. The more powerful the extra, the longer the description should probably be.

Types

Extras come in three types: minor, significant, and major. This type indicates the expected influence of the extra on the game. Extras can often have limitations associated with them, which should be taken into account when deciding how powerful they are. The importance of a limitation depends on how frequently the limitation can realistically be expected to occur in the campaign.

A minor extra is one which provides only slight assistance, or which provides substantial assistance in very limited circumstances.

A significant extra is one which frequently provides meaningful assistance, or which provides a decisive advantage in the right, very limited circumstances. The ability to look like someone else, the ability to hide in shadows, the ability to craft magical artifacts, powerful firearms, the ability to monitor someone's emotions, the ability to bind a contract, a disintegration gun, absorbing skin, human strength telekinesis.

A major extra is one which frequently provides a decisive advantage or powerful assistance, or an overwhelming advantage in limited circumstances. The ability to read someone's thoughts, the ability to read someone's memories, the ability to teleport yourself,

Cost

Players are given charges in return for completing in-game objectives, as a source of magical power, to represent new wealth, or anything else the GM desires. A minor charge can be used to purchase a minor extra. A significant charge can be used to purchase a significant extra. A major charge can be used to purchase a major extra. Five minor charges can be combined to make a significant charge. Five significant charges can be combined to make a major charge.

Moving the target number by one for a stat uses a significant charge.

Extra Cafeteria

Extras can represent anything: equipment, skills, magical powers, professions, social contacts, financial resources, etc.

Telekinesis

Minor

• The ability to move and manipulate up to five pounds within your line of sight.
• Having a telekinetic arm that's as strong and long as an actual arm.

Perception

Minor

• Equipment: High-Quality Binoculars. These have excellent optics, allowing good vision from far away.
• Skill: Tracking. You know how to follow a trail.
• Profession: Computer Programmer.

Significant

• Power: Eye for Talent. You have the ability to sense when someone else is a talent, though not always what it is (this might be the benefit for a critical success). This power is opposed by social resistance and can be applied to your passive perception.

Willpower

Rearranging WP

WP can be rearranged during an extended vacation.

Charges

Charges can be combined during an extended period of work.