Basic story rules Basic permissive mechanic Pushing limits Additional Rules for clarification Disputes No unreasonable suprise attacks NPCs can be controlled by any party so long as they stay in character Autohitting can be allowed given prior agreements and/or reasonable actions Relevant Links

Basic story rules

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Rule 0: a non-rule, and just how we communicate

Write what happens, To you or something around you.  You can describe your surroundings, what your character is thinking, what you are doing, and what others are doing.

 

Rule 1: You have absolute say over your actions, but cannot puppeteer others unreasonably. 

 

This is further detailed as the 'Basic permissive mechanic' below.  But here is an example:

Reasonable:  You are in a market place, and have bartering level 3.  You see an item you want from someone who is selling things and you manage to negotiate down the price.

 

Unreasonable:  You are an ordinary citizen, and you are in a busy market where everyone is pre-occupied with their shopping, when a huge intimidating thief grabs your change purse and shoves you onto the ground and starts to run away.  You cannot narrate yelling "stop thief" and have a warrior out of the crowd to thoroughly smash the thief and return your possessions.  It could happen, but is less likely than narrating something that YOU can do.

 

Rule 2: You can make things that are less likely to happen by making dice rolls.

 

So, for the thief example above, you decide to take things into your own hands.  You have a slingshot, and are level 2 at using it.  You try to hit the thief in the head with the slingshot, through the crowd it is a very difficult shot.  But, the dice are with you and you roll all successes, so the thief gets hit, goes down, and you can run up to catch him.  He'll likely get a roll to see if he can react when you get there.

 

Okay, so you may be asking: How do I know when I should make a skill roll and when I don't need to? 

There are three situations:

1. When you are attempting to do something more difficult than you are able to do (see 'skill level difficulties below')
2. When the outcome is uncertain
3. When the most likely outcome isn't as interesting to the story as chancing it.

 

Rule 3: Exceptional things can happen through spending points

'Pushing limits' below

 

Basic permissive mechanic

Any character can perform a reasonable action provided that:

a) it advances the story in some way

b) the rest of the players agree it's plausible

 

The plausibility factor is really where the cooperative aspect of play comes in.  Other players and the DM need to decide what is reasonable in any given situation.  If it is something fairly routine, then there is no reason to nit pick and all can just accept it.  But if the proposed action is not guaranteed, that's when dice rolling comes into play.  Dice rolling is a way to use probability, the characters statistics, modified by the difficulty of the action to test if it can happen or not.  This is further explained in section 2: Ranking Tests

 

Pushing limits

Dice rolling need not be the end all of a situation.  If the player has a very slim chance, they can expend points to increase their roll.  This is detailed later in Section 4 - Spending action points

 

Additional Rules for clarification

 

Disputes

1. Try and talk it out between the people involved and reach something that is fair for all.
2. Search for precedents where the situation has already been resolved
3. Contact a moderator to make a fair ruling so the action can moved ahead
4. Have an epic duel of magical ability and turn each other into frogs in real life

 

We're all here to have fun, that's the most important thing.  There's no way to win, or be better than another, unless everyone is having fun.  A key goal of this game is co-operation, so if you find yourself not co-operating, maybe there is something there for you to consider and quest against?

 

No unreasonable suprise attacks

 

A basic rule is that you cannot assert unreasonable harm to an opposing player without warning.

 

For example,

The Vibenyolo suddenly unleash a massive fleet of superdreadnoughts (which

they have built in secret) and burn the Shashnimyn homeworld to dust,

simply becaue your name starts with S like the great defilers the

Sith.

 

He He He, No.  This is not allowed.  The Vibenyolo player in this case may launch his reserve but has to attack the Shashnimyn homeworld properly.  Presumably there already defenses waiting for an assault.  This is comparable to a block in acting.  You can play through these though, there is not always a need for correction.

 

But the Vibenyolo had forgotten the dense network of system satellites that were deployed near the homeworld.  There was also a standing fleet within the system prepared to greet them.

 

At this point, the two players would roll out battle results and then add a story to it, unless they had another point to wager.  The Vibenyolo might want to add that he is sending all his fleets in tail of the SDNs.  In some situations the block might be accepted by an opposing player but they put a twist on the story.  In the above example the players might agree that this was part of a war-game simulation and doesn't actually have an effect on the fates of the worlds directly.  If a block cannot be resolved or ignored, it should be deleted.

 

There is some degree of auto-hitting allowed, but these attacks cannot cause fatal damage.  A roll to check for surprise is suitable depending upon the situation.  Basically, you cannot write the other players into an inescapable position.  The goal is not to kill each other, but to challenge and build an engaging plot.

 

So, even if a player decided to chase the evil wizard over a dilapitated rope bridge high above a lava stream, they will not be killed with one hit.  The wizard can cast a fireball and set the bridge on fire, but the player still has a chance to crawl up the remnants of the bridge before burning to death, or even using a grappling hook, self-stretching magic, or glide to precarious safety on the cliff wall.

 

NPCs can be controlled by any party so long as they stay in character

 

 NPC control is allowed provided they stay in character. PCs are the property of their owners. Therefore you cannot make each other say things but you can make other PCs do reasonable things:

 

eg. I take point and Khan, Kara & Kirin approach the edges of the shadows. Then I burst into the light ready to engage.

vs

Josh says "I think the beans at lunch were too much" and stinks up his containment suit.

 

Controlling other characters is meant to move the action forward quicker, but if you are in doubt, ask. Story control of this magnitude can also be used to advance the plot.

 

eg. As the last surviving Shashnimyn are cornered in the outpost an embryonic hive has awakened in the Destroyer that just...

 

 

Players may take control of NPCs as well as their PCs as long as they play in character. Characters inactive more than a week can be put on standby by other players. No one can kill your character but yourself. If you put yourself into a jeopardizing situation with no hope of survival, expect to die. eg. you blink into a room with 8 Shashnimyn in full battle gear.

 

Combat and action involving opposing intentions is resolved by negotiation. The first player can say what their actions to initiate the situation are and the second player can respond with what they think would happen, and back again till a scenario is agreed upon. The goal is not to beat each other up as much as make a fun and gripping story that makes sense.

 

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Autohitting can be allowed given prior agreements and/or reasonable actions

Allowing a degree of autohitting could really speed up the play. Here's what I propose:

 

1. The first hit in an action sequence can be a freebie, doing a reasonable amount of damage given reasonable situations.

-An ambush can allow players to knock down the opposition a notch before they can respond, making an autohit logical.

-A lone Gorge isn't going to engage a pack of Shashnimyn in combat, you cannot place other PCs in such an unreasonable situation, though an NPC Gorge might be caught unaware.

-The first hits can NEVER kill the other player. If they are severely wounded and running away, your action can be to initiate a combat, but can do no damage.

 

2. Responding to an autohit or combat action, the player has two major options:

Fight or Flight.

-If the player responds to engage, combat is on! and then play it out as you like.

-If the player runs away to regroup, call for back up, or whatever else that advances the story but doesn't start combat, the attacker should play along with that storyline or back off.

 

3. Story points (earned like experience points (XP)) can be expended to undo (or increase) damage dealt to a character. Lets start with a conversion of 1 story point to 10 HP for now. This expenditure should be accompanied by story text. Again, this cannot be done in unreasonable situations to prevent autokilling and power-hungry munchkins.

 

eg. *Mindara falls to the floor after being hit by the Fade's projectile. Less hurt than expected, she notices her amulet magically exploded and deflected the damage. Thankful for the thoughtful gift now destroyed, she rises and prepares an energy bolt for when the Fade next appears.* <used 4 story points>

 

My reasons for wanting options like these is because even you mentioned that an 11 post battle could span days. More elaborate pursuits and combats could take even longer in this manner. In my experience, most of the games that fall through are due to time constraints; hard to organize meet ups, or players that are crucial to the next phase of the adventure tied up by deadlines. I don't know what level of commitment all the players are willing to have and I don't want to exclude the creative and excited simply because of real life demands.

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the scout network the Shashnimyn had prepared

 

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Relevant Links

Game Mechanics - the starting point for introduction to the rules

novel action - a new story page (tableau) proposing something that has no precedent