This is all, obviously, subject to change upon actual playtesting.
Each player starts the game with 7 points.
Whenever a character takes an action that another character wishes to stop or oppose, that character’s player may announce that they are doing so, and issue a challenge, putting any number of points behind it (no greater than they currently have, plus the number of helpful Qualities they have: see below).
The acting may decide to accept the challenge. If they do so, their action is successfully stopped, and the challenging player pays the acting player a number of points equal to the challenge’s strength. If the acting player rejects the challenge, on the other hand, the action is presumed successful despite the challenging character’s attempted interference, and the acting player must pay the challenging player a number of points equal to the challenge’s strength. If the acting player does not have enough points to do so, they must accept the challenge.
Each quality that would support the acting character’s action or the challenging character’s challenge decreases the amount of points they must pay. For example, a character with the qualities “Expert swordsman” and “Very Intimidating” challenges another character’s action by drawing their sword threatening them. They make a 5-point challenge, but if it is accepted, they must only pay 3 points to the acting player.
Qualities may also be compelled. Any player may, at any time, suggest a course of action for another player’s character plausibly motivated by one of the compelled character’s Qualities, and put any number of points behind the compel. This is treated much like a challenge: if the compel is accepted, the character acts in the proposed manner, and the compelling player pays the compelled character’s player the number of points. If the compel is rejected, (and the entire group agrees the quality might reasonably compel such actions), the compelled character’s player must pay the compelling player the points, instead. Since compels are done out of character, qualities will not decrease the number of points that must be paid either way. (In character persuasion would be used by the action/challenge system, instead.)
The GM starts with seven points, like any other player, and may give each NPC up to 3 qualities: one representing their job or profession, one that differentiates them from most other people in that profession, and one purely of the GM’s choice.
Tags: the starflower throne
September 1, 2009 at 11:00 am |
Bosch,
This is pretty good. Looks like an elaborate version of …In Spaace! Is that your inspiration?
September 1, 2009 at 9:08 pm |
I haven’t read the mechanics to that in a few years, but it’s possible there was unconscious inspiration? The idea came to me a while back when there was a thread on story-games about resolution mechanics based on cake-cutting procedures (“I cut, you choose”) and fair division and whatnot and I ended up thinking about it for a while.
Skimming “…In Spaaace!” again, it looks as it’s a more straightforward bidding game, although I couldn’t find with a quick read what happened to the tokens from the winning bid: if they end up getting distributed to everyone else who bid but didn’t win, that’d be pretty close, yeah.